SHERIFF PLANNING TO CLOSE DOWN S.F. POT CLUB BY TUESDAY NIGHT

Says he has to follow judge's order

He won't say when, but Sheriff Michael Hennessey is putting together a plan
to forcibly close and lock the Cannabis Healing Center sometime before
Tuesday afternoon, taking everything that isn't nailed down with him.

Hennessey said he has no choice but to obey a ruling by San Francisco
Superior Court Judge William Cahill, issued Thursday, that ordered the club
shut down within five days.

"We will hire a locksmith, we will enter the premises, we will make sure
all the individuals are removed and we will close it down," said Hennessey,
a supporter of Proposition 215, the California ballot measure that
legalized the use of medical marijuana for people with AIDS, cancer and
other diseases.

Cahill's ruling said the club is a public nuisance, not a primary caregiver
authorized to provide marijuana to sick patients.

The ruling came three days after a U.S. District Court judge ordered six
Bay Area cannabis clubs to close, saying federal drug laws supersede Prop.
215.

Defiant club patrons and operators vowed to fight on despite the rulings
while attorneys for the San Francisco club filed a motion to delay the
closure until a hearing Tuesday morning.

"It's going to be a big medical catastrophe if we're shut down quickly,"
said Lynne Barnes, a registered nurse volunteer at the center. "Through our
lawyer, we're trying to slow down the process. We feel that it would be
somewhat unreasonable for (Hennessey) to close it down before the order
expires."

When that closure would occur is still a little hazy.

Hennessey said the order specifically directs him to close down the club
before 5 p.m. Tuesday, which he plans to do. He wouldn't say, however,
whether it would be shut down over the holiday weekend or sometime Tuesday.

Whenever it occurs, he said, the department will be prepared to deal with
protesters and building inhabitants who resist the closure. He doesn't
expect to have to arrest anyone, however.

Hennessey would not say whether he disagreed with the ruling but he made
clear he was a supporter of the club.

"I thought they were trying to do their best to carry out the will of the
voters," Hennessey said. "They were trying their best to follow the law but
the courts interpret the law differently."

1998 San Francisco Examiner

Checked-by: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)