LEGAL HASSLES EXTINGUISHING POT CLUBS

Prop. 215's weak wording doesn't sway cops, agents

Less than 18 months after medical marijuana use was legalized in California
by Proposition 215, the network of marijuana clubs, co-ops and dispensaries
that arose to deliver pot to patients is collapsing.

Of 18 medical marijuana providers operating openly seven months ago, six
are out of business and five are facing closure due to criminal or civil
lawsuits. The remaining seven groups are still open and not facing legal
trouble, but there is constant worry that the next knock on the door could
be federal drug agents.

``In general, things statewide are a mess,'' said Scott Imler, director of
the Los Angeles Cannabis Buyers' Club in West Hollywood. ``We're the only
club still standing here in Southern California. Of course we're worried.
It's all kind of folding in on itself, one layer after another.''

Even in the Bay Area, where liberal local governments have allowed some
clubs wide latitude and political support, legal challenges from the state
and federal government have the potential to force the whole movement back
underground.

This week in San Francisco, Dennis Peron's Cannabis Cultivators Club was
closed by order of a Superior Court judge, only to reopen a day later --
under a new name -- with the blessing of local officials. Political support
for medical marijuana has been less evident in San Jose, where dispensary
owner Peter Baez was recently raided by local police and charged with nine
felony counts of selling pot.

In Southern California, the options for sick people who use marijuana have
never been plentiful. Local law enforcement and city officials in many
areas have adamantly opposed organized efforts to distribute pot.

The mood at Imler's club has become increasingly nervous as clubs in Santa
Ana, San Diego and Thousand Oaks have been closed, their organizers facing
jail time or civil fines.

CIVIL LAWSUIT FILED

In Northern California, where the clubs have been most numerous, six groups
have been named in a civil lawsuit by the federal government, and two --
San Jose's and one in Monterey County -- have been hit with criminal
charges by local authorities.

``I worry about it every day, the possibility of being dragged out of my
bed by narcotics agents,'' said Jeff Jones, executive director of the
Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, one of the groups named in the
federal lawsuit. ``I'm like a sitting duck in a pond. But I'm going to sit
here to the end. We have to get the medicine out to the patients.''

The recent spate of prosecutions has taken many medical marijuana advocates
by surprise. Just seven months ago, marijuana providers held an upbeat
summit in Santa Cruz to create standards and goals for the dispensaries.

``The high mark of the community-based club movement was probably in
October,'' when dozens of activists gathered for a weekend retreat, Imler
said. ``But three days after the conference ended, the busts started, and
it's been one after another after another.

``There's not going to be much of a conference this year,'' he said.

Imler and many other club volunteers across the state believe the backlash
against medical marijuana has been encouraged by state Attorney General and
gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren, who has challenged the legality of the
clubs with a lawsuit against the San Francisco club, the state's largest.

FEDERAL OPPOSITION

Federal drug enforcement officials are also fighting Proposition 215,
arguing in court that marijuana use for any purpose is a violation of
federal law.

Law enforcement officials say the crackdown is the result of a poorly
drafted law and of pot sellers who don't understand what the law allows.

But the blame for the chaos may also rest with California's lawmakers, who
have shoved the controversy into the court system by refusing to straighten
out an incomplete and contradictory -- albeit popular -law.

Proposition 215, a voter initiative approved in November 1996, allows sick
people to grow and use marijuana if a doctor recommends it. It also allows
caretakers of sick people to obtain or grow marijuana for them. But 215 did
not legalize the sale of marijuana, nor did it make it legal to transport
marijuana from one place to another.

Medical marijuana supporters point out that growing the plants is not an
option for many sick people, especially the thousands of AIDS patients
living in apartments in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles. And the
prohibition against transportation would prevent almost anyone without a
secure, sunny garden from obtaining pot.

The authors of 215 foresaw the need for legislative tinkering when they
added a clause ``encouraging'' the state and federal government ``to
implement a plan to provide for the safe and affordable distribution of
marijuana to all patients in medical need of marijuana.''

That ``encouragement'' has not yet resulted in legislative action. The only
legislator who has consistently worked to turn 215 into a workable law is
State Senator John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, a longtime medical marijuana
advocate -- and his efforts have so far been rebuffed by fellow lawmakers.

``It's true, the Legislature hasn't done anything, and as far as I can
detect there is no interest other than on the part of me and a couple of
others,'' Vasconcellos said. ``It's disgraceful.''

FIRST CLUBS FORMED

In the euphoria that followed the passage of Proposition 215, many small
pot clubs and co-ops sprang up, most of them founded by people with
compelling personal stories. Many had used marijuana surreptitiously for
years, while others had nursed loved ones through painful illnesses.

Some clubs that had operated for years underground came gratefully into the
open.

But without clear guidelines, every group created its own rules and bylaws.
In some cases, the limits of Proposition 215 were ignored for practical
purposes. In others the law was creatively interpreted.

But in many -- probably most -- California counties, law enforcement
officials have frowned on a liberal application of the law.

In conservative Orange County, Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust
repeatedly charged Martin Chavez, the founder of a Santa Ana pot co-op, for
criminal sales of marijuana.

``You are not allowed to sell marijuana under Proposition 215,'' Armbrust
said. ``So now they say the law isn't well written, and they think they
should be able to sell and transport it. But we can't twist the law. And we
sure didn't write it.''

In Sacramento County, groups attempting to open a medical marijuana club
have been told that public pot distribution will be promptly prosecuted.
And county supervisors, nettled by an incident where an AIDS patient lit up
and smoked pot in public, have passed a law making the public smoking of
medical marijuana subject to a fine of up to $1,000 and six months in jail.

Anyone else smoking pot in public faces a $100 fine.

``It is clear that any kind of dispensary is outside the scope of
Proposition 215,'' said Dale Kitching, supervisor of the major narcotics
unit for the Sacramento District Attorney's office.

``Those political officials who allow sales and clubs have gone way beyond
any reasonable interpretation of the law. (Sick people) who smoke their
marijuana quietly and covertly are acting in everybody's best interests.''

NO ORGANIZED LOBBY

Some attempts were made to organize the clubs politically, but most club
operators were too busy dealing with with their businesses and medical
conditions to consider hiring a lobbyist. So when the arrests began, there
was little organized opposition.

``We were unprepared for the backlash,'' Jones said. ``We didn't have
support or funding, and the prosecutions are killing us. We're going
broke.''

According to Vasconcellos' chief of staff, Rand Martin, the clubs were easy
to divide and conquer.

``They were very easy to pick off because all of them are basically
breaking the law,'' Martin said. ``They may be doing the angels' work, but
in the black and white of California statute, they're out of line.

``What Lungren and local law enforcement are missing in this is the big
picture,'' Martin said. ``When the people of California approved 215, they
said that sick people should have access to medical marijuana, and you
should find a way to make it work.''

Despite the growing apprehension and dwindling numbers of clubs, medical
marijuana is far from dead. With marijuana freely available on the black
market, underground distribution groups operate even in areas where law
enforcement officials stridently oppose it.

Co-operative groups that grow and share their own marijuana -- without
money changing hands -- are thriving in Arcata and Santa Cruz. Several
other groups that still rely on the black market are trying to grow their
own.

The groups also hope that courts now mulling the contradictions of
Proposition 215 may produce rulings allowing some buyers' clubs to operate.
And Vasconcellos has introduced legislation creating a task force to study
the distribution of medical marijuana, and plans to convene a summit on the
issue on late May.

``We need to put together a smart and sensible plan,'' Vasconcellos said.
``We're doing what we can to crack this problem, and I think we're making
some inroads.''

MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLUBS, CO-OPS AND DISPENSARIES IN CALIFORNIA

STILL IN OPERATION, NO CHARGES PENDING

- --Humboldt Cannabis Center, Arcata, Humboldt County

150 active members

- --Compassionate Use Co-Op, Rackerby, (in Sierra foothills)

45 active members

- --C.H.A.M.P. (Cannabis Helping Alleviate Medical Problems), San

Francisco

500 active members

- --Medical Cannabis Delivery Service, San Francisco

400-500 active members

- --Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, Santa Cruz

150 members

- --MedEx Delivery Service, Santa Cruz

9 members

- --Los Angeles Cannabis Buyers' Club, West Hollywood

460 members

STILL OPEN, BUT THREATENED BY LEGAL PROBLEMS

- --San Francisco Cannabis Cultivators Club, S.F.

9,000 members

One of six clubs facing a civil lawsuit filed by the federal

government, also facing as criminal charges filed by the state Attorney

General

- --Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, Oakland

1,000 members

Facing federal charges

- --Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, Fairfax

300 members

Facing federal charges

- --Ukiah Cannabis Buyers' Club, Ukiah

250 members

Facing federal charges, and criminal charges in Lake County for

illegal cultivation

- --Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis Center, San Jose

270 members

Facing criminal charges from Santa Clara County for illegal sales

RECENTLY CLOSED

- --Flower Therapy, San Francisco

Named in federal lawsuit

- --Santa Cruz Cannabis Buyers' Club, Santa Cruz

Named in federal lawsuit

- --Medical Marijuana Care Center, Monterey

Closed after raid by local law enforcement

- --Orange County Patient/Doctor/Nurse Support Group, Santa Ana

Closed after repeated arrests by local law enforcement

- --San Diego Cannabis Caregivers' Club, San Diego

Closed after charged by local law enforcement, internal problems

- --Ventura County Medical Cannabis Center, Thousand Oaks

Closed after civil charges filed by local law enforcement

)1998 San Francisco Chronicle