SAN FRANCISCO SHERIFF CLOSES MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLUB

SAN FRANCISCO--A reluctant sheriff shut down San Francisco's largest
medical marijuana club Monday as organizers waited in the wings to reopen
under another name.

San Francisco Sheriff Mike Hennessey served Cannabis Cultivators Club
founder Dennis Peron with an order closing down the operation shortly after
1 p.m. and ordered the building vacated. Peron and his followers cooperated
peacefully.

Hennessey made it clear that he personally opposed the court order
initiated by state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, whom Peron is opposing in a
David vs. Goliath campaign in the Republican gubernatorial primary.

"I support the medicinal marijuana law in the state of California, and it
does seem this is an attempt to thwart that law," Hennessey said.

The sheriff said he would not move against the club's successor agency, the
Cannabis Healing Center, which was scheduled to open today under a new
director at the same site.

Peron started the club four years ago and was a prime mover behind the
successful 1996 drive for the state's medicinal marijuana initiative.

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