JUDGE ORDERS MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLUB SHUT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Francisco's trailblazing medical marijuana
club was ordered closed Wednesday after a judge ruled that it was
``illegally selling'' the drug.

Superior Court Judge David Garcia said the Cannabis Cultivators Club and its
maverick founder Dennis Peron had overstepped the provisions of California's
1996 law which made it legal for sick people to use marijuana to treat AIDS,
cancer and other serious diseases.

``The Court finds uncontradicted evidence in this record that defendant
Peron is currently engaging in the illegal sales of marijuana,'' Garcia
wrote in his decision.

His order granted state Attorney General Dan Lungren's request for a
nuisance abatement order allowing the club to be seized and closed by either
the county sheriff or the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.

Senior Assistant Attorney General John Gordnier declined to speculate on
when law enforcement might move in on the club, but urged Peron to heed the
judge's order.

``Mr. Peron has made a number of public statements that he is a law-abiding
person who wants to stay with the legal system. If he wants to remain within
the legal system, he should close his doors voluntarily,'' Gordnier said.

Peron, who wrote the 1996 state law and has mounted a quixotic campaign to
win the Republican nomination for governor, declared he had no intention of
closing down his operation.

``We feel that this is an unconstitutional order and we intend to appeal,''
Peron said.

He added that the club had already acted to comply with one element of
Garcia's order and had stopped providing marijuana to caregivers, meaning
that only the patients themselves would now be supplied.

But he flatly refused to consider closing the club, which serves some 8,000
people.

``You cannot just throw people out on the street, you cannot just stop the
will of the people,'' Peron said. ``We are fighting for democracy here.''

Garcia's order dealt a potentially crippling blow to the club, which has
been beset by legal problems since California's medical marijuana provision
was approved by 56 percent of the state's voters in 1996.

California's courts have already ruled that the 20-odd marijuana clubs
around the state are illegal because they are not ``primary caregivers'' to
their members - a condition set by the state law.

And the Justice Department has taken the clubs before a federal judge,
demanding that they be closed for violation of federal drug laws.

The clubs have won strong support from a number of local officials, who say
the federal government should respect the will of California's voters and
allow local governments time to develop an ``airtight'' system to monitor
club operations.

San Francisco Mayor Willlie Brown and city District Attorney Terence
Hallinan have been particularly strong supporters, going so far as to
suggest that the city itself could step in to supply marijuana to patients
if the clubs are forced to close.