RESIGNATION STIRS POT ADVOCATES

Reaction was mixed -- but sharp -- among Bar Area medicinal marijuana
advocates to news that Peter Baez, co-founder of the Santa Clara County
Medical Cannabis Center, plans to resign from his San Jose dispensary and
may shut it because of his legal trouble.

"It's all political," said Jeff Jones, head of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers'
Cooperative, who defended Baez and lamented his decision last week to start
refusing prospective clients. "You didn't see them selling to kids. . . .
Now, they've stopped doing intakes and might fold up because Peter is
quitting."

But others say it's local officials who should be supported for their
efforts to maintain a workable relationship with the center over the past
year.

Dennis Augustine, a retired Saratoga podiatrist who once served as a
volunteer and fundraiser for Baez's center, said he stands behind the
police and the district attorney, who have been under pressure from the
state and federal authorities long opposed to Proposition 215.

Local officials "took a leap of faith like all of us who are interested in
seeing the center make good," said Augustine, leader of Friends of
Cannabis Under Seige -- a medical marijuana advocacy group.

The March 23 arrest of Baez and his subsequently being charged with six
counts of illegally selling pot suprised some, considering how often his
operation had been touted nationally as a model of how to implement
Proposition 215, California's voter-aproved initiative legalizing medicinal
marijuana.

Baez, 34, who suffers from colon cancer, on Monday pleaded not guilty in
Santa Clara County Municipal Court to the charges and then announced his
plans to step down as the center's executive director as early as the end
of the month and possibly abandon the center. He suggested Wednesday that
others who want to submit an application for a new San Jose municipal
center are welcome to try.

"Good luck," he said. "Where will the people go for their pot? Probably
back to the street."

Center co-founder Jesse Garcia said he has no interest in carrying on
should Baez close the Meridian Avenue center.

City and county officials have repeated stated they have no desire to drive
the center out of business and added that Baez's troubles simply stem from
his failure to comply with local regulations governing the dispensing of
medicinal marijuana. He's been accused of illegal sales of marijuana for
providing pot for clients without a doctor's authorization -- allegations
he strenuously denies. Also, authorities have frozen nearly $30,000 in
center assets and seized copies of client records.

"I don't know how they think we can continue to run the place," Baez said.
"We need to pay bills and buy marijuana. Pot growers don't like to give
you stuff and bill you later."

Dennis Peron, co-author of Proposition 215 and founder of the San
Francisco's 10,000 member Cannabis Cultivators Club, sides with Baez.

"It's awful. They want to take his money, prosecute him and throw him in
prison," Peron said. "He should just fight it. Don't give up."

Baez's problems arose after a San Jose man, Enrique Robles, was cited and
convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession. Police said Robles had
claimed to be taking pot with a doctor's verbal approval. But, police said
a check with the doctor failed to substantiate the claim.

Valerie Corral, founder and director of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical
Marijuana, a non-profit Santa Cruz group that gives pot free to the
seriously ill, believes Baez was the victim of a bureaucratic snafu.

"In my opinion, there seems to have been a red tape foul-up," she said. "
I think that's what happened with Peter. Why jeopardize everything for a
handful of marijuana for a few people?"