POT CLUB DIRECTOR QUITTING

Facing fice new felony counts, Baez says he's leaving center

Peter Baez, co-founder of the Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis Center,
faced more legal trouble Monday with the addition of five new felony counts
charging him with illegally selling marijuana.

With the possibility of nine years in prison looming, Baez said he is
stepping down as executive director of the cannabis center.

"Whether there is one charge or 100 charges, my mind is made up: I'm
getting out of this," he said. "What's the point in being involved with
these people? I don't need this. . . "

Prosecutors added the new charges at Baez's arraignment Monday in Municipal
Court. He had originally been scheduled to be arraigned on a single felony
charge of illegally selling marijuana that had been filed March 23.

"Our action is not against the cannabis center," said Deputy District
Attorney Denise Raabe. "It's against Peter Baez for furnishing marijuana
without having the appropriate medical recommendation and not calling to
verify it."

Raabe said 34-year-old Baez illegally sold marijuana several times to six
people between May 1997 and March. None of the buyers, she said, had
life-threatening illnesses such as cancer or AIDS.

And none of the buyers had the verbal or written recommendations required
under Proposition 215 -- the 1996 voter-approved measure that legalized use
of the drug for medical reasons.

In each of the cases, Raabe said, authorities checked with the buyers'
doctors, who denied giving a recommendation for the use of pot.

Baez said he was shocked by the latest charges, and insisted that he had
done nothing wrong. He said he kept meticulous files, which were seized by
police when he was arrested March 23, and that prosecutors are now using
those records against him. Authorities also froze nearly $30,000 in assets
and seized about one-half to three-quarters of a pound of marijuana. Two
pounds were left for clients.

Raabe denied that Baez was a target and said that he simply failed to
comply with the law. She added that authorities are continuing their
investigation, and that she did not know whether more charges would be
filed.

Baez, who said he will step down by the end of the month, also said he
would announce soon whether the center will stay open. The charges against
Baez came as a suprise, particularly since the center has been propelled
into that national spotlight as a model on how to follow Proposition 215.

One of his attorneys, B.J. Fadem, noted that out of 270 of the center's
clients, authorities have found only six potential violations. "That's not
sloppy," Fadem said.

Baez's legal troubles were sparked by the case of Enrique Robles, who
claimed he needed the drug for medicinal purposes. Baez maintains that he
got a verbal approval from a doctor to sell the drug. But authorities said
that three doctors, whose names were provided by the center, denied
approving pot for Robles.

According to the police reports, one doctor stated that he did not
recommend marijuana because he did not want to risk his medical license.
Another said she was aware her patients was using it, but she did not
recommend it.

Both Jesse Garcia, the co-founder of the center, and Darlene Lutz, a worker
at the center, told police that an acknowledgement from the doctor that a
patient was using marijuana was sufficient to purchase the drug.

"I'm shocked that they would use that as a basis," Raabe said. " I do not
believe that's the law."