MEDICAL MARIJUANA BACKERS MARCH IN SAN FRANSISCO

About 200 rally at the federal building as U.S. officials ask judge to
close four cannabis clubs.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Medical marijuana advocates prayed, marched and rallied
downtown Tuesday in support of the state's cannabis clubs as the federal
government asked a U.S. District Court judge to shut them down.

Nearly 200 people marched down Market Street to the federal building, where
San Francisco Dist. Atty. Terence Hallinan said the city will supply
medical marijuana to patients if its cannabis clubs are shuttered.

Inside the building, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer took under
submission the government's request for a permanent injunction shutting
four Northern California cannabis clubs. The government alleges that the
clubs sold marijuana to undercover drug agents in violation of federal drug
laws.

"This case is not about Proposition 215," said Mark Quinlivan, arguing for
the Department of Justice. "What this case is about is the upholding of
federal law."

But William Panzer, arguing for the Oakland Cannabis Club, said the federal
government for years "has arbitrarily and capriciously," suppressed or
ignored studies that showed marijuana to be a safe medicinal drug.
Attorneys for other clubs offer other arguments: That federal law may be
violated to prevent a greater harm, such as the death of patients who smoke
marijuana to maintain their appetites, and that privacy rights allow
seriously ill patients access to drugs that will relieve pain and possibly
sustain their lives.

California voters in November 1996 approved Proposition 215, which said
that chronically ill patients with a doctor's recommendation could grow and
use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The law also says that a primary caregiver may provide the drug to ill
patients. Club operators say they act as primary caregivers in providing
the drug to thousands of patients who otherwise have no safe way of
purchasing it.

But in separate cases in the state and federal courts, the Justice
Department and state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren have argued that Proposition
215 did not legalize the clubs and that the clubs are not primary
caregivers for their clients.

In February, the California Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling
that Proposition 215 did not legalize cannabis clubs. The federal
government filed its civil suit against four Bay Area clubs, a club in
Eureka and one in Santa Cruz in January. The Eureka club and Flower Therapy
in San Francisco subsequently closed. Breyer on Tuesday heard the
consolidated cases against the four remaining Northern California clubs.

In a separate development, the director of the Santa Clara County Medicinal
Cannabis Club--a club many looked to as a model of a well-run cannabis
distribution center--was arrested in San Jose on suspicion of illegally
selling marijuana. Peter Baez was arrested Monday night on suspicion of
selling marijuana and released Tuesday released on bail, a San Jose Police
Department spokesman said. Baez is suspected of selling marijuana to a
client who allegedly provided no documentation that he was ill or that a
physician had recommended that he use marijuana for medicinal purposes,
Sgt. Chris Moore said.

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