CALIF. MAYORS PUSH FOR POT CLUBS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Mayors from four California cities have urged
President Clinton to make their streets safer by abandoning federal efforts
to shutter clubs that dispense medical marijuana.

In letters to the White House dated March 12 to March 17, the mayors of San
Francisco, Oakland, Santa Cruz and West Hollywood claimed that closing the
clubs would hurt those suffering from AIDS and cancer who use the drug to
ease their pain and nausea.

``If the centers are shut down, many of these individuals will be compelled
to search back alleys and street corners for their medicine,'' the mayors
wrote.

The mayors also asked the president to ``implement a moratorium on
enforcement of federal drug laws that interfere with the daily operation of
the dispensaries.''

Federal prosecutors have challenged the state's marijuana buyers clubs,
saying they are violating federal law against the possession and sale of
drugs, regardless of a 1996 state initiative.

That law allows possession and cultivation of marijuana upon a doctor's
recommendation to ease the pain and nausea of AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and
other conditions.

Outside San Francisco's Cannabis Cultivators' Club, Joel Whalen smoked a
joint Wednesday while waiting for the marijuana club to open.

``With the mayors backing us, I think it's a lot better,'' said Whalen, who
uses marijuana to boost his appetite. ``I quit all intravenous drugs, and
now that I've been smoking marijuana I feel healthier.''

© Copyright 1998 The Associated Press