4 MAYORS CALL ON CLINTON TO STOP POT CLUB PROSECUTIONS

Tempering their remarks with an unusual declaration of fealty to federal
authority, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and mayors from three other
California cities have pleaded to President Clinton that he back off on his
prosecution of medical marijuana clubs.

``We honor and will abide by the primacy of federal law,'' the mayors wrote
in letters to the president yesterday. ``In return, we ask that the federal
government respect local government's experience and expertise (in public
health matters).''

Signed by Brown, Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris, West Hollywood Mayor Steve
Martin and Santa Cruz Mayor Celia Scott, the nearly identically worded
letters warned that closure of the clubs could seriously affect their
cities.

The mayors said they were writing in defense of their citizens who have
been smoking marijuana to combat the nausea of cancer chemotherapy drugs,
the sight-destroying effects of glaucoma and the debilitating effects of
AIDS.

``If the centers are shut down, many of these individuals will be compelled
to search back alleys and street corners for their medicine. This will not
only endanger their lives, but place an unnecessary burden on our local
police departments,'' each of the four mayors wrote.

The letter-writing campaign was orchestrated by the Medical Marijuana
Caregivers Fund, an organization of pot clubs that are battling attempts by
both the Clinton administration and California Attorney General Dan Lungren
to close them down.

Mayor Martin said he expects to visit San Francisco on Tuesday to join
Brown for a rally and prayer meeting organized by the group. It will take
place just before a hearing on federal charges against Northern California
pot clubs.

``We're all in this together,'' he said. Martin's Los Angeles County
municipality has a large gay population that, like San Francisco's, has
been devastated by the AIDS epidemic. Patients contend that smoking
marijuana stimulates the appetite and wards off the wasting syndrome that
weakens people with AIDS. ``There are many of us for whom marijuana is a
part of daily living,'' he said.

The mayors and the pot club operators contend that it is not illegal to
provide marijuana for medical purposes after California voters
overwhelmingly approved Proposition 215 in November.

But U.S. Attorney Michael Yamaguchi filed suit against six clubs January 9,
declaring that the sale of marijuana for any purpose but research was
strictly against the law. The March 24 hearing will consider consolidated
charges against four of the clubs that have remained open.

Oakland Mayor Harris issued a statement in support of Proposition 215.
``Californians have spoken,'' he said. ``Our intention is to comply with
the letter and the spirit of that initiative. We don't want to see medical
marijuana run into the underground.''

Yamaguchi's San Francisco office deferred all comment on the matter to
Washington, D.C., where the Justice Department has been calling the shots
on the pot club prosecutions. The Justice Department did not return calls
requesting comment.

San Francisco Mayor Brown also did not comment directly, but issued a
statement that ``the letter speaks for itself.''

Brown also called on the Justice Department to work with the Food and Drug
Administration ``to designate marijuana as a drug for prescription
purposes.''

Dennis Peron, founder of San Francisco's controversial Cannabis Cultivators
Club, said yesterday that he was gratified by the mayors' letters. ``This
means that the cities want to support this and defend democracy,'' he said.

Peron also noted that it was not a particularly unusual stance for the
mayors to take: Proposition 215 passed with more than 70 percent of the
vote in all four localities.

)1998 San Francisco Chronicle