SAN FRANCISCO MARIJUANA CLUB ORDERED CLOSED

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco's medical marijuana club was ordered to
close Thursday, a day after the California Supreme Court declined to review
an appellate court decision that ruled the club was illegal.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge David Garcia reinstated a preliminary
injunction ordering the San Francisco Cannabis Cultivators Club, used by
many sufferers of AIDS and other serious diseases as a source for the drug,
to shut down.

The order said the club's operators were enjoined from ''furnishing,
storing, administering or giving away'' marijuana, except in situations
where they acted as primary caregivers to patients.

Garcia's order came a day after the California Supreme Court let stand a
December appellate court decision that said California's Proposition 215
permitting the use of medical marijuana did not legalize groups like the
Cannabis Cultivators Club.

Dennis Peron, the founder of the San Francisco club and one of the main
forces behind Proposition 215, said the ruling would have little effect on
his group because he and his colleagues were primary caregivers.

``We are a bunch of primary caregivers and it's going to be very tough for
them to prove otherwise,'' Peron said. ``We don't see this order affecting
us very much, except as semantic psycho-babble.''

But a spokesman for California Attorney General Dan Lungren, who has
declared war on the clubs and has vowed to see them shut down, said the
order directly pertained to the San Francisco club and its approximately
8,000 patrons.

``(Peron) is claiming he's a primary caregiver to 8,000 people? It seems
pretty hard for one person to check on 8,000 people,'' said Lungren
spokesman Matt Ross. ``We stand by the court's ruling.''

Proposition 215, which California voters passed in November 1996, allowed
patients and their primary caregivers to possess and cultivate marijuana
for their personal medical use under the advice of a doctor.

An appellate court said, however, that marijuana clubs did not qualify as
primary caregivers and that their existence set the precedent for
widespread distribution of marijuana in places ranging from discotheques to
supermarkets.

The Cannabis Cultivators Club, which was previously known as the San
Francisco Cannabis Buyers' Club, was the target of an injunction issued by
San Francisco Superior Court in November 1996, before the state law passed.

In early 1997, the court modified its ruling to allow the club to operate,
prompting the appeal from Lungren. The state supreme court's decision
Wednesday appeared to be the final word on the matter.