EFFORT TO SHUT MARIJUANA CLUB RUNS INTO SNAG

A San Francisco judge indicates that he'll wait for the state Supreme Court
to review the matter.

SAN FRANCISCO-Attorney General Dan Lungren's attempt to shut down a
medical-marijuana club hit a snag Friday when a judge suggested he would
delay action while the state Supreme Court considers the issue.

Lungren sought to halt operations of the Cannabis Cultivators Club, based
on a state appeals court ruling last month that said the club could not
legally sell marijuana to patients under Proposition 215, the 1996
medical-marijuana initiative.

That ruling, which said Superior Court Judge David Garcia should order the
club closed, technically became final last week. But Garcia took no action
at a hearing Friday and asked the state's lawyer why he shouldn't wait
until after the state Supreme Court decides whether to hear the club's
appeal, filed Wednesday.

That is standard practice among California judges, said San Francisco
attorney Paul Fogel, an appellate specialist not involved in the case.
Because the state Supreme Court can nullify an appellate ruling by granting
review, he said, judges seldom rely on those rulings until after the high
court denies review.

The court has 60 days to decide whether to take the case and can extend
that period by another 30 days. If it grants review, a ruling could take a
year or more.

If review is denied, the appellate ruling will become binding on trial
courts statewide and could be used to close all medical marijuana clubs.

The San Francisco club, formerly known as the Cannabis Buyers Club, sold
marijuana illegally to cancer and AIDS patients and others for years
without interference from local police. Lungren's office raided it in the
summer of 1996, got a shut-down order and also obtained a criminal
indictment against club founder Dennis Peron and others.

After Prop.215 passed in November 1996, Garcia let the club reopen, saying
it was a "primary caregiver" for thousands of patients who were allowed to
use marijuana at their doctors' recommendation. But the 1st District Court
of Appeal ruled Dec. 12 that the club, as a commercial enterprise open to
the public, could not be a primary care-giver, and that Prop.215 did not
legalize marijuana sales.

Two weeks ago, federal prosecutors filed separate lawsuits to shut down the
club and five others in California, noting that marijuana remains illegal
under federal law. No action has been taken on those suits.

At Friday's hearing, Senior Assistant Attorney General John Gordnier argued
that Garcia was bound by last month's appellate ruling and should order the
club closed immediately. The club's lawyer, J. David Nick, contended the
ruling has no binding effect while it is being appealed to the Supreme
Court. Garcia deferred a decision.

After the hearing, Nick told reporters the club "will continue to operate
until the Supreme Court says otherwise." If a shutdown is ordered, Peron
said earlier this month, "we are going to go perfectly limp and be carried
away" rather than cooperate.

Even if the appellate ruling is upheld, Nick said, the case will eventually
go to trial, and "we would ask any jury to nullify any laws that would
prohibit this type of activity, which is providing medicine to people who
are ill."