CLINTON ADMINISTRATION SUES 6 MARIJUANA CLUBS

SAN FRANCISCO -- Putting its weight for the first time behind efforts to
undercut California's voter-approved Proposition 215, the Clinton
administration Friday filed a flurry of lawsuits seeking to shut down six
different Northern California marijuana clubs.

The U.S. Justice Department filed the lawsuits in federal courts in San
Francisco, Oakland and San Jose, attempting to finally resolve a conflict
between federal drug laws and the state ballot initiative approved by
voters in November 1996 allowing the sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Federal officials did not move to close San Jose's Cannabis Center, though
word of the Justice Department's offensive produced some panic among the
club's operators and patrons. ``I'm relieved (we were not sued), but I know
we're not out of the woods,'' said Peter Baez, the center's executive
director. ``The federal government will do everything it takes. I'm sure
our time will come.''

The lawsuits name two clubs in San Francisco, including the Cannabis Club
owned by Proposition 215 author Dennis Peron, as well as the Oakland
Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, the Santa Cruz Cannabis Buyers Club and
operations in Marin and Ukiah, Calif.

Justice Department officials are asking the courts to issue injunctions
that would force the clubs to stop selling pot, which presumably would put
them out of business.

Once decided, the lawsuits are expected to have implications for marijuana
clubs throughout California, as well as other states, such as Arizona, that
have enacted similar laws.

In announcing the lawsuits, U.S. Attorney Michael Yamaguchi did not explain
what led to the decision to target certain clubs, or why federal officials
elected to confine the initiative to the Bay Area.

However, other law enforcement officials said Friday that Northern
California has been the focal point of the medical marijuana debate and was
a logical battleground for determining whether the pot clubs can survive
under federal law.

The lawsuits hinge on what has always been considered the most vulnerable
aspect of Proposition 215 -- that marijuana is illegal under federal law,
trumping any state laws permitting its use or sale. ``The issue is not the
medical use of marijuana, it is the persistent violation of federal law,''
Yamaguchi said.

Despite that potential conflict, California voters approved Proposition
215, which allows the possession and cultivation of marijuana if its use is
recommended by a doctor. Since then, medicinal marijuana clubs have opened
in more than a dozen cities throughout the state.

Even though Peron and other club owners vowed Friday to fight the federal
government, most officials familiar with the issue say the Clinton
Administration is certain to prevail in court.

``We've known all along that if the feds wanted to come in, there is a
conflict of law between California and the feds and the feds rule,'' said
Santa Clara County Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu, who supervises
the office's policy on the issue. ``It's first-year law student stuff.''

Since the passage of Proposition 215, federal law enforcement officials had
for the most part remained on the sidelines while California Attorney
General Dan Lungren led the charge against the clubs, particularly against
Peron and his operation. In fact, Lungren's efforts were given a boost just
a few weeks ago, when a state appellate court in San Francisco ruled that
clubs like Peron's cannot sell the drug to patients.

Peron, who defiantly called Friday's federal action a ``show of contempt
for states' rights,'' has indicated he plans to appeal that ruling next
week to the California Supreme Court. Lungren, meanwhile, said through a
spokesman Friday that he welcomed the Clinton Administration's decision to
move against pot clubs.

In an interview earlier this week, Lungren also backed off from earlier
pledges to shut down all pot clubs in the state. Instead, he said he would
take a selective approach. ``The media has made Dan Lungren the czar
against illegal marijuana,'' he said. ``That's just crazy. I don't have the
resources to do that.''

Until now, the Clinton administration appeared unsure of how and whether to
back Lungren. Federal law enforcement officials have been locked in an
internal struggle over how to proceed against California's pot clubs since
at least this spring, when Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided
San Francisco's Flower Therapy Medical Marijuana Club.

Federal sources say that raid provoked heated debate within the Justice
Department, with disagreement among agencies over the best way to enforce
federal drug laws without appearing to trample on the state's voters, who
had enacted Proposition 215.

Last May, a San Francisco federal judge described the Clinton
administration's drug policy as ``fickle'' when she blocked federal
officials from prosecuting California doctors for recommending marijuana to
their patients. But that ruling had no impact on how the federal government
approached the clubs' sale of the marijuana.

Court papers filed in connection with the lawsuits demonstrate that DEA
agents about the same time began a five-month undercover investigation to
gather evidence that the clubs were violating drug laws by selling
marijuana. Yamaguchi said the ultimate decision to file civil lawsuits, as
opposed to charging club owners with criminal violations, was a ``measured
approach'' to the marijuana sales.

According to the government's court papers, DEA agents found that marijuana
was being cultivated in some of the clubs and smoked on the premises of
others, in addition to selling the drug. Like Lungren, federal officials
allege that the clubs have lax standards in distributing marijuana, which
under Proposition 215 is supposed to be sold only to patients with medical
conditions such as pain and nausea associated with AIDS and cancer.

Operators such as San Jose's Baez say their clubs are set up like medical
clinics. In fact, the DA's office and San Jose City Attorney Joan Gallo
have closely regulated the local cannabis club and found it in compliance
with Proposition 215, one reason officials said Friday they believe the
Justice Department decided against including Baez's club in its court fight.

But even those club operators who must now square off against the Justice
Department say they have been wrongly targeted. And they are hoping groups
such as the American Civil Liberties Union come to their defense.

``I thought we were one of the tightest run facilities in the state,'' said
Jeffrey Jones, head of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative. ``We've
abided by all the local resolutions and have had no problems. I don't know
where this came from, but I thought it could happen.''

There is no timetable for the courts to review the Justice Department's
lawsuits. The first step in the process may involving consolidating the six
cases before the same federal judge.