COURT DECISION THROWS CANNIBIS PLAN INTO QUESTION

Critics: State Planning To Coopt Buyer's Clubs?

An appellate court decision Dec. 13 barring cannabis clubs from selling the
drug has not derailed plans to craft a countyrun dispensary.

San Mateo County officials and a member of Attorney General Dan Lungren's
staff are slated to meet Jan. 9 to begin charting a course, spearheaded by
Supervisor Mike Nevin.

But Lungren's interest in helping launch a governmentrun dispensary while
moving aggressively against private clubs has raised a red flag for
critics, who suspect the attorney general is laying ground for a totally
staterun marijuana dispensation system.

Nevin's plan would have the county dispensing cannabis at no cost using
marijuana obtained in police raids.

Lungren was so impressed he lent staf f attorney John Gordinaire to Nevin's
task force. Friday's unanimous court decision stemmed from a state raid on
the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers' Club in August 1996. The club was closed
down, but allowed to reopen after the passage of Proposition 215 in
November of that year with the provision it would not realize a net profit.

Dennis Peron, director of the San Francisco club, has said he plans to
appeal the decision. He has 30 days to file.

Voters approved Proposition 215 and the sale of marijuana to qualified
patients to alleviate symptoms of cancer, glaucoma Is plan into question
and AIDS, such as pain, nause and loss of appetite.

According to Matt Ross, pres secretary for Lungren, "The deci sion says
three things: that doc tors can recommend marijuana use, that patients can
use with that recommendation if they grow their supply, or, if a patient is
too ill to do so, a caregiver may grow it instead."

Yet Nevin said the decision trengthens his case.

"My program now becomes nore viable," he said. "It's one

hing to say no to cannabis lubs, and another to find a iable way to meet
the terms of the law."

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted last month to continue a
moratorium on buyers' clubs for 10 months while Nevin's plan is being
researched.

Most patients who qualify Nevin puts the number at 1,500 to 2,000now
drive to the Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis Center, a nonprofit
agency, to obtain the medicine.

Santa Clara City Attorney Joan Gallo, has assured the center that the
ruling portends no threat to its clientsthe eldest of whom is 92.

If critics are correct in their assessment that Lungren is seeking to
replace all such centers with a government program, it would mark a
significant departure from a conservative Republican marketplace philosophy
that favors private sector solutions over government inter

Peron was busted by state narcotics agents after he allegedly agreed to
supply an undercover agent with cannabis for a proposed dispensary in the
Russian River area.

The man told Peron that he, too, had watched his lover succumb to
AlDSrelated illnesses and wanted to help alleviate the suffering of others.

"Lungren wanted to make a political point on the backs of sick and dying
people and thwart the democratic process," an enraged Perrone claimed
Thursday.

Nevin said the county houses $165,000 in confiscated marijuana at any given
time.

Some 20 centers are up and running throughout the state, and another 30 had
planned to open their doors in the coming weeks. More than 20,000 patients
have received cannabis as a medically approved treatment this year to date.

Critics charge Lungren building political ammunition

Critics also say Lungren bends the law to suit his political will. A
national gun control organization filed suit against him for allowing
owners of assault weapons, outlawed by the RobertiRoos law in 1989, to
continue registering them.

Lungren responded that provisions of the law were at odds with one another,
which cast doubt Oll its mandate that no more assault weapons could be
registered after a deadline date of 1992.

Proponents of medical marijuana said Lungren also claimed Proposition 215
was equally unclear, but went after buyers' clubs because he opposed their
intent.

They also say the attorney general is courting conservative votes in his
bid for governor. He has declared his intention to run for office in 1998.