DA asks feds to drop medical pot club case

http://www.sfgate.com

Jim Herron Zamora
OF THE EXAMINER STAFF
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan is asking federal official
s
not to prosecute owners of a medicinal marijuana club, saying that if the

case goes forward he would gladly testify for the defense.

"I would testify to the fact that this group was trying to comply with the

law in the state of California," Hallinan said Tuesday. "They made an effor
t
to demonstrate to us that this marijuana was only being grown for sick
people."

The federal government has stated its opposition to California's Propositio
n
215. Approved by voters in November, the measure legalized the cultivation

and distribution of marijuana for treatment of the nausea and pain
experienced by seriously ill people with AIDS, cancer and other diseases.

Just 10 days ago, a federal judge issued a temporary order blocking
prosecution of doctors who recommend pot to their patients. But that did no
t
deter federal agents from swooping down Monday on the Flower Therapy Club a
t
3180 17th St., confiscating equipment and more than 300 pot plants.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, which led the raid, maintains that
federal law is unaffected by the state initiative.

Hallinan said Tuesday that he had not yet spoken to Michael Yamaguchi, U.S.
attorney for Northern California, but that he believes federal prosecutors

will most likely decide to prosecute members of the marijuana growers' club

raided early Monday.

"I am asking United States Attorney Yamaguchi to reject this case," Hallina
n
said. "He and I have a good relationship and I think we can work this out."

Yamaguchi's office declined comment Tuesday. His office had earlier decline
d
to prosecute the Cannabis Buyer's Club, which was raided by state narcotics
agents last summer.

If the federal government does not back off, Hallinan said, "They are wadin
g
into a murky legal issue. ... This could be a real headache for them."

Stan Vegar, DEA spokesman in San Francisco, defended the raid, saying his
agency had announced its ongoing operations against growers. He said his
office would not respond to Hallinan's remarks or any other part of the
investigation.

"A decision has been made to suspend comments (on the case) as of this
morning. We're moving on and busy with lots of other things," Vegar said.

Hallinan said that Monday's raid appeared unusual because the amount of
marijuana recovered about 21/4 pounds fell well below the normal
threshold for federal prosecution. Normally, the federal government defers
to
local prosecutors in the Bay Area in cases involving less than 2 tons of
marijuana, Hallinan said.

"This does not qualify under the federal government's own written
guidelines," said Hallinan, pointing out that his office recently handled a

case involving 400 pounds of marijuana that the federal authorities thought

was too small. "Ordinarily federal law enforcement (agencies) only deal wit
h
major dealers. ... This was much too small."

Agents confiscated 331 marijuana plants, along with 15 light fixtures, time
rs
and various other equipment, according to a warrant signed by U.S. Magistra
te
Owen Woodruff Jr.