Ukiah cinema sells cannabis to terminal

UKIAH The theater still shows old black and white movies and
film posters line the walls at the Forks Theater.

But beginning Monday, there will be a new kind of concession stand
treat, and it won't be popcorn, Goobers or Junior Mints. The white
clapboard building is set to become home to the Ukiah Cannabis Club,
which will provide marijuana to the termin~ly ill.

Among the items for sale will be "Green Five Star Medicinal" at $20 per
gram, "Mexican B" at $5 per gram~ There also will be pot brown ies,
cookies and muffins.

Despite the inviting decor miniature figures of silent film stars and
white park benches inside director Cherrie Lovett said the club has a
serious mission.

"This is a medical facility," she said. "This is not a place to
party."

The club's purpose will be a place where sick people can buy marijuana or
potlaced baked goods, Lovett said. They also will be able to talk to
counselors or relax among people with common ailments.

Loveft suffers from lupus and has been smoking marijuana to help
stimulate her appetite and keep off hard drugs such as morphine. She
founded the club because of her experience with the Cannabis Club of San
Francisco, where she said she was impressed with its family
atmosphere.

The opening of the club comes just days after a federal judge barred the
government from prosecuting doctors who recommend marijuana to their
patients. The action Friday was an important victory for backers of
Proposition 215, the state initiative approved last November by
California voters.

Mendocino County Sheriff Jim Tuso and District Attorney Susan Massini so
far have refused to publicly comment on the Ukiah club.

In the theater's backstage area isln the most recent incident, on March
25, a mask worn by an inmate who was being executed caught fire, sending
footlong flames into the air and filling the execution chamber
with smoke.

Jones had petitioned the court to stop his execution on the
ground that the inmate in the March 25 incident, Pedro Medina, suffered
horribly.

b (sic?) the "weighing room," where assistant club director Timothy
McClellan carefully takes marijuana from plastic tubs and measures grams
into small plastic bags. The marijuana comes from growers in Mendocino
and Humboldt counties and from as far away as the Lake Tahoe area.

There's even a doorman who will lead customers to a front desk where
they will be required to present club identification and a separate photo
identification. Potential members must present medical files to justify
the use of marijuana.

Loveff has taken her case to Mendocino County authorities and of~cials
and is confident that the club is legal under the provisions 6f
Proposition 215 and will be strictly regulated.

"We've had no one tell us they're opposed (to the club)," Lovell said.

The club is bordered primarily by commercial properties, including an
appliance store where Carol Keefauver works.

"I'm not thrilled about it, but we'll see how it goes," she said. "I'll
remain openminded."