LACRC MEMBERS GO ON HUNGER STRIKE

As part of a wide crackdown on medical marijuana programs, the U.S.
Department of Justice moved on May 31 to seize the Los Angeles
Cannabis Resource Center's real estate assets under federal anti-drug
laws, prompting the center's leaders to begin a hunger strike.

Federal authorities are seeking the property, which was financed
partly by Wells Fargo Bank and the City of West Hollywood, as part of
an ongoing criminal probe into the center's activities. Federal law
says the government can seize any assets gained from trafficking in
banned drugs.

"For one reason or another, we've been specifically targeted," says
Scott Imler, the center's president. "I don't know why, other than
that they can't understand that anyone would know that patients could
be provided marijuana in a way that doesn't compromise public safety."

The LACRC was founded shortly after the 1996 passage of Proposition
215, which let severely ill patients grow or use marijuana with a nod
from their doctors. But the U.S. Supreme Court later effectively
killed the measure, ruling last year that "medical necessity" couldn't
justify exceptions to federal drug laws.

The LACRC, which grew and handed out marijuana to 960 sick members,
owns a building and a lot along Santa Monica Boulevard and is trying
to sell the property to repay its loans. The federal government aims
to seize the property's equity.

"We say they are violating federal law," says Thom Mrozek, a Justice
Department spokesman. "We haven't made any criminal findings yet. We
are investigating the matter, and we'll see what happens."

The latest federal action comes seven months after the Drug
Enforcement Agency raided the center and took bank records, computers
and $55,000, leading the group to stop distributing marijuana and
confine itself to legal activities like education. The courts have
placed a stay on that asset seizure pending any criminal charges.

Imler says the center plans to fight the action in court and will
request a civil jury trial.

"We're doing our best with our attorneys, both criminal and civil
attorneys, to file the necessary papers to challenge this, to lay the
groundwork for whatever litigation we'll find ourselves in," he says.

Imler and other activists began a hunger strike last Wednesday to
protest the federal action and held a vigil at the site.

"We intend to maintain the fast and vigil until this situation is
resolved," he says. "I guess you could call it our summer of
resistance."

The city, which stands to lose $350,000 in loans to the center if the
property's equity is seized, reacted angrily to the action, saying
Washington is persecuting ill patients.

"We followed the will of the voters of California, and what we're
seeing instead is that we are being treated by the DOJ like we're the
equivalent of Colombian drug lords," Councilman Jeffrey Prang says.
"And I don't think that the asset forfeiture law was ever envisioned
or anticipated to be used in the manner in which they are applying
it."

The city has "no intention of rolling over" and is weighing legal
action, Prang says.

Councilman John Duran, who is a lawyer for the center, says he expects
authorities to place a stay on the seizure until any criminal charges
are filed. There have been two grand jury hearings, but so far no
indictments.

"We are waiting to see if the federal government is going to prosecute
them for marijuana growing or distribution," Duran says.

"In this post-September 11 world, when we have so many real and true
threats to domestic security, for the Department of Justice to
prosecute very sick people with cancer and AIDS is just outrageous,"
he says.

The Justice Department is merely enforcing the law, Mrozek
says.

"There are strong beliefs in relation to this, but the viewpoint of
the United States is that the manufacture or cultivation and
distribution of a narcotic like marijuana is illegal, period," he
says. "And the government has listed marijuana as a Schedule One drug.

"And if there's an argument to be made about the listing, that should
be made with the people in Washington who make policy, and not with
law enforcement agencies that are sworn to uphold the law," Mrozek
says.

The Justice Department's legal move follows a similar action taken
against an Oakland cannabis club.