POT ADVOCATES URGE JUDGE TO LIFT BAN

SAN FRANCISCO -- Medical marijuana advocates who lost a similar case before
the U.S. Supreme Court returned to court Friday, asking a judge to allow a
cannabis club to sell pot to the sick if they have a doctor's recommendation.

U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer said he would issue an opinion later.

Mark Quinlivan, the Justice Department's lead attorney, urged Breyer to
make his preliminary ban on medicinal pot sales permanent. That could lead
to another round of appeals and perhaps another appearance before the
Supreme Court.

The high court's May decision addressed only the issue of whether medical
marijuana use violates a 1970 federal low that says pot, like heroin and
LSD, has no medical benefits and cannot by prescribed by doctors. The
ruling also left intact Breyer's earlier order prohibiting the Oakland
Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative from dispensing marijuana.

Lawyers for the Oakland club said that narrow ruling allows them to argue
other issues such as states' rights. While those arguments remain alive,
the injunction should be lifted, they said.

"This case is very far from over," said Annette Carnegie, a lawyer
representing the club.

The government has done little to enforce the high court's ruling. What
little action has been taken has been in California, including a raid on a
West Hollywood cannabis club in October.

California was the first state to approve a medical marijuana law, in 1996.