KEN HAYES STAYING IN CANADA AFTER MARIJUANA BUST

Ex-Petaluman Says He's An Attractive Target To Feds

A former Petaluma resident who was arrested in Canada two weeks ago on
federal marijuana charges said the government is targeting him because
he has proven with a previous acquittal that it is possible to grow
medical marijuana in spite of federal laws.

Hayes was arrested in Vancouver Feb. 12 based on a complaint filed in
federal district court in Oakland by Drug Enforcement Administration
Special Agent Jon Pickette.

The complaint charges Hayes and Richard Watts of San Francisco with
growing marijuana for sale at the 6th Street Harm Reduction Center, a
medical marijuana buyers club in San Francisco.

According to the complaint, police found marijuana plants growing
indoors when they conducted raids on the King Road property where
Hayes lived until mid-January, and at the 6th Street Harm Reduction
Center. The raids occurred Jan. 9 and Feb. 12.

Hayes and Watts face three charges of cultivating marijuana and
maintaining a place for cultivation, punishable by five to 40 years in
prison for each charge. Officials also arrested a third man, Edward
Rosenthal of Oakland.

Hayes has been living in Canada since Jan. 13 with his partner Cheryl
Sequeira and their 3-year-old daughter. He would not say whether or
not he was still involved with the San Francisco buyers' club.

In a telephone interview, Hayes said he and his family moved to Canada
"because we're fleeing the drug wars. They're infringing upon
patients' rights to self-medicate."

Medical marijuana policies are more "humane' in Canada than in the
U.S., where federal anti-marijuana laws take precedent over some laws
in some states that legalize marijuana for medical use, Hayes said.

According to Hayes, federal DEA agents used paid informants to concoct
a case against him.

But an affidavit in support of the search warrants for the King Road
and San Francisco locations, details a surveillance operation begun in
April, 2001 which turned up evidence that Watts and Hayes were
involved in marijuana trafficking between the U.S. and Canada.

Hayes questions the efficacy of government resources spent in busting
producers of medical marijuana which, he said, is harmless at worst
and valuable for pain relief and other medical purposes at best.

He said he is an attractive target because he was already acquitted in
Sonoma County Superior Court last year for growing 899 plants for the
6th Street center. Marijuana for medical sue is legal under California
law.

"Why is it they want to target medical marijuana so badly when they
could be going after things that are really harmful?" he asked. "They
want to target me because I've been outspoken, forthright and
acquitted by a jury of my peers."