DRUG CZAR TO GET S.F. INVITE TO POT CLUBS

Supervisor Hopes He'll Rethink Policy After Seeing Benefits

A San Francisco supervisor wants to invite America's top drug cop to check
out local medical marijuana programs before his agents completely destroy them.

"I would like (DEA Administrator) Asa Hutchinson to come and see for
himself what we are doing here," said Supervisor Mark Leno, who will
present a formal resolution to the full Board of Supervisors this week.
"Before his agency attacks our public health system, I would like him first
to see how we are helping the lives of many unfortunate people."

Leno's resolution asks the Drug Enforcement Administration to reassess its
plans to shut down medical marijuana clubs and prosecute the proprietors
and suppliers.

"We want the federal government to respect a model program that we have
designed and is administered by our Department of Public Health," Leno
said. "We reiterate that medical cannabis is a health issue, not a criminal
issue."

The resolution comes in response to yesterday's DEA raid on a South of
Market medical marijuana club. Agents confiscated hundreds of plants and
arrested three Bay Area men who allegedly provided the drug to patients.

The raid came the same day that Hutchinson told a hostile crowd of 200 in
San Francisco that "science has told us so far there is no medical benefit
for smoking marijuana."

Hutchinson also said that it is his agency's job to enforce federal law
outlawing marijuana -- even if California voters approve of its medical use.

Among those arrested were Edward Rosenthal of Oakland, the author of more
than a dozen books on marijuana cultivation and a longtime columnist at
High Times magazine. He turned a former Carnation dairy in West Oakland
into a sophisticated pot farm, according to court documents.

The DEA also raided homes in San Francisco, Oakland and Petaluma where
hundreds of plants were allegedly grown.

Yesterday's bust focused on the Harm Reduction Center at 52 Sixth St.,
which serves about 200 patients a day, including many with AIDS or cancer.
Under a plan developed with help from the district attorney's office, the
patients were required to show proof of a doctor's referral.

"They wiped us out, essentially," said David Witty, who runs the center
with Richard Watts.

Watts, Rosenthal and Kenneth Hayes of Petaluma, who allegedly supplied the
Sixth Street center and allegedly grows pot plants at his home on King Road
in Petaluma, were charged with cultivating more than 100 plants and
maintaining a place to grow pot. If convicted, each faces up to 40 years in
prison.

The timing of the dawn bust -- 12 hours before Hutchinson gave a speech on
federal drug policy in San Francisco -- angered marijuana advocates. But
the raid spotlighted the Bush administration's tougher stand on medical
marijuana.

"At a time when everyone is on alert for terrorism, the DEA has decided to
go after chronically ill people who use marijuana," said Jeff Jones, head
of Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative.

After California voters approved medicinal marijuana under Proposition 215
in 1996, many local prosecutors have been reluctant to pursue medical pot
clubs. The Clinton administration wanted to close the clubs, but focused
most criminal efforts on cocaine and heroin trafficking.

That has changed since President Bush took office and the U.S Supreme Court
affirmed last year that federal drug laws take precedence over Proposition 215.

Last fall, the DEA shut down the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center in
West Hollywood and confiscated thousands of records from a doctor in El
Dorado County who gave medical marijuana referrals to patients.

Yesterday's raid came the same day that Bush announced plans to reduce
illegal drug use by 25 percent in five years.

"These guys all like states' rights until it comes to medical marijuana,"
said Keith Stroup, of the National Organizational for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws. "Then they suddenly back big government."

Hayes, who was detained for extradition in Vancouver, Canada, was released
on bail today after he asked authorities there for political asylum, his
attorneys said.

In San Francisco, bail was set at $500,000 for Rosenthal today and his
attorney expected him to be released shortly.

"It's absurd when the people of the state of California have said people
should be able to smoke marijuana if they need it medically, and the feds
don't care," defense lawyer Dennis Roberts said after the bail hearing.

Rosenthal, 58, has been referred to as the "guru of ganja" and "is probably
the leading author on marijuana cultivation," Stroup said.

"These arrests are high-profile. They are not drug busts. The feds are
trying to quash a political movement."

San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan joined supervisors Leno,
Tom Ammiano and Chris Daly yesterday in denouncing the raid to a crowd of
about 100 outside the Commonwealth Club, where Hutchinson spoke.

"I call on the DEA to respect the wishes of the voters of California and
stay out of the marijuana clubs of San Francisco," Hallinan said.

Chronicle staff writer Bob Egelko contributed to this report.