Date: Tue, 06 Aug 1996 18:00:33 -0500 From: "Carl E. Olsen" <[c--l] at [dsmnet.com]> Subject: California marijuana club reopens California marijuana club reopens despite state shutdown on Sunday Copyright ) 1996 Nando.net Copyright ) 1996 The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (Aug 5, 1996 5:23 p.m. EDT) -- A club that openly sold marijuana to people with AIDS, cancer and other diseases reopened its doors on Monday, a day after state drug agents cleaned out its cupboards. "We don't have any marijuana, but we have each other," said volunteer Gilbert Baker as a dozen people lined up outside. "We have love and compassion. That's what the club's been about from the start." The Cannabis Buyers' Club has sold marijuana to the seriously ill since it was founded in 1991. Boasting 11,000 members, the club operated from a storefront on busy Market Street. Club leaders made no secret of the fact they sold the illegal drug, and city police, under orders from elected officials, didn't disturb the operation. But on Sunday, state agents burst into the club, seizing more than 40 pounds of pot, documents and an unspecified amount of cash. The raid came after a two-year investigation during which undercover agents allegedly saw minors buying pot and people selling the drug to "patients" with "doctor's notes" scribbled on napkins or scrap paper. State Justice Department spokesman Steve Telliano said the club helped distribute large quantities of marijuana throughout the San Francisco Bay area. "This clearly was not a not-for-profit operation," he said. "We're still counting" the money. State attorneys will move to shut the club down permanently, Telliano said. No immediate arrests were made, although Telliano said some are possible after agents examine the evidence seized. Club founder Dennis Peron, who was out of town during the raid, insisted the club has rigid restrictions on who should be sold marijuana, and said he has thousands of doctors' notes as proof. Some marijuana users say it can stimulate appetite and relieve the nausea caused by chemotherapy. Several club supporters said they believed the raid was motivated by politics. Proposition 215, a statewide initiative legalizing the sale of marijuana for medical purposes, is on the November ballot, and the second floor of the Buyers' Club served as local campaignheadquarters. Attorney General Dan Lungren opposes the measure. "From my perspective, it's calculated to inflame those who can be inflamed so that the medicinal marijuana initiative fails," said Tony Serra, Peron's lawyer. Bill Zimmerman, campaign manager for the Yes on 215 campaign, said: "This is a nakedly political action on the part of Lungren. I can't remember a time when an elected official used police powers to interfere in an ongoing political campaign." Signs posted on the club's headquarters Monday read: "Fight Back -- Hands Off Our Medicine" and "Dan Lungren -- What About AIDS?" "They could put all of us in jail, and the other club members would open a new club by themselves," said volunteer Jeff Bullard. ********************************************************************** * Carl E. Olsen * [c--l] at [dsmnet.com] * * Post Office Box 4091 * NORML News archived at: * * Des Moines, Iowa 50333 * http://www.commonlink.com/~olsen/ * * (515) 262-6957 voice & fax * [c--o--n] at [mail.commonlink.com] * ********************************************************************** Reporters and Researchers are welcome at the world's largest on-line library of drug policy material at: http://www.druglibrary.org/