Date: Wed, 07 Aug 1996 21:17:13 -0500 From: "Carl E. Olsen" <[c--l] at [dsmnet.com]> Subject: SF Chron coverage of Pot Bust The following appeared in the Chron 8/6/96. There's another article on Denis Peron which I'll post later: PAGE ONE Glen Martin, Harriet Chiang, Catherine Bowman, Chronicle Staff Writers A raid by state narcotics agents on the nation's largest public marijuana outlet resulted in a dogfight yesterday between the attorney general's office and San Francisco public officials, who assailed the seizure as ``storm-trooper tactics.'' The skirmishing took place in the courts and city government chambers -- as well as on the streets, where hundreds of protesters marched during the day and at night. Each side tried to put its spin on the bust of the Cannabis Buyers' Club, which reportedly sold 100 pounds of marijuana a week to 12,000 clients for medical purposes. At least 100 pounds of cured marijuana, $50,000 and about 11,000 records of pot-smoking clients were seized during the raid Sunday morning. The homes of club staffers and affiliates also were raided. No arrests were made. At a news conference yesterday, Joe Doane, chief of the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, displayed the evidence seized, including smoking paraphernalia, packages of $1, $10 and $20 bills and 15 bags bulging with pungent cannabis buds. Agents also played a videotape showing people carrying toddlers and infants around a room at the club that was allegedly beclouded with marijuana smoke. ``It (was) almost like a day care environment,'' said Doane. He added that club staffers sometimes sold marijuana in quantities clearly in excess of that required for personal use, and that pot was peddled to people who had sore backs, yeast infections, insomnia and colitis. Doane estimated that the club was selling about $35,000 worth of marijuana each day, and he added, ``The driving force of this club is profit.'' Across town, the atmosphere was tense in the courtroom of San Francisco Superior Court Judge William Cahill, which was packed with pot advocates. After hearing spirited arguments from a representative of the club and prosecutors, Cahill granted Deputy Attorney General John Gordinier's request for a temporary restraining order prohibiting the club from purveying marijuana from its headquarters at 1444 Market St. Cahill also worked out a compromise between the attorney general's office and attorney David J. Nick, who is representing several defendants in the case. The agreement will keep all seized records sealed until they are evaluated by an independent expert for their value of evidence. Mayor Willie Brown had no comment yesterday on the raid, according to his press secretary, Kandace Bender, who said he did not have enough details to discuss it. Several members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, led by Tom Ammiano, expressed support for the ``legalization and appropriate medical use'' of marijuana and called for a hearing into the raid. ``I feel really angry at the way (the attorney general's office) did it,'' Ammiano said. ``It's the worst kind of political opportunism. We could have worked with them. Instead, they chose these storm- trooper tactics.'' San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan said he is ``very disturbed'' at the attorney general's action, adding that he did not know the raid was pending. Hallinan said the prosecution of marijuana cases was his lowest priority, that he supported the medical use of marijuana and that he had made it clear to the San Francisco Police Department that he was not interested in trying to build a case against the club. But Hallinan also said he had met with club administrators in June to warn them that they ``needed to clean up their act.'' ``I told them that if they didn't keep better paperwork and watch who they were selling to, we'd have to prosecute,'' said Hallinan. Hallinan said he still had no intention of bringing charges against the club, ``as long as the complaints don't go any farther than the affidavit indicates -- as long as there isn't a cocaine ring involved or anything like that.'' Meanwhile, several hundred protesters -- many of them inhaling robustly on marijuana -- took to the streets yesterday and again last night, marching several blocks from the Hall of Justice on Bryant Street to the building containing Cahill's courtroom on Folsom Street during the daytime and along Market Street at night. Along the way they chanted ``Arrest us all!'' and ``Free Mary Jane!'' The idea of pursuing a case against the club was first floated two years ago by the Police Department's narcotics division. According to Captain Greg Corrales, the narcotics division's commanding officer, inspectors began investigating the club in 1994 after residents complained. ``Ultimately, 20 officers bought pot there, and five actually joined the club on the strength of bogus `doctor's notes' they wrote in longhand,'' said Corrales. Inspectors took the case to then-District Attorney Arlo Smith, who declined to prosecute. Police then turned the case over to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, which in turn sent it to the state attorney general when the U.S. attorney wasn't interested. ``Through it all, we had only one (San Francisco police) officer working on it, and he had special experience in this area,'' said Corrales. ``I knew the general direction of his assignment, but not the details.'' The Cannabis Buyers' Club has been embroiled in controversy since it was formed in 1994 to provide marijuana to patients with AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and other illnesses. Club founder Dennis Peron said he expects ``five or six'' club members ultimately to be arrested. ``They're desperate,'' Peron said of the attorney general's office. ``They're afraid we'll win in November.'' Peron was referring to Proposition 215, the state ballot initiative he recently drafted. If approved by voters, it could legalize marijuana for medical purposes, decriminalize marijuana cultivation for personal use and protect physicians who prescribe marijuana from prosecution. With no wares to sell, the Cannabis Buyers' Club was quiet yesterday. ``It's sad,'' said club spokesman John Entwistle. ``There are probably a lot of sick people scraping their pipes today because they weren't able to get the medical marijuana they needed.'' EDITORIAL -- Busting the Cannabis Club FOR THE PAST five years, the Cannabis Buyers' Club in San Francisco has openly sold marijuana to people with serious illnesses and local law enforcement officials have averted their gaze, humanely allowing it to operate without harassment. In fact, this enlightened community has all but decriminalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes and does not want or need the heavy hand of state Attorney General Dan Lungren to enforce his puritanical anti-drug notions that defy common sense. Nonetheless, Lungren on Sunday dispatched state drug enforcement agents for a high-profile bust of the Market Street pot emporium. The attorney general's critics accuse him of making political hay by demonstrating his tough anti-drug stance at the expense of some 11,000 club members. The issue is not about recreational drug use. The pot club was a place where sick people, without an illegal drug connection, were able to purchase the weed that they say provides relief from the agonies of cancer, AIDS and many other diseases. It is a pity that Lungren cannot mind his own business, and let San Francisco handle the local use of marijuana as medicine. ------------------------ Raid on Pot Club Reignites Fight Medical use -- again a burning issue David Tuller, Chronicle Staff Writer PAGE ONE -- A raid on the nation's largest public marijuana outlet has resulted in a dispute between the attorney general's office and S.F. officials The debate over medical uses of marijuana has been simmering for years. To advocates, the question is one of compassion for people with AIDS, cancer and other life- threatening diseases. To opponents, the idea represents a dangerous first step down the road toward full-scale legalization. Sunday's raid of San Francisco's Cannabis Buyers' Club, which provides marijuana to people with serious illnesses, brings the issue to the forefront once again. In the past, Governor Pete Wilson has vetoed legislation that would have allowed such use. In November, a ballot initiative will give Californians the opportunity to render their own verdict on the issue. The federal government classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug -- the most stringent classification. Schedule I drugs are those believed to have a high potential for abuse and to lack acceptable medical uses. By contrast, cocaine, which can be legally used for some medical purposes, is a Schedule II drug. The debate attained a higher profile last year when the Journal of the American Medical Association published ``a plea for reconsideration'' by two Harvard professors who are well-known proponents of the medical use of marijuana. In the article, psychiatrist Lester Grinspoon and lawyer James Bakalar noted that the drug was widely recommended in the 19th century as ``an appetite stimulant, muscle relaxant, analgesic, hypnotic and anti-convulsant.'' They and other proponents argue that it can be among the most effective treatments for the wasting syndrome common among people with AIDS, nausea induced by treatments for AIDS and cancer, and ocular pressure associated with glaucoma. People with epilepsy and multiple sclerosis also say marijuana can relieve their symptoms. Opponents counter that THC, the most active ingredient in marijuana, is already available as an oral medication through a doctor's prescription. They also say that studies have not proven that smoking marijuana is an effective treatment for pain, nausea or any other symptoms associated with major illnesses. ``Most of the arguments are anecdotal rather than scientific -- people saying, `I took it, and I felt better,' '' said Herbert Kleber, medical director of the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. ``I have certainly not seen any compelling reason why you would need to smoke it as opposed to taking the existing oral formulation or other medications that are available.'' Advocates of medical use say that it can be difficult for people suffering from nausea to ingest and keep down the oral THC medication. Moreover, they say smoking the drug makes it easier for people to adjust the dose to their needs. And while they acknowledge that more studies would be helpful, they blame the government for blocking avenues of research because of its staunch opposition to legalization. ``It is true that we do not have studies controlled according to the standards required by the FDA -- chiefly because legal, bureaucratic and financial obstacles are constantly put in the way,'' wrote Grinspoon and Bakalar in their JAMA commentary. ********************************************************************** * 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/