Date: Sat, 12 Oct 1996 18:05:06 -0500 To: [iowanor m l] at [commonlink.com] From: "Carl E. Olsen" <[c--l] at [dsmnet.com]> Subject: Arrest details from SF Chronicle Front Page Pot Measure Author Arrested Charges from Raid on S.F. buyers' club Bly Glen Martin and Maitland Zane Chronicle Staff - Writers Dennis Peron, principal author of the controversial medical marijuana state ballot measure, was arrested yesterday on state charges related to sales of the plant through San Francisco's Cannabis buyers club. Peron was indicted Tuesday by the Alameda County grand jury on charges of possession of marijuana for sale, the sale or transportation of marijuana and conspiracy. After being taken into custody and transported to Alameda County Jail, Peron was released on his own recognizance. Five other people associated with the Cannabis Buyers' Club- Peter Veilleux, Antonio Martinez, John Hudson, Elizabeth Moore and Adam Perry-were indicted on similar charges, and their arrests are being sought. Peron aroused the ire of state Attorney General Dan Lungren, who ordered yesterday's arrests, for his role in writing and promoting Proposition 215. The November ballot initiative would decriminalize the use of marijuana for people who have recommendations from their doctors. At a news conference in Los Angeles yesterday, Lungren said a two-year investigation initiated by San Francisco police and completed by state drug agents found that the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers' Club was providing marijuana to people who weren't ill, including children and drug peddlers. "The timing has nothing to do with 215," Lungren said. San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan disagreed. "I think he's doing it (with an eye) to his campaign against Proposition 215 and his ambitions for higher office," Hallinan said at a press conference yesterday at the Hall of Justice. Hallinan characterized Lungren as "petty," saying the attorney general was stung by the local reaction to the raid on the club. The incident was recently lampooned in a series of Doonesbury cartoon strips, which further angered Lungren. "(Lungren) has as belligerent and vindictive an attitude toward marijuana as he does toward cartoonists," Hallinan said. Shortly after his release from jail, Peron agreed that his arrest was politically motivated. "But I know everything will work out," Peron said. "This is going to backfire on Lungren. Filing these charges two weeks before the election is a feeble attempt to trick the electorate to vote against Proposition 215. Peron denied that he sold marijuana to anyone who wasn't sick or didn't have letters of diagnosis from a physician. "The four teenagers we sold to were ill with leukemia, AIDS or cancer, and all had parental permission," he said. Peron's arrest had been anticipated since the Cannabis Buyers' Club was raided by state agents on August 4. The raid netted narcotics officers $60 000 in cash and 150 pounds of marijuana. The arrest was unusual, however, inasmuch as it was not handled through the usual channels. By obtaining a warrant for Peron through the Alameda County grand Jury, the attorney general skirted the jurisdiction of Hallinan and San Francisco Police Chief Fred Lau, neither of whom were inclined to pursue charges against Peron. The Cannabis Buyers' Club had operated with the tacit approval of law enforcement authorities in San Francisco since it opened in 1992. Peron, 50, was arrested about 10 a.m. at his Castro district apartment by three agents from the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement armed with the grand jury indictment. "We were just sitting around, reading the papers and drinking coffee when the doorbell rang, said Basil Gabriel, a friend of Peron's who helped organize the medical marijuana buyers' club in Santa Cruz. "The BNE officers asked if Dennis was home, and when I said he was, they walked in and identified themselves. Dennis asked, 'Am I under arrest?' When they said yes, he said, 'OK, let's go."' The bust came as no surprise to Peron, who had been "waiting for the other shoe to drop" since August, friends said. "Dennis told me last night there had been rumors all week, and he expected something might come down today," Gabriel said. "He was quite calm about it all." Peron was not present at his bail hearing at Alameda Superior Court yesterday. His attorney, J. David Nick, asked Judge Ronald Sabraw to release Peron on his own recognizance. Deputy Attorney General Mark Howell argued that the charges were too serious for such a move and asked the Judge to impose a $25,000 bail. In releasing Peron, the judge observed that Peron does not pose a flight risk because he owns a house in San Francisco, is a lifelong Bay Area resident and is not accused of committing a violent crime. Peron has been arrested more than a dozen times on drug-related charges. A recent Field Poll shows that Proposition 215 is favored by likely voters in California by a 2-to-1 ratio. ----------------------------------------- NEWS FROM ISLAND OUTPOST An Environmental Educational Foundation ----------------------------------------- For additional information: Steve Kubby, Director of Communications (916) 581-1115 Internet: [k--b--y] at [alpworld.com] ----------------------------------------- ********************************************************************** * 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--l] at [mail.commonlink.com] * **********************************************************************