Pubdate: Tue, 18 Jul 2000
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053
Fax: (213) 237-4712
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Forum: http://www.latimes.com/home/discuss/
Author: Michelle Locke, Associated Press Writer

JUDGE OKS POT FOR OAKLAND CLUB

OAKLAND, Calif.--As activists praise a federal judge's decision clearing the
way for an Oakland club to distribute marijuana for medicinal purposes,
Wayne Johnson hopes it will help him avoid the risk of buying it on the
street.

"I really appreciate it," said Johnson, who suffers from chronic back pain.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Monday modified a 1998 order
forbidding marijuana sales at the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative,
saying the government hasn't proven why seriously ill patients should be
denied the drug.

"It's a historic day," said Jeff Jones, executive director of the co-op.

John Entwhistle, spokesman for the group that wrote Proposition 215, the
1996 ballot measure authorizing medical marijuana, called the decision a
beginning. "We think at least the feds are starting to recognize the
strength and reality of the medical necessity of using marijuana as
medicine, at least for certain conditions."

Justice Department spokeswoman Gretchen Michael said officials are reviewing
the decision.

It is the latest development in a years-old conflict between federal drug
regulations and Proposition 215, which has been tangled up in court since
California voters approved it.

The state initiative allows seriously ill patients to grow and use marijuana
for pain relief, with a doctor's recommendation, without being prosecuted
under state law. But federal law says marijuana has no medical purpose and
cannot be administered safely under medical supervision.

Similar measures have passed in Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada,
Oregon and Washington state.

In allowing the Oakland club to operate, Breyer modified an injunction he
issued in 1998 that shut down that club and five others. He noted that the
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ordered him to consider
an exemption for patients who face imminent harm and have no effective legal
alternative to marijuana. The Oakland club was the only one that had
appealed.

Johnson, 48, was at the club's storefront headquarters Monday afternoon to
buy rolling papers. He has been using marijuana to alleviate pain from a
back injury following a car accident.

When the club closed, he tried to get friends to buy it for him. When they
balked, he went out himself, but never got used to buying on the street.

"This helps a lot of people," he said.
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