Pubdate: Fri, 20 Apr 2001
Source: Press Democrat, The (CA)
Copyright: 2001 The Press Democrat
Contact:  http://www.pressdemo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348
Author: Michael Coit, The Press Democrat

ACQUITTAL DOESN'T EASE GROWER'S FEARS

Petaluma man says risk of arrest will keep him from cultivating marijuana, 
at least in Sonoma County.

The day after a jury found that Kenneth Hayes legitimately provided medical 
marijuana, he was back tending chickens, turkeys, ducks and a calf on the 
Petaluma ranch where he once raised hundreds of marijuana plants.

Yet Hayes said vindication doesn't ease his fears of another arrest and 
prosecution if he resumed growing marijuana.

"I probably am not going to resume growing in this county. It is 
unfortunate," he said. "However, I think I made my point that you can grow 
medical marijuana anywhere in the state for the sick and the dying."

Hayes said he continues to operate a San Francisco marijuana buyers club 
that also does social work in the neighborhood around the club.

Medical marijuana advocates said the acquittal Wednesday of Hayes and 
Michael S. Foley, who helped Hayes before moving to San Francisco, means 
caregivers exempted under California's medical marijuana law include people 
who grow marijuana for a number of people.

Hayes said he was growing marijuana for the 1,280-member San Francisco 
buyers club when the county's drug task force raided his rented ranch in 
May 1999 and arrested him.

Authorities seized about 600 plants growing in six greenhouses, 115 younger 
plants growing under fluorescent lights in a barn, and more than 180 
seedlings inside Hayes' home.

Prosecutors contended Hayes was dealing drugs and presented the jury with 
transaction records seized from Hayes' home.

"The reason for cultivating it in the first place was to lower the cost of 
the medicine so patients could get it at a lower reimbursement. Secondly, 
we could grow a higher-quality medicine," Hayes said.

All that remains, however, are the home and barn. Hayes removed the 
greenhouses, growing lights and other cultivating equipment.

Farm animals roam where the greenhouses stood.

Hayes, 33, lives with his girlfriend, Cheryl Sequeira, and their 2-year-old 
daughter on the ranch.

If Hayes did resume growing marijuana on the ranch, the one thing he would 
do differently is keep better written records. Hayes said he would document 
what he spent to develop and maintain the operation so he could show how 
money people paid for his product covered his actual costs and did not 
provide profits.

"However, being where I'm at, where there's still cowboy cops and a rogue 
D.A., I don't feel comfortable cultivating cannabis for the sick and dying 
and needy," he said.

District Attorney Mike Mullins and local law enforcement leaders say the 
medical marijuana law is vague. They say they have pursued cases to test 
the bounds of the law while waiting for the state to establish guidelines.

Hayes, who uses marijuana for a debilitating hip condition, said he might 
grow it in Mendocino County.

But he also said a buyers club he started in San Francisco, the Harm 
Reduction Center, currently gets enough marijuana from members who grow it 
to meet member demands.

When he was arrested, Hayes was associated with another San Francisco club. 
Hayes said he did grow marijuana for that club, Cannabis Helping Alleviate 
Medical Problems.

Harm Reduction Center operated out of a storefront of a residential hotel 
in the South of Market area of San Francisco until a recent fire severely 
damaged the building.

Hayes said he has moved into a new space nearby.

In addition to providing marijuana to buyers with medical needs, the club 
does community outreach, including weekly dinners and peer counseling, and 
runs a computer skills cafe.

Foley runs the buyers club Cannabis Helping Californians, also in San 
Francisco.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens