An informal collection of news articles and e-mail occasioned by the California state police raid on the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers' Club on Sunday morning, Aug. 4, 1996. Additional stories may be added as they become available. (Contributions of additional material are always welcome.) What follows is more or less chronological, beginning with the first news alerts.
The San Francisco Cannabis Buyers' Club Raid
Return-Path: aal01@teleport.com
Date: Sun, 4 Aug 1996 17:49:32 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Anti-Prohibition Lg."
Subject: Re: SFCBC BUSTED (fwd)
Sorry if you got this but it's too important to take a chance that YOU
don't know...
Thanks.
Floyd.
AMERICAN ANTI-PROHIBITION LEAGUE 3125 SE Belmont Street
Floyd Ferris Landrath - Director Portland, Oregon 97214
AAL01@teleport.com 503-235-4524
"Drug War, or Drug Peace?"
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 4 Aug 1996 19:36:22 -0500 (CDT)
From: adbryan@onramp.net
Subject: Re: SFCBC BUSTED
Ralph Hodges posted the following to the DPFT list.
This is TOTAL BULLSHIT!!!!! I think we should launch
a series of phone calls tomorrow. Could someone provide
pertinate telephone & fax numbers. I'm not talking about
the media. I would like the numbers for every law enforcement
agency involved.
***
According to local radio reports, the cannabis buyers club in San Francisco
has been raided by state police. There have been no arrests so far. The
buyers club supports the doctor-certified medical needs of approximately
10,000 AIDS, cancer and other patients in the San Francisco Bay area.
The buyers club was directed by Dennis Peron until he recently stepped down
to concentrate on the California medical marijuana initiative. Initiative
headquarters, housed in the same building, was not disturbed in any way.
According to reports, approximately 100 state police officers were involved
in the raid. The state police are at the beck and call of Gov. Pete Wilson,
who twice vetoed California state legislation which would have allowed
limited access to marijuana for doctor-certified medicinal purposes. Raids
on cannabis buyers clubs are at the lowest police priority, because of a San
Francisco city ordinance so ordering. Therefore harassment can only come
from the state or federal levels of government.
Passage of the medical marijuana initiative this November would clearly be
a snub of Gov. Wilson's policies. It is unclear at this time whether his
jack-booted tactics will cause a backlash reponse on the part of the voting
public.
--- Ralph Hodges
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Return-Path: mregen@ix.netcom.com
Date: Sun, 4 Aug 1996 17:58:41 -0700
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen)
Subject: Re: SFCBC BUSTED
You wrote:
>At noon tomorrow (Aug. 5th) a rally to protest this OUTRAGE will be
>held at the State Building on Mc Allister & Van Ness.
Just talked to CCU in SF - tonight is a march at 5:00 pm at Castro &
Market, tomorrow's 12:00 pm rally at the state bldg will be followed by
a protest at 1:30 pm at the courthouse at 850 Bryant. Start writing
those letters - the gov't is proving what we've been saying all along -
it is time for a LEGALIZED and REGULATED system of distribution for
medical marijauna!
More to come,
Marnie Regen
--------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: mregen@ix.netcom.com
Date: Sun, 4 Aug 1996 18:10:38 -0700
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen)
Subject: SFCBC: Wilson's phone & fax, CA state police
Alan B. wrote:
>Could someone provide pertinate telephone & fax numbers. I'm not
>talking about the media. I would like the numbers for every law
>enforcement agency involved.
Apparantly state police were called in under the jurisdiction of Gov.
Wilson. Here are phone & fax numbers:
Governor Pete Wilson
916-445-2864 phone
916-445-4633 fax
CA State Police - Golden Gate Division
707-648-4180 or 707-648-5550 phone
- UPDATE - San Francisco, August 4, 1996, 8 pm PDT
S.F. MEDICAL MARIJUANA BUYERS' CLUB RAID
Protest Rally Mon., Aug. 5, Noon at State Building, McAllister & Van Ness, S.F.
Court Hearing at Hall of Justice, 850 Bryant St., 1:30pm.
State narcotics authorities raided the San Francisco medical
marijuana buyers' club this morning.
The raid was conducted by 100 agents from the state Bureau of
Narcotics Enforcement, directed by Attorney General Dan Lungren (contrary
to initial reports, Lungren was not personally present at the raid).
The San Francisco Cannabis Buyers' Club, which has 11,000 members,
serves patients with medical need for marijuana. BNE spokesmen charged
that the club was being used to distribute marijuana to other persons as
well. They said agents had bought marijuana at the club, and that it has
been under investigation for two years. CBC spokesmen said they have
striven to restrict use to medical patients, and actually refused
admittance to narcotics agents who had tried to gain entry without medical
credentials.
The raid began at 7:30 Sunday morning, a time when the club was
not serving clients. Gun-toting agents broke down the doors and carried
away the club's medical records, 40 pounds of pot, and an undisclosed
amount of cash. Five other locations associated with club personnel were
raided. Several club personnel, including CBC manager Beth Moore, an AIDS
patient, were taken into custody, but subequently released. CBC founder
Dennis Peron was on a speaking engagement out of the country. No arrest
warrants have been filed.
Law enforcement officials claimed that the raid was aimed against
the directors of the club, not its customers. They said that the purpose
of the raid was to collect evidence. Noting that the CBC is also involved
in the Proposition 215 campaign to legalize medical use of marijuana, BNE
spokesman stated they were "specifically staying away from campaign
materials" having to do with the intiative. Attorney General Lungren and
the California Narcotics Officers Association are avowed opponents of Prop.
215.
California NORML coordinator Dale Gieringer denounced the raid,
saying, "This raid proves the need to pass Prop. 215. The Attorney
General has made it plain that he not opposes medical use of marijuana, but
is also intent on wasting taxpayers' money enforcing laws against it."
CBC managers vowed to reopen the club tomorrow. It is uncertain
whether the club will be allowed to remain open, or whether the state will
obtain an injunction against its operation.
A rally to protest the CBC raid will be held at the State Building
in San Francisco, Mc Allister & Van Ness Ave, at noon, Monday, August 5th.
CBC supporters also plan to be on hand for a court hearing at the
SF Courthouse, 850 Bryant St., at 1:30 PM.
--------
Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858 // canorml@igc.apc.org
2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114
--------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: borden@intr.net
Aug 1996 21:19:22 -0400 (EDT)
Date: Sun, 4 Aug 1996 21:19:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: David Borden
Subject: SF Buyers' Club Raided - Protests Tonight & Tomorrow (8/4-8/5)
Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet)
Rapid Response Team
Please copy and distribute.
---------
The San Francisco Cannabis Buyers' Club, which provides
medical marijuana to about 10,000 patients, and five other
smaller clubs in San Francisco, were raided at 7:30 this
morning (Sunday August 4). Reportedly, sixteen people were
taken into custody. This raid comes as the campaign for
Prop. 215, the California Medical Marijuana Initiative, and
the opposition to Prop. 215, have begun to move into gear.
We will be publishing more information on Prop. 215 and its
proponents and opponents in the next issue of The Activist
Guide, currently in preparation.
We have just learned that protests in San Francisco in
support of the Buyers' Club are planned for: 1) this evening
(Sunday 8/4), at 5:00pm, meeting at 18th & Castro, and
walking to Market St. (the whole street is blocked off, and
the media is there in force); 2) tomorrow (Monday 8/5) at
noon, at the State Building on McAllister & Van Ness; and 3)
tomorrow at the State Courthouse at 850 Bryant St. at
1:30pm. If you are in the Bay Area, or can get there,
please go to protest this human rights violation and misuse
of the criminal justice system for political purposes. And
please call Gov. Pete Wilson at (916) 445-2841 and Attorney
General Dan Lungren at (916) 448-3853 (campaign office) or
(916) 445-9555 (Justice Dept.) to express your outrage.
Californians for Medical Rights issued the following press
release following the raid:
Californians for Medical Rights
Yes on 215
For Release: August 4, 1996
CONTACT: Dave Fratello at (310) 394-2952
Buyers' Club Bust Underscores Need for Prop. 215
---------
SANTA MONICA, August 4 -- Reacting to news this morning that
the "Cannabis Buyers' Club" (CBC) in San Francisco has been
raided by police, Californians for Medical Rights, the Yes
on Prop. 215 campaign, issued the following statement:
"The Cannabis Buyers' Club, one of the many groups in
California supporting Prop. 215, has suffered a serious blow
this morning. For some, the San Francisco CBC was a beacon
of hope.
"Our hearts go out to the 10,000 seriously and terminally
ill people served by the CBC. These patients were willing
to risk arrest to use a medicine that reduced their pain and
suffering. Many of them will now be deprived of that
medicine, which their doctors agreed was beneficial.
"The arrests this morning underscore the need for passage of
Prop. 215 this November. The seriously and terminally ill
people of California who find medical benefits from
marijuana are not criminals. Prop. 215 will make that fact
explicit under state law.
"Surely the dozens of police officers who participated in
this morning's arrests can be better employed chasing hard
criminals, even on a Sunday morning."
###
Californians for Medical Rights (CMR) -- YES ON 215 is a
non-partisan, non-affiliated committee formed in 1996.
CMR's focus is on protecting the legal rights of doctors and
patients who find marijuana useful in medical treatment.
CMR was instrumental in gathering sufficient signatures to
place Prop. 215 on the ballot -- over 775,000 were turned
over to county registrars on April 24.
125 Sixth Street #202, Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 394-2952 Fax: (310) 451-7494
Please note that we have included the CMR press release for
informational purposes, but that DRCNet and CMR are not
otherwise affiliated. Please also be advised that our web
sites and official e-mail addresses at drcnet.org are
temporarily offline. We expect to be back up by late this
week; in the meantime please address correspondence to
borden@intr.net. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Please help DRCNet survive by sending in your membership dues or
donation and/or signing up for the DRCNet/Affinity long-distance
calling plan for guaranteed savings off your current rates. Tax
deductibility is available for donations over the amount of
basic membership, if you include a separate check made out to
the Drug Policy Foundation; please note on the check that it is
for the DPF/DRCNet collaboration. Call (202) 362-0030 or e-mail
"drcinfo@drcnet.org" for an auto-reply file with more info on
all the above topics. DRCNet now accepts Visa and Mastercard.
Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet)
4455 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite B-500, Washington, DC 20008-2302
Phone: (202) 362-0030 Fax: (202) 362-0032
drcinfo@drcnet.org http://www.drcnet.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: owner-hemp-talk@blueberry.hemp.net
Date: Sun, 4 Aug 1996 20:36:41 -0700 (PDT)
Message-Id: <199608050336.UAA23088@mail.eskimo.com>
From: Tom Rohan
Subject: SF Buyers' Club Raided - Protests Tonight & Tomorrow (8/4-8/5)
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net
Precedence: bulk
>Date: Sun, 4 Aug 1996 21:11:29 -0400 (EDT)
>From: David Borden
>To: TROHAN@ESKIMO.COM
>Subject: SF Buyers' Club Raided - Protests Tonight & Tomorrow (8/4-8/5)
>
> Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet)
> Rapid Response Team
>
>Please copy and distribute.
>--------------------------
>
>The San Francisco Cannabis Buyers' Club, which provides
>medical marijuana to about 10,000 patients, and five other
>smaller clubs in San Francisco, were raided at 7:30 this
>morning (Sunday August 4). Reportedly, sixteen people were
>taken into custody. This raid comes as the campaign for
>Prop. 215, the California Medical Marijuana Initiative, and
>the opposition to Prop. 215, have begun to move into gear.
>We will be publishing more information on Prop. 215 and its
>proponents and opponents in the next issue of The Activist
>Guide, currently in preparation.
>
>We have just learned that protests in San Francisco in
>support of the Buyers' Club are planned for: 1) this evening
>(Sunday 8/4), at 5:00pm, meeting at 18th & Castro, and
>walking to Market St. (the whole street is blocked off, and
>the media is there in force); 2) tomorrow (Monday 8/5) at
>noon, at the State Building on McAllister & Van Ness; and 3)
>tomorrow at the State Courthouse at 850 Bryant St. at
>1:30pm. If you are in the Bay Area, or can get there,
>please go to protest this human rights violation and misuse
>of the criminal justice system for political purposes. And
>please call Gov. Pete Wilson at (916) 445-2841 and Attorney
>General Dan Lungren at (916) 448-3853 (campaign office) or
>(916) 445-9555 (Justice Dept.) to express your outrage.
>
>Californians for Medical Rights issued the following press
>release following the raid:
>
> Californians for Medical Rights
> Yes on 215
>
>For Release: August 4, 1996
>CONTACT: Dave Fratello at (310) 394-2952
>
>Buyers' Club Bust Underscores Need for Prop. 215
>
>SANTA MONICA, August 4 -- Reacting to news this morning that
>the "Cannabis Buyers' Club" (CBC) in San Francisco has been
>raided by police, Californians for Medical Rights, the Yes
>on Prop. 215 campaign, issued the following statement:
>
>"The Cannabis Buyers' Club, one of the many groups in
>California supporting Prop. 215, has suffered a serious blow
>this morning. For some, the San Francisco CBC was a beacon
>of hope.
>
>"Our hearts go out to the 10,000 seriously and terminally
>ill people served by the CBC. These patients were willing
>to risk arrest to use a medicine that reduced their pain and
>suffering. Many of them will now be deprived of that
>medicine, which their doctors agreed was beneficial.
>
>"The arrests this morning underscore the need for passage of
>Prop. 215 this November. The seriously and terminally ill
>people of California who find medical benefits from
>marijuana are not criminals. Prop. 215 will make that fact
>explicit under state law.
>
>"Surely the dozens of police officers who participated in
>this morning's arrests can be better employed chasing hard
>criminals, even on a Sunday morning."
>
> ###
>
>Californians for Medical Rights (CMR) -- YES ON 215 is a
>non-partisan, non-affiliated committee formed in 1996.
>CMR's focus is on protecting the legal rights of doctors and
>patients who find marijuana useful in medical treatment.
>CMR was instrumental in gathering sufficient signatures to
>place Prop. 215 on the ballot -- over 775,000 were turned
>over to county registrars on April 24.
>
> 125 Sixth Street #202, Santa Monica, CA 90401
> (310) 394-2952 Fax: (310) 451-7494
>
>Please note that we have included the CMR press release for
>informational purposes, but that DRCNet and CMR are not
>otherwise affiliated. Please also be advised that our web
>sites and official e-mail addresses at drcnet.org are
>temporarily offline. We expect to be back up by late this
>week; in the meantime please address correspondence to
>borden@intr.net. We apologize for the inconvenience.
>
> Please help DRCNet survive by sending in your membership dues or
> donation and/or signing up for the DRCNet/Affinity long-distance
> calling plan for guaranteed savings off your current rates. Tax
> deductibility is available for donations over the amount of
> basic membership, if you include a separate check made out to
> the Drug Policy Foundation; please note on the check that it is
> for the DPF/DRCNet collaboration. Call (202) 362-0030 or e-mail
> "drcinfo@drcnet.org" for an auto-reply file with more info on
> all the above topics. DRCNet now accepts Visa and Mastercard.
>
> Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet)
> 4455 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite B-500, Washington, DC 20008-2302
> Phone: (202) 362-0030 Fax: (202) 362-0032
> drcinfo@drcnet.org http://www.drcnet.org
>
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: mregen@ix.netcom.com
Sun, 4 Aug 1996 22:24:46 -0700
Date: Sun, 4 Aug 1996 22:24:46 -0700
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen)
Subject: update on SFCBC raid
Friends-
Some media coverage of CBC raid: the SF Fox affiliate interviewed Det.
Joe Doane of the state bureau of narcs who said the CBC is part of a
large mj distribution ring in SF (5 other places were raided in the
city). The raid is the culmunation of a two-year investigation in
which agents posed as patients entered the club and bought cannabis
with phony doctor's notes. He said "it's sad, some of the patients
actually think they feel better." (I guess that means it works)
They seized approx. 40 lbs and "a large amount of cash" and said
despite an ongoing investigation, they will not be targeting patients.
The detective did not comment on what will happen to the 11,000
patients who will go without medicine this week.
Jimmy asked:
>Any contact info on State Attorney General Dan Lungren
>would also be uesful.
Attorney General Dan Lungren
1515 K. street, #511
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-9555 phone
916-445-327-7892 fax
no e-mail
Sincerely,
Marnie Regen
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: owner-hemp-talk@blueberry.hemp.net
From: WWonders@aol.com
Mon, 5 Aug 1996 13:17:05 -0400
Date: Mon, 5 Aug 1996 13:17:05 -0400
Message-ID: <960805131705_253188781@emout18.mail.aol.com>
To: rainbowvalley@olywa.net, hemp-talk@hemp.net
Subject: Fwd: Details on Buyers' Club Bust
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net
Precedence: bulk
High Folks
You need to express your outrage to Gov. Wilson.
Jimmy
---------------------
Return-Path: mregen@ix.netcom.com
Mon, 5 Aug 1996 06:50:28 -0700
Date: Mon, 5 Aug 1996 06:50:28 -0700
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen)
Subject: Lungren fax
Attorney General Dan Lungren
916-327-7892 fax
Last number I posted had too many numbers (thanks Alan).
This is the correct fax number.
Sincerely,
Marnie Regen
--------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: mregen@ix.netcom.com
Mon, 5 Aug 1996 07:29:22 -0700
Date: Mon, 5 Aug 1996 07:29:22 -0700
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen)
Subject: SJMN on CBC raid
San Jose Mercury News
letters@sjmercury.com
August 5, 1996
State raids marijuana club
Agents: Sales may not have been limited to medically needy
SAN FRANCISCO: (AP)-State narcotics agents raided the Cannabis
Buyers' Club on Sunday, shutting down the controversial group that
sells marijuana to AIDS, cancer and other terminally ill patients.
Armed with a search warrant, agents burst into the club's Market
Street headquarters about 7:45 a.m. and spent four hours hauling away
at least two computers, a cabinet full of client records, and an
unspecified amount of marijuana.
In addition, volunteers involved with Proposition 215 - a statewide
ballot initiative to legalize medicinal marijuana - said some of their
records were seized.
No arrests were reported.
State agents had been investigating the Cannabis Buyer's Club for
two years, and Sunday's raid was designed to seek evidence of "illegal
marijuana use, particularly by people who were not using it for medical
reasons," state Justice Department spokesman Steve Telliano said.
The state's probe included several undercover "buys" in which
agents purchased several pounds of the drug, Telliano said. On other
occasions, people bought the drug after presenting "doctor's notes"
scribbled on napkins or scrap paper and complaining of ailments as
minor as lower back pain or yeast infections, he said.
"Essentially, what we had is a large-scale marijuana distribution
ring for the entire Bay Area," he said.
Five homes in San Francisco and nearby cities also were raided
Sunday in connection with the case, but Telliano provided no additional
details. Those raids also involved no arrests, he said.
"At this point, we're not working toward any arrests - but that may
happen," he said.
Telliano acknowledged that some Proposition 215 materials may have
been seized in the raid, but added, "We've taken precautions that those
(campaign) materials will not be disturbed."
State Attorney General Dan Langrun opposed the initiative. Gov.
Pete Wilson has, since 1994, vetoed two bills that would have allowed
AIDS and cancer patients to grow and smoke the drug.
Gilbert Baker, an AIDS activist and volunteer for the Yes on 215
campaign, was visibly outraged as he wandered from floor to floor of
the club, alternating sobs with bursts of incredulous laughter.
On the fourth floor, he opened a refrigerator that once contained a
shelf full of marijuana brownies that sold for $5 each.
"Oh my God! Oh my God! They've gone through everything," he said.
"They even took the (marijuana) menu off the wall."
Calvin Martin, 46, said he was sleeping on the club's third floor
when agents burst in.
"I was under the impression it was a break-in," he said. "Ten of
them (agents) swept by, handcuffed me, then one pointed a gun at my
head. All of a sudden, all of this was happening."
Martin, who suffers from acquired immune deficiency syndrome, said
he bought $200 worth of marijuana Saturday, and all of it was seized.
"They even took four tiny roaches (marijuana cigarette butts) I'd set
next to the wall," he said.
The Cannabis Buyers' Club was founded in 1991, and its organizers
made no secret of the fact they sold the illegal drug. About a year
ago, the club moved its office from a relatively obscure site in the
lower Haight-Ashbury District to a storefront shop on Market Street,
the city's main thoroughfare. Managers boast of having roughly 11,000
members.
A pamphlet available at the door says the club was founded "in the
wake of the AIDS epidemic, with the goal of alleviating suffering." A
menu lists several grades of the drug, available in a variety of forms.
While prices aren't shown, Martin said that "three-star" Californian
goes for $55 a quarter-ounce while lower-grade Mexican-grown pot sells
for about one-third that price.
Also for sale were Marijuana Treats, Marijuana Tincture and Merry
Pills, a "high-grade marijuana soaked in virgin olive oil, lightly
heated and capsuled," according to the club's brochure.
Organizers maintain that marijuana is sold only to members, who
have to furnish a photo indentification and a doctor's letter
certifying a condition that could be alleviated by pot. Similar clubs
are said to exist in other major American cities, but the San Francisco
club is among the most visible.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: owner-hemp-talk@blueberry.hemp.net
From: WWonders@aol.com
Date: Mon, 5 Aug 1996 14:34:14 -0400
To: hemp-talk@hemp.net
Subject: News Stories on CBC bust
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net
Precedence: bulk
High Folks
On channel 5 at noon "Hemp Education Day".
Jimmy
Here's some news stories from across the nation.
August 5, 1996
Agents Crack Down on Marijuana Buying Club in San Francisco
By TIM GOLDEN
SAN FRANCISCO -- After more than two years of uneasy tolerance, state
drug agents raided the biggest above-board marijuana emporium in the country
here on Sunday, striking back at activists who say they are helping thousands
of people seeking relief from ailments like cancer and AIDS.
The authorities did not immediately shut down the operation, the Cannabis
Buyers' Club of San Francisco, a five-story outlet in the city's Castro
district. But officials said the drug agents had seized more than 40 pounds
of marijuana and other evidence that would probably be used to arrest people.
"We are not targeting for prosecution anyone who was a customer of that
club," the chief of the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, Joe
Doane, said at a news conference this afternoon. "We are targeting persons
who are believed to be operating a marijuana distribution ring in much of the
Bay area."
Organizers of the club angrily took issue with the idea that they were
mere drug dealers. While theirs was not always the most rigorously organized
of apothecaries, they said, it was not set up just to help ordinary people
get high.
"When you're dealing with something that is a social revolution, there is
no way to do it correctly the first time around," said Gary A. Johnson, an
administrator of the club. "Of course, there will be mistakes."
Speaking of the crackdown, Johnson said: "This is a way to hurt people
with AIDS. This is a way to hurt people with cancer."
The club had become a rallying point for people around the country who
advocate the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Its members
helped put an initiative on the November ballot in California that would
allow people with conditions like AIDS, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis to
possess marijuana for medicinal use.
While city officials in San Francisco have taken an openly tolerant
attitude toward the club, noting local public support for its aims, it had
been a burr in the side of law-enforcement agencies, almost from its
founding in a small apartment in the Castro district.
Drug Enforcement Administration officials, recruited to the case by the
San Francisco police, found the local office of the U.S. attorney unwilling
to prosecute, law-enforcement officials said. They added that like the
city's district attorney, federal prosecutors had declined the case because
they said it involved a relatively small amount of drugs and a high risk of
political fallout.
California's conservative attorney general, Dan Lungren, thought
differently. Although narcotics agents insisted today that they were moving
against people who had sold marijuana for commercial rather than medical
reasons, the state's action was met with skepticism.
"It's a highly unusual case," said the city's chief assistant district
attorney, David J. Millstein, "where the District Attorney and the Federal
government won't prosecute, and law enforcement has shopped the case around
to see who will."
Copyright 1996 The New York Times
--------------------------------------------------------------
This is the SF Chron story:
PAGE ONE -- State Raids Marijuana Buyers' Club
Hunt for evidence of nonmedical sales
Michael McCabe, Chronicle Staff Writer
The Cannabis Buyers' Club in San Francisco, founded five years ago to
provide marijuana to people with AIDS, cancer and other diseases, was
raided yesterday by agents of the California Bureau of Narcotic
Enforcement.
Armed with a search warrant, scores of armed agents seized truckloads of
evidence from the office at 1444 Market St., including more than 40 pounds of
marijuana, hallucinogenic mushrooms, weapons and ``tens of thousands of
dollars in cash,'' a bureau spokesman said.
No one was arrested, but agents expect to file charges against some of the
club's organizers later in the week and shut down the club as soon as they
have sifted through the evidence, several agents at the scene said.
The primary purpose of the raid was to gather evidence showing that the
distribution of marijuana went beyond the scope of medicinal use, said
Steve Telliano, spokesman for the bureau.
But Gilbert Baker, a club volunteer and longtime gay activist, insisted the
club sold marijuana only to those who had a doctor's prescription and could
show legal identification with photo.
The raid came after a two-year investigation that involved using dozens of
undercover agents to buy marijuana at the club, Joe Doane, chief of the
Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, said at an afternoon press conference. It
was the first such raid since the club was formed in 1991.
``We are targeting those people who we believe are running a marijuana
distribution ring in the Bay Area,'' Doane said. ``It involves the sale of
large amounts of marijuana to a large number of people under the guise
ofselling it for medicinal purposes.''
Doane said that five other locations connected with the club were also
raided yesterday and that nearly 100 agents took part.
The club, which says it serves 11,000 customers, advertises itself as a
not-for-profit organization open to all people being treated by a physician
for certain conditions -- particularly AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and multiple
sclerosis -- that can benefit from the use of marijuana. Potential members
must have a letter from a physician with the physician's name on it, on
letterhead stationery or a prescription pad.
After the raid, which began shortly before 8 a.m. and lasted nearly five
hours, several people who were on the premises when agents arrived appeared
visibly shaken and angry.
``I am outraged,'' said Baker. ``Any 15-year- old kid can buy marijuana on
the street in 15 minutes, yet people who are sick and in the hospital
cannot.''
VOLUNTEERS SAY IT'S POLITICAL
Baker and other volunteers were quick to blame Attorney General Dan
Lungren, who oversees the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, for trying to
politicize the issue of using marijuana as medicine, particularly since the
issue will be on the November 5 ballot. Lungren is an opponent of the
initiative, known as Proposition 215.
Dennis Peron, the founder of the Cannabis Buyers' Club, submitted 763,000
signatures to qualify the measure, which would decriminalize the use of
medical pot by patients whose doctors recommend it. Peron was out of town
yesterday and could not be reached for comment.
``This is a compassionate use issue and Dan Lungren is making a political
point on top of people who are hurting and sick,'' Baker said during a tour
of the five-story office building where the club operates. He showed
reporters doors that he said were smashed with battering rams, ransacked
files and counters where pounds of marijuana lemon bars and brownies were
confiscated.
The organizers of the Cannabis Buyers' Club have made no secret of the
fact they sold the illegal drug. About a year ago, the club moved its office
from a relatively obscure site in the lower Haight-Ashbury area to a
storefront shop on Market Street.
IGNORED BY LAW OFFICIALS
Since the club opened, law enforcement officials generally had ignored it.
In April 1994, the Board of Supervisors and Mayor Frank Jordan said
marijuana should be legally available to terminally ill people. Jordan
signed a board resolution that supports a state Senate bill to classify
marijuana as a controlled substance that terminally ill patients may be
treated with. The state Legislature has passed bills to allow seriously ill
people to smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes, but they were vetoed
byGovernor Pete Wilson.
Telliano said agents made undercover videos of marijuana sales being made to
teenagers at the club who did not have any medical excuse for the drug. He
also said agents have evidence showing that many children under 10, ``in a
day-care-like situation,'' were breathing secondhand marijuana smoke.
``Secondhand marijuana smoke in the club's `smoking areas' was so potent
that one undercover agent, who was 6 feet 2 and 200 pounds, left the club
stumbling and so disoriented that he was unable to drive his car,''
Telliano said.
Volunteers at the club involved in the campaigning for Proposition 215 said
yesterday that some of their records were seized. Telliano acknowledged that
some Proposition 215 materials may have been seized in the raid, but he
added, ``We've taken precautions that those (campaign) materials will not be
disturbed.''
ANGER OVER SEIZED ITEMS
On the club's fourth floor, Baker opened a refrigerator that once contained
a shelf full of marijuana brownies that sold for $5 each.
``Oh, my God! Oh, my God! They've gone through everything,'' he said.
``They even took the (marijuana) menu off the wall.''
``This is bull--,'' yelled another man storming from room to room.
Calvin Martin, 46, said he was sleeping on the club's third floor when
agents burst in. ``I was under the impression it was a break- in,' he said.
``Ten of them (agents) swept by, handcuffed me, then one pointed a gun at
my head. All of a sudden, all of this was happening.''
Martin said he bought $200 worth of marijuana on Saturday, and all of it
was seized. ``They even took four tiny roaches (marijuana cigarette butts)
I'd set next to the wall.''
Baker said he expected the club to reopen for business this morning ``as
anact of civil disobedience. This whole thing is an act of civil
disobedience.''
--------------------------------------------------------------
August 5, 1996
Agents Crack Down on Marijuana Buying Club in San Francisco
By TIM GOLDEN
[S] AN FRANCISCO -- After more than two years of uneasy tolerance, state drug
agents raided the biggest above-board marijuana emporium in the country here
on Sunday, striking back at activists who say they are helping thousands of
people seeking relief from ailments like cancer and AIDS.
The authorities did not immediately shut down the operation, the Cannabis
Buyers' Club of San Francisco, a five-story outlet in the city's Castro
district. But officials said the drug agents had seized more than 40 pounds
of marijuana and other evidence that would probably be used to arrest people.
"We are not targeting for prosecution anyone who was a customer of that
club," the chief of the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, Joe
Doane, said at a news conference this afternoon. "We are targeting persons
who are believed to be operating a marijuana distribution ring in much of the
Bay area."
Organizers of the club angrily took issue with the idea that they were mere
drug dealers. While theirs was not always the most rigorously organized of
apothecaries, they said, it was not set up just to help ordinary people get
high.
"When you're dealing with something that is a social revolution, there is no
way to do it correctly the first time around," said Gary A. Johnson, an
administrator of the club. "Of course, there will be mistakes."
Speaking of the crackdown, Johnson said: "This is a way to hurt people with
AIDS. This is a way to hurt people with cancer."
The club had become a rallying point for people around the country who
advocate the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Its members
helped put an initiative on the November ballot in California that
would allow people with conditions like AIDS, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis
to possess marijuana for medicinal use.
While city officials in San Francisco have taken an openly tolerant attitude
toward the club, noting local public support for its aims, it had been a burr
in the side of law-enforcement agencies, almost from its founding in a small
apartment in the Castro district.
Drug Enforcement Administration officials, recruited to the case by the San
Francisco police, found the local office of the U.S. attorney unwilling to
prosecute, law-enforcement officials said. They added that like the city's
district attorney, federal prosecutors had declined the case because they
said it involved a relatively small amount of drugs and a high risk of
political fallout.
California's conservative attorney general, Dan Lungren, thought differently.
Although narcotics agents insisted today that they were moving against people
who had sold marijuana for commercial rather than medical reasons, the
state's action was met with skepticism.
"It's a highly unusual case," said the city's chief assistant district
attorney, David J. Millstein, "where the District Attorney and the Federal
government won't prosecute, and law enforcement has shopped the case
around to see who will."
--------------------------------------------------------------
August 5, 1996
State raids marijuana club
Agents: Sales may not have been limited to medically needy
SAN FRANCISCO: (AP)-State narcotics agents raided the Cannabis
Buyers' Club on Sunday, shutting down the controversial group that
sells marijuana to AIDS, cancer and other terminally ill patients.
Armed with a search warrant, agents burst into the club's Market
Street headquarters about 7:45 a.m. and spent four hours hauling away
at least two computers, a cabinet full of client records, and an
unspecified amount of marijuana.
In addition, volunteers involved with Proposition 215 - a statewide
ballot initiative to legalize medicinal marijuana - said some of their
records were seized.
No arrests were reported.
State agents had been investigating the Cannabis Buyer's Club for
two years, and Sunday's raid was designed to seek evidence of "illegal
marijuana use, particularly by people who were not using it for medical
reasons," state Justice Department spokesman Steve Telliano said.
The state's probe included several undercover "buys" in which
agents purchased several pounds of the drug, Telliano said. On other
occasions, people bought the drug after presenting "doctor's notes"
scribbled on napkins or scrap paper and complaining of ailments as
minor as lower back pain or yeast infections, he said.
"Essentially, what we had is a large-scale marijuana distribution
ring for the entire Bay Area," he said.
Five homes in San Francisco and nearby cities also were raided
Sunday in connection with the case, but Telliano provided no additional
details. Those raids also involved no arrests, he said.
"At this point, we're not working toward any arrests - but that may
happen," he said.
Telliano acknowledged that some Proposition 215 materials may have
been seized in the raid, but added, "We've taken precautions that those
(campaign) materials will not be disturbed."
State Attorney General Dan Langrun opposed the initiative. Gov.
Pete Wilson has, since 1994, vetoed two bills that would have allowed
AIDS and cancer patients to grow and smoke the drug.
Gilbert Baker, an AIDS activist and volunteer for the Yes on 215
campaign, was visibly outraged as he wandered from floor to floor of
the club, alternating sobs with bursts of incredulous laughter.
On the fourth floor, he opened a refrigerator that once contained a
shelf full of marijuana brownies that sold for $5 each.
"Oh my God! Oh my God! They've gone through everything," he said.
"They even took the (marijuana) menu off the wall."
Calvin Martin, 46, said he was sleeping on the club's third floor
when agents burst in.
"I was under the impression it was a break-in," he said. "Ten of
them (agents) swept by, handcuffed me, then one pointed a gun at my
head. All of a sudden, all of this was happening."
Martin, who suffers from acquired immune deficiency syndrome, said
he bought $200 worth of marijuana Saturday, and all of it was seized.
"They even took four tiny roaches (marijuana cigarette butts) I'd set
next to the wall," he said.
The Cannabis Buyers' Club was founded in 1991, and its organizers
made no secret of the fact they sold the illegal drug. About a year
ago, the club moved its office from a relatively obscure site in the
lower Haight-Ashbury District to a storefront shop on Market Street,
the city's main thoroughfare. Managers boast of having roughly 11,000
members.
A pamphlet available at the door says the club was founded "in the
wake of the AIDS epidemic, with the goal of alleviating suffering." A
menu lists several grades of the drug, available in a variety of forms.
While prices aren't shown, Martin said that "three-star" Californian
goes for $55 a quarter-ounce while lower-grade Mexican-grown pot sells
for about one-third that price.
Also for sale were Marijuana Treats, Marijuana Tincture and Merry
Pills, a "high-grade marijuana soaked in virgin olive oil, lightly
heated and capsuled," according to the club's brochure.
Organizers maintain that marijuana is sold only to members, who
have to furnish a photo indentification and a doctor's letter
certifying a condition that could be alleviated by pot. Similar clubs
are said to exist in other major American cities, but the San Francisco
club is among the most visible.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Received: by arl-img-4.compuserve.com (8.6.10/5.950515)
Date: 05 Aug 96 18:03:20 EDT
From: Bob Owen <72643.3237@compuserve.com>
To: Talk Group
Subject: SF MJ Club still open
Message-ID: <960805220320_72643.3237_IHD73-1@CompuServe.COM>
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net
Precedence: bulk
X-UIDL: 9e6ad87e3775ca7329f5f2a69aaf3550
Marijuana Club Remains Open; State Seeks Permanent Closure
By Associated Press, 08/05/96
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - 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 campaign headquarters. 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.
AP-DS-08-05-96 1659EDT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: owner-hemp-talk@blueberry.hemp.net
Message-ID: <960805151041_592816640@emout07.mail.aol.com>
To: hemp-talk@hemp.net
Subject: email address: Let them know how you feel.
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net
Precedence: bulk
X-UIDL: f867dd0dffe3465fac0d0ab2ed580b0f
High Folks
Here some email address that need to hear from you. This war on Medical
Marijuana needs to STOP, lets end it here and now.
Jimmy
CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY MEMBERS WITH E-Mail
Aguiar, Fred
E-Mail Fred.Aguiar@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-1670
Bates, Tom
E-Mail Tom.Bates@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-7554
Battin, Jim
E-Mail Jim.Battin@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-5416
Bordonaro, Tom
E-Mail Tom.Bordonaro@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-7795
Bowen, Debra
E-Mail Debra.Bowen@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-8528
Brown, Valerie
E-Mail Valerie.Brown@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-8492
Brulte, James L.
E-Mail James.L.Brulte@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-8490
Bustamante, Cruz M.
E-Mail Cruz.Bustamante@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-8514
Caldera, Louis
E-Mail Louis.Caldera@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-4843
Conroy, Mickey
E-Mail Mickey.Conroy@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-2778
Cortese, Dominic
E-Mail Dominic.Cortese@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-8243
Cunneen, Jim
E-Mail Jim.Cunneen@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-8305
Ducheny, Denise
E-Mail Denise.Ducheny@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-7556
Figueroa, Liz
E-Mail M.L.Figueroa@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-7874
Firestone, Brooks
E-Mail Brooks.Firestone@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-8292
Frusetta, Peter
E-Mail Peter.Frusetta@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-7380
Goldsmith, Jan
E-Mail Jan.Goldsmith@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-2484
Granlund, Brett
E-Mail Brett.Granlund@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-7552
Hauser, Dan
E-Mail Dan.Hauser@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-8360
House, George
E-Mail George.House@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-7906
Isenberg, Phillip
E-Mail Phil.Isenberg@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-1611
Kaloogian, Howard
E-Mail Howard.Kaloogian@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-2390
Knight, William "Pete"
E-Mail William.Knight@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-7498
Kuykendall, Steven T
E-Mail Steven.Kuykendall@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-9234
Machado, Mike
E-Mail Mike.Machado@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-7931
Martinez, Diane
E-Mail Diane.Martinez@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-7852
McPherson, Bruce
E-Mail Bruce.A.McPherson@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-8496
Murray, Kevin
E-Mail Kevin.Murray@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-8800
Murray, Willard
E-Mail Willard.Murray@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-7486
Olberg, Keith
E-Mail R.K.Olberg@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-8102
Pringle, Curt
E-Mail Curt.Pringle@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445- 8377
Rogan, James
E-Mail James.Rogan@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-8364
Setencich, Brian
E-Mail Brian.Setencich@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-7558
Vasconcellos, John
E-Mail John.Vasconcellos@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-4253
Weggeland, Ted
E-Mail Ted.Weggeland@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 445-0854
CA. NEWS PAPERS
San Jose Mercury News
letters@sjmercury.com
408-271-3792 fax
San Francisco Chronicle
chronletters@sfgate.com
San Francisco Examiner
letters@examiner.com
San Francisco Bay Guardian
letters@sfbayguardian.com
San Francisco Beacon
beacon@well.com
LA Times
letters@latimes.com
213-237-7679 fax
San Diego Tribune
letters@uniontrib.com
editor@uniontrib.com
Sacramento Bee
opinion@sacbee.com
Contra Costa Times
cctletrs@netcom.com
Palo Alto Weekly
paweekly@netcom.com
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
pdletters@pressdemo.com
707-523-8073 fax
Redding Record Searchlight
bedkin@recsearch.com
San Mateo Times
smtimes@baynet.com
Santa Barbara Independent
editor@independent.com
letters@independent.com
Grass Valley Union
mail@TheUnion.com
Tahoe Daily Tribune
tribune@tahoe.com
Pacifica Tribune
pactrib@hax.com
Metro (San Jose)
dmc@livewire.com
Santa Cruz County Sentinel
sentcity@cruzio.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: mregen@ix.netcom.com
Date: Mon, 5 Aug 1996 08:11:55 -0700
Message-Id: <199608051511.IAA15168@dfw-ix8.ix.netcom.com>
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen)
Subject: Re: CA Media Contact
X-UIDL: 284879281e2d4695afa66a963e1a0dfa
Alan B. wrote:
>Could someone please take the time to post all Calif.
>media contact numbers?
Jim, Mark - can you fill in the blanks?
San Jose Mercury News
letters@sjmercury.com
408-271-3792 fax
San Francisco Chronicle
chronletters@sfgate.com
San Francisco Examiner
letters@examiner.com
San Francisco Bay Guardian
letters@sfbayguardian.com
San Francisco Beacon
beacon@well.com
LA Times
letters@latimes.com
213-237-7679 fax
San Diego Tribune
letters@uniontrib.com
editor@uniontrib.com
Sacramento Bee
opinion@sacbee.com
Contra Costa Times
cctletrs@netcom.com
Palo Alto Weekly
paweekly@netcom.com
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
pdletters@pressdemo.com
707-523-8073 fax
Redding Record Searchlight
bedkin@recsearch.com
San Mateo Times
smtimes@baynet.com
Santa Barbara Independent
editor@independent.com
letters@independent.com
Grass Valley Union
mail@TheUnion.com
Tahoe Daily Tribune
tribune@tahoe.com
Pacifica Tribune
pactrib@hax.com
Metro (San Jose)
dmc@livewire.com
Santa Cruz County Sentinel
sentcity@cruzio.com
---
Sincerely,
Marnie Regen
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: mregen@ix.netcom.com
Date: Mon, 5 Aug 1996 17:43:14 -0700
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen)
Subject: update from SF protest
X-UIDL: 18dc356ca9507f551b1f8872de5aae93
Friends-
I just returned from the SFCBC protest. A sad day indeed but this is
far from over, that's for sure. Dennis arrived at county court around
1:30 for the hearing in good spirits as usual. He and Beth thanked
everyone for their work and dedication. Some of us (me included) were
allowed inside the courtroom for support. Very little media coverage,
but what has been covered has been pretty positive. Judge Cahill's
hands are tied because of state and federal law so there is now a
court injunction against the CBC and staff members listed on the
court affidavid. No one involved in Sunday's raid will be arrested but
anyone who violates the injunction will be subject to prosecution.
Not one state cop showed up anywhere which was a surprise to most of
us. They left the SFPD, who pulled out of the 2-year investigation
months ago, to deal with their mess. The staties basically snuck in,
raided the club, and snuck back out of the city just in time for the
protest. The SFPD was cooperative as they didn't want this problem to
begin with. Willie Brown did not address the situation much to our
dismay. Like I said, THIS IS FAR FROM OVER. There is a candlelight
vigil tonight in front of the club for anyone who is interested.
Sincerely,
Marnie Regen
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: mregen@ix.netcom.com
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 07:05:43 -0700
Message-Id: <199608061405.HAA26707@dfw-ix1.ix.netcom.com>
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen)
Subject: my published letter - CBC raid
X-UIDL: 215b47042dd402e0440f89477b09f029
Friends-
I wrote this letter when I heard about the raid. It was printed in
today's San Jose Mercury News.
Aug 6, 1996
Dear Editors:
Invading the Buyers' Club while it's closed? Is this Wilson's
poor and feeble attempt at looking "tough" on drugs?
It's bad enough he ordered state police to raid an underground club
where sick and suffering patients are forced to obtain illegal
medicine. But to do it while the club is closed only proves his fear
of looking bad in the public eye. And the raid only proves further
what millions of us have been saying all along - we are in desperate
need of a legalized and regulated system of distribution for medicinal
marijuana. Keeping it illegal and under control of the black market
forces patients to become criminals. What in heaven's name is this
accomplishing? Aside from wasting time, tax money and jail space,
nothing. Except, of course, serving private interests and political
gains of those who could care less about sick people.
Vote YES on Prop 215 and allow sick people LEGAL access to
medicinal marijuana.
Sincerely,
Marnie Regen
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: owner-hemp-talk@blueberry.hemp.net
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 11:16:17 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dave Hall
To: Talk List All
Subject: Further Chron Coverage of Pot raid (fwd)
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net
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X-UIDL: 93897171c4a55c3575856a4eb1be3bb8
Dave Hall, Washington Hemp Education Network
"W.H.E.N. educated people know."
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 07:57:05 -0700
From: Tom O'Connell
To: mercury7@loop.com
Subject: Further Chron Coverage of Pot raid
(To list via Bcc)
This appeared on 1st page of 2nd section of today's Chronicle:
Latest setback in founder's long crusade
By Maitland Zane
Chronicle Staff Writer
Dennis Peron has been defiantly dealing grass in San Francisco for more
than 20 years.
Long before he founded the Cannabis Buyers' Club, which was raided by state
narcotics officers Sunday, Peron was an advocate for the legalization of
marijuana. In the mid-1970s, he ran the Big Top pot supermarket on Castro
Street, which offered customers sample merchandise to taste, regular hours
and a mellow environment-until it became too blatant for police to ignore.
Peron was shot in the leg when police raided the operation in 1977.
Peron, 50, a Bronx-born Viet Nam veteran, called the marijuana emporium "a
service to the community." His claim that he was not in business for the
money was backed up at the time by a community activist named Harvey Milk,
then running for supervisor: "Dennis is the opposite of a profiteer'" Milk
said. "I've seen his money and energy going back to the community."
Peron ran unsuccessfully for the Board of Supervisors in 1989 on a platform
calling for the legalization of marijuana. The AIDS plague, especially the
death of his lover, Jonathan West, in 1990, turned him into a crusader for
medical marijuana.
"I've lost at least 200 friends," Peron said recently. "Toward the end of
his short life Jonathan's body was covered with KS lesions.
But he said marijuana really helped him. It gave him dignity; he could even
laugh sometimes. When he died at age 29, I decided to dedicate myself to
helping all people who were suffering and dying of HIV."
The Cannabis Buyers' Club opened for business in 1994, selling marijuana to
people with AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma or other painful
ailments. Local law enforcement authorities took their cue from sympathetic
city officials and looked the other way.
Peron said membership has tripled to 12,000 since the club opened. The
club, which started out in a loft at Church and Markel streets, recently
moved to a four story building on Market near Polk.
Inside, there is a big-screen TV and a big fern bar with couches and easy
chairs for patrons to socialize, as well as a sales counter, a snack bar, a
performance space for musicians, and a gift shop with pipes, pro-pot
T-shirts and Brownie Mary cookbooks.
Prices range as high as $80 for an eighth of an ounce of top-grade
sinsemilla. The pot comes sealed in baggies with a "Rx" sticker saying "Not
for Resale."
Peron works in an office with a poster of his hero, Milk, on the wall
and-until Sunday's raid-a dozen pot plants on his desk.
The club pays him a salary, as it does for several other staff members, but
Peron says he still lives "very simply" in a five-member commune.
Peron led the Northern California campaign that collected 763,000
signatures to put Proposition 215, which would legalize marijuana for
medical use, on the November ballot.
Peron said Sunday's raid, which happened while he was vacationing in
Canada, won't deter his efforts to legalize pot for medicinal purposes:
"Customers come in who upset and nauseous, and leave here with a smile on
their faces. If they weren't buying they'd be getting robbed and beaten up
in Dolores Park. Here, we're helping them stay alive."
===========
Tom O'Connell
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: owner-hemp-talk@blueberry.hemp.net
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 11:15:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dave Hall
To: Talk List All
Subject: coverage of CBC bust (fwd)
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net
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X-UIDL: c580293a484c1794bbee0a37ae94a714
This is from Dan Baum, the author of "Smoke and Mirrors," who now lurks on
DRCNet.
Dave Hall, Washington Hemp Education Network
"W.H.E.N. educated people know."
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 13:12:58 -0400
From: DanBaum@aol.com
Subject: coverage of CBC bust
strikes me that the coverage of the CBC bust has been overwhelmingly negative
toward the raid and equally sympathetic to the CBC, its clients, and the
medical marijuana cause. this seems significant, as the mainstream press has
usually been a cheerleader for the war on drugs in all its forms.
i've been doing a lot of talk radio since the publication of "smoke and
mirrors" (about 50 radio shows) and am finding the response remarkable. I've
taken calls from maybe 300 people, and i don't think more than half a dozen
have been hostile. there have been a lot of callers who start out saying,
"i'm a conservative republican" and then go on to say, "i agree with you a
hundred percent." people call in to say their 15 year old daughters are in a
drug rehab, and then go on to say that the drug war is a disaster, that
flying awacs over the gulf of mexico isn't doing their kids any good, that
hunting down every non-addicted adult marijuana smoker is an unamerican
waste, and so on. this is even on some very right-wing shows. in fact, i
haven't had a single talk-show host -- not even right-wing fire-breather bob
grant out of new york -- disagree with the book's premise that the drug war
is wasteful, violent, counterproductive, unamerican, and makes drug problems
worse. again, this strikes me as significant. four years ago i did some talk
radio after writing a drug-war piece for the nation magazine, and the calls
then were overwhelmingly hostile (you're a druggie! you're a traitor! drugs
are killing out children!) something's happened in four years, and i think
the coverage of the CBC bust is indicative.
Dan Baum
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: owner-hemp-talk@blueberry.hemp.net
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 10:18:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dave Hall
To: Talk List All
Subject: Reefer Maniac Shoots Own Foot Off (fwd)
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This is an opinion of the media response to the CBC bust from someone
who's very close to the action down there.
Dave Hall, Washington Hemp Education Network
"W.H.E.N. educated people know."
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 96 21:00:25 -0800
From: R Givens
Subject: Reefer Maniac Shoots Own Foot Off
Yo Folks,
I've only seen the San Francisco media so far, but this looks like a case of
bigtime foot shooting on Lungren's part. There hasn't been one word of praise
for making war on sick and dying medical marijuana patients.
The only positive media for the narcs has come from a Reefer Maniac named
Savage on KGO radio. It is doubtful that Savage's extreme rants will win them
any support. Otherwise it has been pro-pot all the way.
The news media has definitely sided with medical marijuana. How do I know.
Well, they're putting our people in the "catbird seat." What this means is
that our spokespeople are being given the last word. To wit: The narcs rant
about how the CBC was a "major marijuana distribution ring...." Then they cut
to Hazel Rodgers puffing her pipe and telling people how the pot is saving her
eyesight from glaucoma and relieving her cancer symptoms. It's a KO punch for
the narcs and so far every news report has followed this pattern.
Choosing who to put in the "catbird seat" is how news directors slant a story.
This time most of them seem to be on our side.
"Hard Way" Dole can prove his nickname by putting a sure loser like Lungren on
the ticket. Lungren has lost hundreds of thousands of California votes with
his Reefer Madness assault on sick people. Lungren could insure the loss of
California and hence the whole election for Dole.
Can anybody find a single paper that praised Lungren for his attack on medical
marijuana users? Has one single editorial appeared promoting Lungren as a
viable national candidate because of this raid? Has any newspaper had a good
word for Lungren?
Lungren has a very poor understanding of propaganda or he would know better
than to attack societal mores like 'caring for sick people,' which is just one
step removed from an assault on mom and apple pie. If Lungren had done such a
monumentally lunatic move under Josef Goebbels, he'd have his back to a wall
by now for plain stupidity.
It is interesting to note that Lungren has not made a single media appearance
(that I've seen) about this raid, instead letting henchmen promote the raid on
TV and newspapers. If this has been the case everywhere, we can also tack the
adjective yellow coward dog to Lungren's name.
>From here, this looks like a total media disaster for Lungren. I'd say Lungren
has ruined any hope of being on the GOP slate in November.
What's happening in the rest of the state & country?
R Givens
--
Sent via the Guardian Online. 415.437.3600 N81 or bbs.sfbayguardian.com, 3004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: owner-hemp-talk@blueberry.hemp.net
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 10:23:05 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dave Hall
To: Talk List All
Subject: Buyers' Club (fwd)
Message-ID:
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Here's another, more CBC-critical, opinion from another insider.
Dave Hall, Washington Hemp Education Network
"W.H.E.N. educated people know."
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 21:52:54 +0000
From: Kai Alexis Price
Subject: Buyers' Club
I thought this was informative--tornado@best.com wrote:
UPDATE on the raid of the San Francisco Buyers' Club
Monday, August 5, 1996
For those of you who don't know, these are the details of the
San Francisco CBC (Cannabis Buyers' Club) bust. To the best of my
knowledge, all of the information provided is accurate. If there
are some facts that I have wrong, please correct me. I also
interject my personal views into this story, of which I expect to
take some heat.
To begin with, let me state that I am a strong proponent of
not only total marijuana legalization, but the legalization
of ALL drugs. I have also worked tirelessly--and continue to
do so--for the passage of Prop. 215. With no help from anyone, I
have collected 2,040 signatures for the initiative, registered 400+
voters in the process, and am currently circulating 2,000 Prop. 215
flyers.
THE STORY BEHIND THE RAID OF THE SAN FRANCISCO BUYERS' CLUB
Although there are CERTAINLY political reasons behind the raid
of the Cannabis Buyers' Club, I believe the bust occured only
because the the club was caught red handed operating in a manner
that made it very vulnerable to being busted.
The Cannabis Nazis who busted the CBC produced VIDEOTAPES of...
1) Dennis Peron (CBC founder) selling 2 pounds of cannabis to
an undercover cop who had no medical need.
2) A 15-year-old--with no medical need--purchasing and smoking
cannabis.
3) Cannabis was purchased by Narcs who produced letters--written by
themselves--recommending that they need cannabis for MINOR
illnesses. The Narcs told club personel that these letters were
written by their physicians. The club never checked the validity
of these letters and proceeded to serve the Narcs cannabis. At
least this is what the Narcs claim. I am not certain that the
Narcs have solid evidence to prove this. But from what I hear
and know about the SF CBC, I can believe it's true.
4) Videotapes showed a roomful of young children in the club.
Dennis Peron claims these kids were downstairs--where no smoking
is allowed--waiting for their parents to purchase medicine. That
may very well be true. But the Narcs got film of children
hanging inside a 'drug house.' And that's all the evidence they
need to convince the IGNORANT public we are 'evil.'
The CBC bust was the topic of discussion on 50,000-watt KGO
Newstalk radio in San Francisco. I heard 2 callers phone in
and discuss the lax rule enforcement of the club. One caller
was a member of both the San Francisco CBC and the Oakland CBC. She
said that getting into the Oakland CBC was like pulling teeth--they
had very strict rules, required patients to fill out lots of
documents, and verified illnesses by contacting physicians. This
same woman said that the San Francisco CBC was far more more lenient
in giving out medicine and that there were often children and minors
wondering around inside.
Another woman called the program and mentioned that her classmates
at Santa Clara University did a report on the San Francisco CBC,
went to visit the club, and returned with a tincture of cannabis
medicine. These students were NOT club members and had no illness.
San Francisco District Attorney Terrance Hallinan also spoke on KGO
radio about this issue. Keep in mind that District Attorney
Hallinan is a proponent of total marijuana legalization and a friend
of Cannabis Buyers' Club founder Dennis Peron. Hallinan said that
he recieved several complaints about the club selling marijuana for
non-medicinal purposes. Hallinan met with Dennis Peron in June and
told him to clean up the club or there could be trouble. Hallinan
recommended that Peron resign from the club to relieve the heat.
After that meeting, Peron did resign from the club and apparently
access to the club was tightened. I do not know if, or how much,
club access was tightened. If access was tightened, it may have been
to late.
As much as I despise Governor Wilson, Attorney General Dan Lungren,
and the Cannabis Nazis, I am also upset that the club was run so
carelessly. I believe the club manager(s) shot themselves in the
foot.
Because the club rules were so lax and often not enforced, those
running the club became wide open to being busted. Had the club
been run the way it should have (squeaky clean), I believe it would
still be open.
Had Lungren and the Cannabis Nazis raided a CBC that was only
admitting and serving adults with serious illnesses, Lungren and the
Cannabis Nazis would have looked like shit. But instead, they have
produced evidence that makes us look like shit.
In addition to that, the state gets to put a ridiculous spin on this
story--that we are shiftless drug dealers who exploit sick people in
order to profit from drug dealing. We all know that claim is pure
bullshit. We all know that the people involved in this movement are
compassionate and do care about the sick. Unfortunately, the club
sowed its own seeds of destruction because of carelessnes and
complacency.
Fortunately, all hope is not lost. Proposition 215 will be on
the ballot in November and we still have an excellent chance of
winning the war--if we don't keep shooting ourselves!
--Tom Bouril
Kai Alexis Price | kai@sirius.com | http://www.sirius.com/~kai
--------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: owner-hemp-talk@blueberry.hemp.net
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 10:39:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dave Hall
To: Talk List All
Subject: More on CBC (fwd)
Message-ID:
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Dave Hall, Washington Hemp Education Network
"W.H.E.N. educated people know."
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 07:38:39 -0700
From: Tom O'Connell
To: Annette French
Subject: More on CBC
To list via Bcc:
In today's Chron, this atricle plus a letter from Marnie Regen.
Ammiano Urges S.F. to Clear Way For Medicinal Pot
He seeks `medical emergency' to get around California law or as way to
bypass state law
Glen Martin, Greg Lucas, Chronicle Staff Writers
In the aftermath of a state raid on a San Francisco club that openly peddled
marijuana for medicinal use, Supervisor Tom Ammiano has asked city officials
to declare a medical emergency that would allow for the distribution of the
herb.
Ammiano said he asked the Department of Public Health and the city attorney
to examine marijuana use at an Aug. 15 hearing, including ways state law
could be circumvented by declaring an emergency.
``We do it for hypodermic needle exchanges on that basis, so we'll give it a
shot,'' said Ammiano, referring to the city-sanctioned program that
distributes clean syringes to addicts as a means of fighting the spread of
AIDS.
The city attorney's office said it had no legal opinion on Ammiano's
proposal yet and Sandra R. Hernandez, the city's director of health,
remained noncommittal.
``The health department and the Board of Supervisors are reviewing the
matter with the city attorney,'' said Hernandez.
But attorney general press secretary Steve Telliano said county supervisors
do not have the authority to declare medical emergencies with the intention
of circumventing state law.
``The needle exchange in San Francisco is illegal,'' said Telliano, adding
that he could not comment on whether the state is contemplating any action
against that program. Meanwhile, the debate over Sunday's raid on the
Cannabis Buyers' Club at 1444 Market St. has taken on statewide
significance, fueling interest in Proposition 215, which is on the November
ballot.
The initiative, drafted by club founder Dennis Peron, would legalize
marijuana use for medical purposes, allow the cultivation of hemp for
personal use and provide legal protections for physicians who prescribe
marijuana to their patients.
Peron said he would obey a temporary restraining order forbidding the club
to sell marijuana until a court hearing is held on August 30. The club
premises will now be used as the state headquarters for Proposition 215, he
said.
``We're going to win in November, then sick and dying people will finally be
able to get the marijuana they need to function and live in dignity,'' said
Peron.
At a press conference held yesterday on the steps of the Capitol in
Sacramento, Bay Area lawmakers denounced the raid and its chief sponsor,
Attorney General Dan Lungren, as state Department of Justice staffers
vigorously defended it.
Lungren is the co-chairman of the campaign against Proposition 215.
``This is purely a political shot by the attorney general,'' said
Assemblyman John Burton, D-San Francisco. ``I think it will probably
backfire on him.''
``The attorney general refuses to sue the tobacco companies, which would
bring billions into the state, and instead is picking on people purchasing
medically necessary marijuana,'' said Burton.
Assemblyman John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, said Lungren was misusing the
powers of his office to further a personal political agenda.
Vasconcellos, who has twice had bills to help seriously ill people buy
marijuana vetoed by Governor Pete Wilson, said he would write a letter to
U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, urging her to investigate Lungren's raid.
Telliano said politics had nothing to do with the timing of the raid.
``We didn't get involved until May, and the (state) Bureau of Narcotics
needed time to make their case,'' said Telliano. ``When they were ready, we
moved.''
He said state narcotics agents were called in by San Francisco police in
May.
``We worked with San Francisco police all the way through this,'' Telliano
said.
San Francisco police narcotics division supervisors have said they initiated
the case, but that only one city officer pursued it through to its
conclusion -- and he was temporarily attached to U.S. Drug Enforcement
Agency and the state Department of Justice.
Narcotics division Lieutenant Kitt Crenshaw said that while the Police
Department did not participate significantly in the case, narcotics
inspectors have long been angered by the club and the actions of Peron.
``(Peron) has been a thorn in our side for years,'' said Crenshaw, noting
that Peron has been arrested numerous times. ``We arrest other people for
those crimes -- why should we allow him to operate with impunity?''
State prosecutors stuck by their contention that the marijuana emporium was
run primarily for profit -- despite revelations from the attorney general's
office that investigators found little in the way of incriminating financial
records.
Telliano said that the only financial documents seized were ledger sheets
that showed some cash disbursements and income. He also said no bank records
or other documents relating to Peron had been seized. Prosecutors had
implicated Peron as a profiteer in the club's operation.
``This marijuana was often resold on the street, they were selling to
teenagers -- it was clearly above and beyond selling for medical use as they
claim,'' said Telliano. ``It's tough to argue that a club bringing in
$250,000 a week is not making a profit.''
No arrests have been made in conjunction with the case, though Telliano said
some may be made in the future.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: owner-hemp-talk@blueberry.hemp.net
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 17:08:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dave Hall
To: Talk List All
Subject: MAP : LA Times CBC Protest (fwd)
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Dave Hall, Washington Hemp Education Network
"W.H.E.N. educated people know."
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 13:47:03 +0000
From: Fire
To: fire@erowid.com
Cc: Media Awareness Project
Subject: MAP : LA Times CBC Protest
Letters to the Editor:letters@latimes.com
L.A. Times (on-line)
500 S.F. Marchers Protest Closure of Cannabis Club
Aug 7, 1996
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO--
More than 500 protesters marched through the city
Monday night to protest the closing of a club that
openly sold marijuana to patients with AIDS,
cancer and other serious illnesses.
Marchers blew whistles and carried candles and
signs with such slogans as "Marijuana Is Medicine"
and "Defend Your Right to Smoke Weed." No arrests
were reported.
Kevin Deffenbaugh, an AIDS patient and member
of the Cannabis Buyers Club, attended the march in his
wheelchair. Deffenbaugh said he is suffering from
pneumocystis but signed himself out of San Francisco
General Hospital for the protest.
"When I joined the club three years ago, I was bedridden,
weighed 109 pounds and had a T-cell count below 50.
Now I've quit taking every drug but marijuana, I'm 170
pounds and I'm going to walk again," Deffenbaugh said.
"The state wants to take my life away."
Drug enforcement agents raided the club's headquarters
early Sunday after a two-year investigation revealed
evidence of nonmedical marijuana sales. The agents
seized more than 100 pounds of pot, documents and
more than $65,000 in cash.
The club briefly reopened Monday until San Francisco
Superior Court Judge William Cahill issued a temporary
restraining order prohibiting the club from storing or selling
marijuana. Still, some support came from the city's
political leaders. Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who called the
raid a "petty, vindictive pseudo war on drugs," joined
Supervisors Sue Bierman and Susan Leal in issuing a
resolution asking the director of public health, Sandra
Hernandez, to allow distribution of medical marijuana.
Copyright Los Angeles Times
--------------------------------------------------------------------
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Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 17:05:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dave Hall
To: Talk List All
Subject: USA Today - on CBC Raid (fwd)
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Dave Hall, Washington Hemp Education Network
"W.H.E.N. educated people know."
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 12:42:16 +0000
From: Fire
To: Media Awareness Project
Subject: USA Today - on CBC Raid
USA Today On-line
8/5/96
Cannabis club raided
SAN FRANCISCO - For the past few years, thousands of terminally ill
patients found temporary relief from their nausea and other pains at
the Cannabis Buyer's Club.
With a doctor's note, they could purchase marijuana in various forms.
The illegal drug helped enhance the appetites of people with AIDS,
countered the nausea from chemotherapy for cancer sufferers or helped
relieve pressure in the eyes of glaucoma patients.
But on Sunday, state drug agents raided the club. According to state
Justice Department spokesman Steve Telliano, the raid was the result
of a two-year investigation targeting club members who are not using
the drug for medicinal purposes.
Five other sites were also searched, but authorities refused to give
details on those raids.
Clint Werner, who is writing a book on the club, said the raid was the
state's response to Proposition 215, a statewide ballot initiative to
legalize medicinal marijuana.
"This is a dark day in San Francisco," Werner said.
Armed with a search warrant, state drug agents raided the club's
headquarters at about 7:45 a.m. Sunday and spent four hours piling
computers, marijuana and a cabinet full of customer information into
three trucks.
In addition, volunteers involved with Proposition 215 said some of
their records were seized. No arrests were reported.
The Cannabis Buyers' Club, which has about 11,000 members, has
operated for at least four years and its organizers made no secret of
the fact they sold the illegal drug.
About a year ago, the club moved its office from a relatively obscure
site in the lower Haight-Ashbury District to a storefront shop on
Market Street, the city's main thoroughfare.
Organizers maintain that marijuana is sold only to members who furnish
a photo identification and a doctor's letter certifying a condition
that could be alleviated by the drug.
Thomas J. Scott III, a member who has suffered from manic depression
for 25 years, said he smokes two to three joints each day to combat
the disease. His wife, who has chronic fatigue syndrome, also smokes
marijuana.
"Now I'm going to have to charge Medicare for all these (other)
medications," Scott said. "Patients are now going to have to plug the
streets for their marijuana supply."
The club escaped local police scrutiny in part because the city Board
of Supervisors in 1992 ordered police to make enforcing laws against
marijuana as medicine their lowest priority.
By The Associated Press
-------------------------------
I'm not exactly sure which of the following is the right
one...hell...send stuff to all of them. :)
usaweekend@aol.com
letters to the editor editor@usatoday.com
Letters to the editor usatoday@clark.net
------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: mregen@ix.netcom.com
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 15:59:04 -0700
Message-Id: <199608072259.PAA22880@dfw-ix5.ix.netcom.com>
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen)
Subject: Oakland CBC concerned
OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Although it has not garnered the
X-UIDL: c86fbdf3b3dfa41a2c9381ba0fec8d4c
national attention of its San Francisco cousin, the Oakland Cannabis
Buyers Club has also been tolerated by local police and officials.
However, last weekend's raid by state narcotics agents in San
Francisco has shaken the club's sense of security and dried up some of
its suppliers.
``Our suppliers are paranoid they will be busted too,'' Liana
Held, the club's co-founder, said Wednesday. ``It's (buying marijuana
from suppliers) like trying to find watermelons in December.''
The sale, possession and distribution of marijuana remains
against the law in California, but officials in the San Francisco Bay
Area have slacked off on enforcement if the illegal drugs are being
sold to those suffering from AIDS and other medical maladies.
The drug eases the nausea commonly associated with cancer
chemotheraphy, seems to stem the wasting syndrome associated with the
final stages of AIDS and also gives relief to glaucoma.
The tolerance has led to the creation of cannabis buyers clubs in
San Francisco, Oakland, Marin County and Santa Cruz. It has also led
to the placing of a proposition on November's ballot that would make
the medical use of the drug legal in California.
Held said the San Francisco raid has swelled the numbers coming
to their clinic by 20 percent, but the loss of suppliers has forced
her organization to turn away many indivduals who had prescriptions
from their doctors for the drugs.
State authorities cracked down on the San Francisco club last
weekend, seizing 40 pounds of marijuana, cash and other items in a
raid. Officials claim that a two-year undercover operation had revealed
that the San Francisco club was selling marijuana to underaged youths
and healthy individuals.
However, there have been no arrests as yet associated with the
raid, which has sparked an outcry that it was politically motivated to
coincide with the Republican Convention, which begins next week in San
Diego.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: mregen@ix.netcom.com
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 08:19:00 -0700
Message-Id: <199608071519.IAA00562@dfw-ix3.ix.netcom.com>
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen)
Subject: PSA's for Prop 215?
X-UIDL: f030de9cda43879bd16274a5fb140efb
Alan S. wrote:
>I've been hearing from patients and caregivers, all of them are very
>distressed.
Dolores Park has been flooded with very sad patients and very happy pot
dealers since the raid.
>In November, I hope the voters remember the brutal and forceful
>police opposition to this doctor/nurse/patient backed proposition.
Does anyone know how much a 30-second PSA costs on TV? I see lots of
those Proposition PSA's put out by special-interest groups during the
evening news. Is this something CMR is capable of doing (with help
from other groups)? Something where stoormtrooping narcotics officers
raid a club full of sick and dying patients, to remind the voters who
this is about. With testimony from patients, doctors, the SF Medical
Society, etc. Does anyone have any idea of the cost involved? Maybe
Mr. Zimmerman could get the people who do his commercials?
Thanks,
Marnie Regen
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-Path: mregen@ix.netcom.com
Date: Thu, 8 Aug 1996 08:24:34 -0700
Message-Id: <199608081524.IAA13888@dfw-ix11.ix.netcom.com>
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen)
Subject: More LTE's in support of CBC
X-UIDL: 9a3ef787f32b160a70f994d5bb11f805
San Francisco Chronicle
Thursday August 8, 1996
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
CANNABIS CLUB BUST VICTIMIZES SICK PEOPLE
Editor -- We are nurses who volunteer for Californians for
Compassionate Use adjacent to the Cannabis Buyers' Club in San
Francisco. On Sunday morning we were notified by intimidated, shaken
co-workers that our offices had been raided by the police.
As citizens of California working for a political cause we
believe in, we are outraged that our state officials, Dan Lungren and
Governor Wilson, vocal opponents of Prop. 215, are using their
position to intimidate our grassroots campaign and to victimize sick
people. All to win points at the Republican convention.
We are nurses trying to help other people. Why are we being
intimidated? Why are sick and dying people being harrassed and made
to suffer?
Please contact Attorney General Dan Lungren and Governor Wilson
and let them know that what they are doing is inhumane. We cannot
permit this type of harrassment to go unnoticed.
LYNNE BARNES, RN
JEFFREY REED, RN
San Francisco
DAY OF INFAMY
Editor -- The Cannabis Buyers' Club bust of August 4, a day that
will go down in infamy, was the perfect example of a lacking of human
compassion. All the information we get regarding medical marijuana
from the narc squad, the attorney general and the governor is
comprised of phony statistics, lies, exaggeration, hyperbole,
half-truths and coverups. Over 80 percent of Cannabis Club members
are HIV+ and/or have terminal illnesses.
To take an armed stance between 12,000 sick club members and their
medicine is a brutal act of blatant meanness.
CRAIG R. LOMBARDI
Director of Communications
Cannabis Buyers' Club
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Date: Thu, 8 Aug 1996 09:18:01 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dave Hall
To: Talk List All
Subject: Everyone's against the bust!!
Message-ID: Pine.SUN.3.95.960808091428.8413A-100000@eskimo.com
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Whew! The CBC bust is getting HOT and damn near everyone is weighing in
against it, including the SF police, the mayor, and the sherrif's
department! Who would've thought this response could happen a few years
ago? I think the tide is turning...
Dave Hall, Washington Hemp Education Network
"W.H.E.N. educated people know."
>From page 1 of the SF Chronicle:
State Pot Order Rejected
S.F. Sheriff Won't Enforce Ban on Club's Sales
Glen Martin, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey has rejected a request by the state
attorney general's office to enforce a temporary restraining order
forbidding the sale of marijuana at the Cannabis Buyers' Club, the public
pot emporium busted on Sunday.
Mayor Willie Brown also weighed in on the issue yesterday, issuing a
statement lambasting the raid.
``I am dismayed by the Gestapo tactics displayed by Attorney General Dan
Lungren on Sunday,'' Brown said, ``and (I) wish he would refrain from
political grandstanding at the expense of the health and welfare of the
people of San Francisco.''
An acerbic missive by Hennessey was provoked by a Tuesday letter from Deputy
Attorney General Lawrence A. Mercer asking the sheriff to enforce the court
order issued by Superior Court judge William Cahill on Monday to stop
further pot sales at the club's headquarters at 1444 Market St.
Before the raid, the club openly sold approximately 100 pounds of marijuana
a week. Club staffers say it went to people suffering the debilitating
effects of AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and other diseases. State law enforcement
agents said anybody could buy the weed and that children and toddlers were
regularly exposed to secondhand marijuana smoke at the club.
Hennessey wrote Mercer and Attorney General Dan Lungren that he will not
abide by the request to enforce the order, saying the matter is more
properly the responsibility of the San Francisco police.
Hennessey also said he ``does not wish to spend precious law enforcement
dollars busting people engaged in distributing marijuana for medicinal
purposes,'' adding that the state law may well be changed in November by
Proposition 215, the marijuana decriminalization initiative.
At times, Hennessey grew philosophical in his letter:
``If the attorney general wishes to assist local law enforcement, why not
assist in arresting the tens of thousands of state parolees who have
outstanding arrest warrants? Why not assign Department of Justice personnel
to help solve the thousands of unsolved murders and armed robberies in the
state?
``Heck, the attorney general would even (provide) a better form of public
protection if (he) would help local law enforcement arrest some of the ten
thousand drunk drivers that are on the the highways every minute of the day
in California.''
Hennessey closed by asking Lungren to ``not waste the time of local law
enforcement agencies,'' which have not requested state help in dealing with
local crime.
NO PRESSURE FOR HENNESSEY
Steve Telliano, press secretary for the attorney general, said his office
will not push Hennessey to enforce the order because it appears the Cannabis
Buyers' Club is abiding by the edict.
When asked if the Department of Justice has the authority to compel the
sheriff to enforce the order, Telliano said, ``Perhaps -- but we'll have to
look at that at a later time.''
Telliano took issue with Hennessey's contention that the club was
distributing only ``medicinal'' marijuana.
``There were sales to minors, and there was second-hand marijuana smoke
exposure to infants and children,'' said Telliano. ``Even if Proposition 215
passes, those activities would still be illegal.''
BROWN'S RESPONSE
Meanwhile, Brown -- who had been silent on the raid -- denied that he was
tardy in his response. He said he was upset from the beginning but that he
wanted to gather all available information on the issue before making a
statement.
Brown also said he ``would be very annoyed'' if San Francisco police had a
hand in the bust. Police narcotics officers have said that only one officer
participated in the operation, but reports are floating that police may have
been more deeply involved.
``I think this process started long before (Fred) Lau became chief (of
police),'' said Brown, referring to his appointment of the new chief in
January.
``Lau . . . honestly and accurately states that he did not know of anything
except the appropriate monitoring that should be done by any police
department. If he finds out (that there was substantive police involvement
in the raid), I'm sure he will deal with it,'' Brown said.
In Sacramento, 14 state legislators signed a letter to U.S. Attorney General
Janet Reno saying Lungren ``may have used the powers of his office for
purely political reasons.'' The legislators signed a letter by Santa Clara
Assemblyman John Vasconcellos that suggests Lungren staged the raid to
harass proponents of the medical marijuana measure. Lungren is a leader of
the opposition to the initiative.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 11:16:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dave Hall
To: Talk List All
Subject: SF Chron coverage of Pot Bust (fwd)
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Dave Hall, Washington Hemp Education Network
"W.H.E.N. educated people know."
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 07:29:16 -0700
From: Tom O'Connell
To: Annette French
Subject: SF Chron coverage of Pot Bust
To List as Bcc:
The following appeared in the Chron this morning. 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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Date: Thu, 8 Aug 1996 18:21:15 -0700
Message-Id: <199608090121.SAA14607@dfw-ix4.ix.netcom.com>
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen)
Subject: CBC: the narcs speak out
X-UIDL: c3a47dc6bc0c218271d3424daebc372e
Friends-
An unidentified narcotics officer was interviewed on KGO (SF ABC
affiliate) tonight, after he contacted the station with "revelations"
about the "real reason" behind Sunday's raid. He said they busted the
club not to deny patients medicinal marijuana (yes he called it
medicine) but because of "price gouging" based on the word of a
confidential informant. He said the narcs are getting a "bad rap" for
the raid and are being made to look like the bad guys. They didn't
think it was fair that the club was charging $80 for an 1/8 and they
felt they needed to do something about it (so they figured closing it
down for good was the best option?). What he didn't mention was that
the club sold different strains at different prices, so who knows what
$80 1/8 is, and often gave away more than was sold. They interviewed
Dennis who basically said "let 'em prove it in court!"
The narcs are trying desperately to save face and it's not working.
They know this is not over by any means.
Sincerely,
Marnie Regen
---------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.sltrib.com/96/aug/08/twr/00100235.htm
Thursday, August 8, 1996
CLOSED BY COPS, POT CLUB VOWS TO REOPEN
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
SAN FRANCISCO -- A Superior Court judge has put the Cannabis Buyers' Club
out of the medical marijuana sales business, but the political fuss
triggered by a state raid on club operations is just warming up.
And although Judge William Cahill issued a temporary restraining order
Monday prohibiting the sale or storage of marijuana at the club, its
founder, Dennis Peron, was defiant.
``The Cannabis club is never going to go away. What this is about is
12,000 sick and dying people getting medicine,'' he said. ``I'll fight
them in court and I'll win.''
Dozens of agents from the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement raided
the club's headquarters and five other Bay Area locations Sunday. They
made no arrests but seized more than 150 pounds of marijuana valued at
about $750,000, some 400 growing plants and $60,000 in cash.
Since 1991, the club has been openly
selling marijuana to people with AIDS, chronic fatigue syndrome,
rheumatism and other diseases. Marijuana is said to relieve some of the
adverse side effects of those diseases.
Though some activists talked of continuing to sell marijuana at the Market
Street headquarters, Peron said, ``We'll let this play out in the
courts.''
1996, The Salt Lake Tribune
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Date: Fri, 9 Aug 1996 07:59:54 -0700
Message-Id: <199608091459.HAA04327@dfw-ix11.ix.netcom.com>
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen)
Subject: CA doctors support Prop 215
X-UIDL: aec33794e3631df36ac7c7313a5ae1a7
Bcc'd to DRC list
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- The San Francisco Medical Society
endorsed a controversial ballot initiative Thursday to legalize
marijuana for medical uses.
The group, which represents about 2,200 doctors in San Francisco,
announced its support for Proposition 215 just four days after state
law enforcement closed down San Francisco's Cannabis Buyer's Club,
which provided marijuana to people with AIDS, cancer and other
diseases.
Additionally, the California Academy of Family Physicians,
representing about 7,500 doctors, joined the society in its endorsement
Wednesday.
The initiative would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana and
enable patients to pick it up at the drug store along with other legal
medicines.
However, Gov. Pete Wilson and California Attorney General Dan
Lungren oppose the initiative because they believe it would make it
easier for healthy people to obtain and abuse marijuana.
San Francisco Medical Society President Dr. Toni J. Brayer said
the society based its decision on the results of an opinion poll of
doctors who treat AIDS and cancer patients as well as drug addicts.
The doctors surveyed reportedly told the society that they
believed legalizing marijuana was a good idea because it was a useful
drug for some patients despite the moderate risk of addiction.
``This initiative is an important one...it will protect our
patients, '' Brayer said. ``What we want to do as physicians is to
relieve pain and suffering.''
Since marijuana is an illegal drug in the United States, doctors
have not been able to legally prescribe or scientifically test it, but
sick people who have used the drug testify that it restores their
appetite.
The society is also urging clinical testing of the drug, so that
scientific data may be generated on its effectiveness in treating sick
people.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
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Date: Fri, 9 Aug 1996 11:29:56 -0700
Message-Id: <199608091829.LAA15769@dfw-ix2.ix.netcom.com>
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen)
Subject: Other CBC's get positive coverage
X-UIDL: 3aaffde7a1d504245352e2b5a6a00b6a
Bcc'd to DRC list
San Jose Mercury News
August 9, 1996
Medicinal pot clients left in lurch
Oakland, Santa Cruz clubs try to fill void
Three days after the state shut down San Francisco's Cannabis
Buyer's Club, many of its clients are flocking to similar marijuana
emporiums in Oakland and Santa Cruz that provide marijuana to sick
people.
Membership in the Oakland club has jumped nearly 50 percent since
Monday, when a judge granted a request by state Attorney General Dan
Lungren's office to shut down the larger San Francisco club.
The club in Santa Cruz had such "an influx from San Francisco" that
officials said it had to cut the amount of pot regular patients could
buy.
Many of the AIDS and cancer patients visiting the Oakland club are
East Bay residents who had been crossing the Bay Bridge because they
didn't know the Oakland emporium had opened last month.
"Before this happened, I didn't know there was an Oakland club,"
said Mark, 34, a Kaposi's sarcoma patient from Oakland who did not want
his last name used. "This is great. I mean you can't smoke here like
you could in San Francisco, but they have longer hours.
"I live so close here, I can walk from home."
Fremont AIDS patient John A. Dodge, 29, who bought a quarter-ounce
of the Hayward Hemp and Fat Man blends Thursday morning, said he was
"blown away" over the closing of the San Francisco club.
"I just hope nothing happens to this one," he said.
Lungren spokesman Steve Telliano said he could not comment on
whether someone "might or might not be investigated."
State narcotics agents raided the San Francisco club Sunday,
seizing client records and computers in a two-year investigation aimed
at showing the club was really a large-scale marijuana ring.
"We did it because they were selling to adults without medical
excuses and to children," Telliano said.
Critics of the Republican attorney general claim the move was
carefully timed to precede the upcoming GOP convention in San Diego.
Lungren opposes a statewide initiative on the November ballot, written
by San Francisco Cannabis Club leader Dennis Peron, that would legalize
marijuana for medicinal purposes.
San Francisco County Sherrif Mike Hennessey, meanwhile, is refusing
to enforce the court order, and Mayor Willie Brown is calling for a
medical state of emergency, that same power that allows the
distribution of sterile syringes.
The Santa Cruz and Oakland clubs have relatively small supplies of
the pungent weed that provides relief to patients suffering from severe
nausea and other discomforts of cancer, acquired immune dificiency
syndrome, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and other serious illnesses.
"We'll completely be exhausted (of marijuana) with 100 to 150 new
members within the next week unless out supply side goes up," said Jeff
Jones, co-director of the Oakland club. The club's membership shot up
this week from about 200 to nearly 300 by Thursday.
The Oakland buyers' club operates out of a small downtown office
that opened on July 4.
Prospective members must provide a doctor's verification of a
medical problem that might be relieved by marijuana.
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Date: Fri, 9 Aug 1996 12:05:36 -0700
Message-Id: <199608091905.MAA18205@dfw-ix11.ix.netcom.com>
From: mregen@ix.netcom.com (Marnie Regen)
Subject: Why sick seek marijuana as medicine
X-UIDL: 66eef5e1b410e4c869065c37d9befef5
Bcc'd to DRC list
EDITORIAL
San Jose Mercury News
August 9, 1996
Why sick seek marijuana as medicine
by Loretta Green
lgreen@sjmercury.com
There are days when Karen Thompson's 15-year old son is so sick
from chemotherapy he is on his knees with his head on the open toilet.
Then he takes two puffs from a marijuana cigarette and relief is almost
immediate.
Two puffs and he can operate normally - go to school, hold down a
job, have friends.
But marijuana is illegal and state Proposition 215, which will give
voters a chance November 5 to approve its use and cultivation for
medicinal purposes, is in disfavor in some camps.
One can only wonder what these protesters would say if they saw
young Thompson and others who are trying to have a life without
continuous suffering. How would they feel about their child vomiting
40 and 50 times, as Thompson says her son has done on his worst days?
How silly it is to deny a puff of this drug as medicine.
During the past year and a half, the San Jose parents have risked
everything - their professions, their reputations, their freedom - to
purchase marijuana form the Cannabis Buyers' Club to give their son
relief from the ravages of his treatment for Crohn's disease.
Now state agents have raided the San Francisco club and taken the
marijuana.
Thompson is worried. Their son (she has requested that his name
not be used) suffers an especially vicious form of Crohn's.
Chemotherapy, which causes him severe nausea, is the treatment for
his form of the incurable intestinal disease. Along with the diarrhea,
cramping and severe pain that Crohn's patients suffer, young Thompson
has had pancreatitis and has sometimes been near death, his mother
said.
Her decision to permit his use of the drug caused soul-searching on
the part of the couple, married 20 years. Her husband, an employee at a
computer company, and Karen, a diagnostic imaging and radiology
supervisor at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, say they are not drug
users.
And she has never seen their son "stoned", she said.
Thompson is convinced that she is not doing something wrong - it is
the law that is wrong.
She describes the club's founder Dennis Peron as a man who has
risked everything, too.
"He is a warm, compassionate, soft-hearted human being. I don't
know what we would have done without him. I think our family would
have been destroyed."
They turned to marijuana as a last resort, because prescription
drugs for nausea did not work, she said. They tried many, including a
synthesized prescription derivative of marijuana that costs $180 for 50
pills.
Further, it is impossible to swallow and keep down a pill when
vomiting repeatedly and prescription nausea drugs wipe her son out, so
he is unable to function.
Even with marijuana, life is not simple for him. He has run from
the classroom and vomitted in the bushes, and been suspended for
sneaking a couple of puffs to control the nausea. Karen Thompson says
she understands that the school must have rules, but if the proposition
passed, he could go to the nurse's office for a medicinal puff.
She worries about the effects of marijuana on her son's body, yet
"legal" Prednisone depleted 47 percent of his bone mass.
What is left for the couple now is the street, she says. The club
was a clean, safe environment, with strict admission rules. It was
full of sick people trying to do the very best they could.
--------------------------------------------------------------
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Date: Fri, 9 Aug 1996 12:20:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Anti-Prohibition Lg."
To: Floyd Ferris Landrath
cc: hemp@efn.org, nwlibertarians@teleport.com
Subject: SF CBC Buste Update (fwd)
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Please excuse any duplication:
AMERICAN ANTI-PROHIBITION LEAGUE 3125 SE Belmont Street
Floyd Ferris Landrath - Director Portland, Oregon 97214
AAL01@teleport.com 503-235-4524
"Drug War, or Drug Peace?"
SAN FRANCISCO'S CANNABIS BUYERS CLUB - 8/9/96 UPDATE
by David Borden
What follows is the story behind the raid of the San Francisco
Cannabis Buyers' Club. What originally looked like very bad news
for the California medical marijuana movement, now appears to
have benefited the movement and backfired on the Narcs!
Large protests were held in San Francisco that received lots of
positive media coverage. Virtually all San Francisco city leaders
have CONDEMNED the raid. The press coverage overall has been VERY
SUPPORTIVE of the Cannabis Buyers' Club! It seems that either
nobody is buying the "marijuana ring" story reported by the Narcs,
or nobody really cares that the club sold some cannabis for
recreational use.
BACKGROUND
----------
At 7:30 AM, Sunday, August 4, 1996 approximately 100 officers from the
California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement RAIDED the San Francisco
Cannabis Buyers' Club and the homes of 5 CBC employees. This raid was
initiated by California Attorney General Dan Lungren, who is the
co-chairman of the organization that opposes Proposition 215. (Prop.
215 is the California initiative that will appear on the November
ballot that will legalize the possession, use, and cultivation of
medical marijuana for people with a physician's recommendation.)
After the raid, the Narcs called 2 press conferences--one Sunday,
another Monday. They produced videotapes of activities at the
club showing...
* An Narc purchasing 1 to 2 pounds of cannabis from club founder
Dennis Peron.
* A 15-year-old who purchased and smoked cannabis at the club.
(The kid had no medical condition.)
* Several children (under 10 years old) in the club supposedly
being exposed to marijuana smoke. (These kids were waiting
for their parents to purchase medicine.)
The Narcs claim that the CBC was run soley for profit and was
using sick people as a front for a Bay Area "marijuana ring"--a
PREPOSTEROUS claim! The Narcs put a spin on this story that made
the San Francisco CBC look like bunch of "evil drug dealers."
That's the bad news. The good news is that few are buying it!
Here is what people are saying about the SF CBC raid.
* San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan and San Francisco
Mayor Willie Brown have CONDEMNED the raid and are OUTRAGED
that they were not notified of it in advance. They have also
clearly indicated that they had no problem with the CBC's operation
and had no intention of closing it down. Both the SF Mayor and
district attorney SUPPORT what the CBC was doing.
* 20 state legislators held a news conference on the steps of the
state capitol CONDEMNING the raid. They signed a letter that has
been sent to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno calling for an
investigation into the raid.
* Newspaper reports of the raid have been VERY SYMPATHETIC to the
Cannabis Buyers' Club and the plight of its members.
* Newspaper editorials and letters to the editor have all CONDEMNED
the raid and PRAISED the Cannabis Buyers' Club!
* Almost all local radio talk show hosts and callers have CONDEMNED
the raid and PRAISED the Cannabis Buyers' Club!
* San Francisco Sheriff Mike Hennesey has REJECTED a request from
the state attorney general's office to enforce a temporary
restraining order forbidding the sale of marijuana at the CBC!!! :)
Sheriff Hennesey wrote the following to Attorney General Dan
Lungren:
"I do not wish to spend precious law enforcement dollars busting
people engaging in distributing marijuana for medicinal purposes."
"If the attorney general wishes to assist local law enforcement,
why not assist in arresting tens of thousands of state parolees
who have outstanding arrest warrants? Why not assign Department
of Justice personnel to help solve the thousands of unsolved
murders in the state?" "Heck, the attorney general would even
provide a better form of public protection if he would help local
law enforcement arrest some of the ten thousand drunk drivers
that are on the highways every minute of the day in California."
I also heard Sheriff Hennesey on KGO radio state (not an exact
quote): "If Attorney General Dan Lungren wants to help San
Francisco, he should supply guards for the city's crosswalks
because 28 pedestrians were killed last year in San Francisco,
but marijuana has never killed anyone!"
* To top it off, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has passed
a resolution proclaiming a "MEDICAL STATE OF EMERGENCY" in San
Francisco because of the CBC shut down!!! This resolution STRONGLY
CONDEMNS the closing of the CBC and STRONGLY SUPPORTS the reopening
of the CBC!!! On August 15, the SF Board of Supervisors will try
to convince the San Francisco Dept. of Public Health and the city
attorney to approve this "MEDICAL STATE OF EMERGENCY", thus allowing
the CBC to reopen in DEFIANCE of state wishes!
As things now look, the CBC raid has BACKFIRED and the community
of San Francisco is on the verge of launching a large wad of
spit in Dan Lungren's face!!! :) With such strong local support
for the CBC and willingness to defy state law, I believe there is
a very good chance that CBC will be back in business.
The text of the "MEDICAL STATE OF EMERGENCY" resolution is available
from the SF CBC Web cite at:
http://www.marijuana.org/press/8-6-96.html
The SF CBC's Home Page is at:
http://www.marijuana.org
Tornado++
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Date: Fri, 9 Aug 1996 13:55:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dave Hall
To: Talk List All
Subject: Update of SF CBC (fwd)
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Dave Hall, Washington Hemp Education Network
"W.H.E.N. educated people know."
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 8 Aug 1996 23:08:27 -0700
From: Tom O'Connell
To: adbryan@onramp.net
Subject: Update of SF CBC
List bt Bcc:
Things are taking some political shape in SF in the wake of the CBC bust. I
listened to a one hour call-in show this AM, aired by the local public
radio station. On the friendly side were Dennis Peron, founder of CBC and
recent ex president who is now in charge of prop 215, SF DA Terry Hallinan
and Steve Heilig, public affairs officer for the SF Medical Society. The
unfriendlies were Steve Telliano, spokesperson for the state AG's office,
Brad Gates, Orange Co. Sheriff and chairman of anti 215 comm, and an LA
"addiction MD" named Michael Myers. The moderator was Michael Krasny, very
good at his job.
Trying to be objective, I would still have to say that the pro 215 side did
extremely well. Peron defended the alleged lapses in club procedure quite
well. There was agreement by all that marijuana provides symptomatic relief
to patients. The spokesperson for the Medical Society was very articulate
and quite effective, especially since he volunteered that the Society's
endorsement was not given lightly. He had personally verified that a
majority of oncologists and physicians treating AIDs were strong advocates,
and there were no reasonable substitutes for MJ. His comments were potent
because he confessed personal misgivings about the use o