Date: Tue, 06 Aug 1996 07:20:18 -0500 To: [iowanor m l] at [commonlink.com] From: "Carl E. Olsen" <[c--l] at [dsmnet.com]> Subject: Details from Evening paper San Francisco Examiner: State police raid S.F. pot store Market Street cannabis club accused of making nonmedicinal sales Kathleen Sullivan OF THE EXAMINER STAFF Ray Delgado of The Examiner staff and wire services contributed to this report. State Police raided the Cannabis Buyer's Club, seizing more than 40 pounds of marijuana and charging that the club widely distributed the drug under the guise of selling it for medicinal purposes to terminally ill people. Activists behind a state initiative to legalize the medical use of marijuana - the Compassionate Use Initiative - quickly criticized the Sunday morning raid at the club's Market Street offices, saying it illustrates the urgent need for a change in state law. State authorities denied politics played any role in the search and seizure, adding that investigators had been working on the case for two years. Joe Doane, chief of the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, said police found conclusive proof during their lengthy investigation that the club was conducting nonmedical sales of marijuana. Police made more than 10 undercover marijuana buys from the club, Doane said. One female officer bought some marijuana for a vaginal infection, another bought the drug after showing a doctor's "prescription" written on a napkin, authorities said. The cannabis club was founded in 1991 to provide marijuana to people who suffer from AIDS, cancer and other diseases. Marijuana is said to relieve some of the adverse side effects of those diseases and organizers did not hide the fact that they sold the illegal drug. Organizers said they sell it only to members - an estimated 11,000 people - who must show photo identification and provide a doctor's letter stating use of marijuana would alleviate symptoms. During Sunday's raid, which included simultaneous sweeps of five Bay Area homes in undisclosed locations, 40 pounds of marijuana and "quite a bit of cash" were seized, but no arrests were made, according to Doane. He said the bureau will examine the evidence to see who, if anyone, should be charged. "We are not targeting for prosecution anyone who was a customer," he said. Doane said investigators targeted "what we believe to be a marijuana distribution ring in much of the Bay Area," and added that the bureau would have raided the club even if it was only engaged in the sale of marijuana for medical uses. "It's still a felony to sell marijuana in California," said Doane. Legal OKs vetoed by Wilson While the Assembly and state Senate have twice voted to legalize marijuana for medicinal use, Gov. Wilson vetoed the measures both times. In 1991, San Francisco voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition P, which urges the state and the California Medical Association to add marijuana to the list of available medicines in California. The cannabis club has escaped raids by the San Francisco Police Department in part because the Board of Supervisors in 1992 ordered police to make enforcing such laws their lowest priority. A Police Department source said the raid stemmed from an investigation spurred by the previous police administration, which received numerous complaints about the operation. About two years ago, the Police Department forwarded its investigation of the club to the district attorney for review after uncovering several incidences of the club selling to people who did not need the drug for medicinal purposes, the source said. When the district attorney took no action, police took the case to federal and state authorities. S.F. cops had small role Police Chief Fred Lau said Sunday that San Francisco police played virtually no role in the raid. Lau said that his department has forwarded any complaints about the club to the state Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, knowing it was conducting an investigation. "We've been very compassionate about people who were legitimately obtaining care," Lau said. "We don't want to second-guess the medicinal part of the issue, but we're law enforcement officials and we had to obey the law." Kandace Bender, spokeswoman for Mayor Brown, said the mayor has compassion for club members but that the laws have to be enforced. "He absolutely understands the need to seek unorthodox methods of treatment (for AIDS), but as the mayor has said in the past on many issues, "The law is the law,' " Bender said. Supporters of the club were quick to denounce the raid, which took place just three months before Proposition 215 goes before state voters. Under the measure, patients or caregivers who possess or cultivate marijuana for medical treatment recommended by a physician would be immune from prosecution. It also would protect doctors who recommend marijuana for medical purposes. "California Attorney General Dan Lungren is enforcing a morally bankrupt law," said Dale Gieringer, state coordinator of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "Clearly, Lungren is not even going to tolerate elementary compassionate use of marijuana for sick people. This raid shows, more than ever, the need to pass the initiative." By late Sunday afternoon, a group of about 150 protesters gathered at Castro and 18th streets, openly smoking marijuana. The group moved onto Market Street where they marched to the club's headquarters. Angry glaucoma patient "I smoke marijuana every day because I have glaucoma and I'm convinced it's stopped me from going blind," said 77-year-old Hazel Rodgers, a volunteer at the club who attended the rally. Basil Gabriel, a cannabis club member who lives in Santa Cruz, was one of seven people sleeping inside the club when police entered. "We all thought we were being robbed," Gabriel said. Gabriel said he and other club members were confronted by police, who were pointing guns and rifles directly at them. "They came in 50 strong screaming their idiot asses off, and they found a young man with AIDS, an older man with colon cancer, and me with my crushed back, and they're proud of it," Gabriel said, his voice rising in anger as he looked at a state narcotics agent standing nearby. "They should be ashamed of themselves. Instead, they smirk." Gabriel, who had come to The City to pick up his marijuana and do volunteer work, said he was handcuffed for 2-1/4 hours, questioned, photographed twice and released. Gabriel said club operators knew they were under surveillance. Two weeks ago, he and another club member had noticed a camera focused on the office from a building across the street. Upon further investigation, they found a surveillance team in a building across the street, who were monitoring the club on video screens. "We knew this was going to come," he said, adding that police had raided the home of a paraplegic club member in Santa Cruz four days ago. Gabriel said the organization would continue to provide marijuana to those who need it. He and other organizers feared that the confidentiality of its club members will be violated because police were seizing medical records. Steve Telliano, a spokesman for Lungren, said police were specifically directed to set aside medical records for later review by a judge. Telliano said two elections investigators from the secretary of state's office were inside setting aside materials related to the Prop. 215 campaign and initiative. "Those will be left here," he said. ********************************************************************** * Carl E. Olsen * [c--l] at [dsmnet.com] * * Post Office Box 4091 * NORML News archived at: * * Des Moines, Iowa 50333 * http://www.commonlink.com/~olsen/ * * (515) 262-6957 voice & fax * [c--o--n] at [mail.commonlink.com] * ********************************************************************** Reporters and Researchers are welcome at the world's largest on-line library of drug policy material at: http://www.druglibrary.org/