Oakland Marijuana Club Closed By Feds

October 19, 1998 - Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- California's largest remaining medical marijuana club was closed Monday by a court order obtained by the Clinton administration's Justice Department.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, without comment, denied a request by the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative to remain open during an appeal of a federal judge's ruling finding the club in contempt of court for continuing to distribute marijuana in violation of federal law.

Shortly before the 5 p.m. deadline, leaders of the organization started carrying out boxes of files and said they were closing voluntarily and cooperating with federal marshals.

Jeff Jones, executive director of the club, issued a statement saying Californians who backed Proposition 215, the November 1996 medical marijuana initiative, ``have had their votes nullified today by the efforts of a heavy-handed and misguided federal government.''

``We fear for our patients,'' Jones said. He said he would work with city officials to try to find a way to distribute the drug to patients who need it, and would form a political action committee to lobby the federal government to lift restrictions on medical marijuana.

The club, which claimed 2,200 patients as members, was one of six in Northern California sued by the Justice Department for violating the federal law against distribution of marijuana. Of the six, only clubs in Ukiah and Fairfax remain open, along with a handful of others around the state.

Proposition 215 allowed patients and their caregivers to possess and grow marijuana without prosecution under California law, if recommended by a doctor to relieve the pain from AIDS or cancer treatment, glaucoma or other conditions.

The initiative had no effect, however, on federal laws against distribution of marijuana. The federal government puts marijuana in the same category as the most dangerous drugs and says it has no medical use.

Breyer issued an injunction in May to prohibit the clubs from distributing marijuana. Oakland city officials responded by designating marijuana club officials as city agents, and invoking a federal law that protects state and local officers from liability while enforcing drug laws. But Breyer said the club was violating the drug law, not enforcing it.

He did not order an immediate shutdown until last week, after federal agents presented evidence of continued marijuana distribution at the Oakland club.

In challenging the shutdown, lawyers for the club argued that patients had a constitutional right to be free of excruciating pain with their medication of choice. They also invoked the ``necessity'' defense, which allows a person to violate a law when it is the only way to prevent a greater harm.

But Breyer said the club had failed to present evidence that each of its patients needed marijuana, and had no alternative to prevent serious or life-threatening harm.

The club's request for a stay was rejected by appeals court Judges Thomas Nelson and Michael Hawkins. The case remains under appeal, but the club is prohibited from operating in the meantime.

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