Pubdate: Wed, 14 Mar 2001
Source: Press Democrat, The (CA)
Copyright: 2001 The Press Democrat
Contact:  Letters Editor, P. O. Box 569, Santa Rosa CA 95402
Fax: (707) 521-5305
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Author: Clark Mason, The Press Democrat

POT TRIAL FOCUSES ON REASON FOR GROWING

 From the prosecution's point of view, greed and profit were the heart of 
an 899-plant marijuana farm in Petaluma, not kindness and compassion for 
medical marijuana users.

As the trial for two employees of a medical marijuana buyers club got under 
way Tuesday, a prosecutor told the jury it was a straightforward drug sales 
case -- not a debate over the use of pot for medical reasons.

In stark contrast, defense attorneys portrayed the two defendants as doing 
noble work, helping sick and dying people in San Francisco get marijuana to 
ease suffering from AIDS, cancer and other ailments.

"Ken Hayes was potentially doing God's work," Hayes' attorney, William 
Panzer, said in his opening statement. "That's why it's an honor to 
represent him."

Panzer, co-author of the 1996 initiative that authorized medical use of 
marijuana, said the evidence will show Hayes, 33, was not getting rich, or 
even breaking even, but losing money on the pot farming operation off King 
Road.

Hayes, 33, was the executive director of CHAMP -- Cannabis Helping 
Alleviate Medical Problems -- and says he was the caregiver for more than 
1,200 people who obtained marijuana at the facility in the Castro district 
of San Francisco.

He and the ex-general manager of the club, Michael S. Foley, 34, are 
charged with marijuana cultivation, possession with intent to sell and 
possession of a pound of hashish.

In her opening statement to the jury, prosecutor Carla Claeys said the King 
Road pot farm was large and sophisticated.

"The defense will be that they were primary caregivers under the 
Compassionate Use Act," she said. "This case is not about a cannabis club 
in San Francisco, or politics in San Francisco, or whether it should be 
used for medical purposes, or not. This is a sales case."

Hayes and Foley face up to five years in prison if convicted, but Panzer 
said he believes by the time the trial is over, the jury will be angry that 
prosecutors pursued the case against the pair.

Panzer said the club made every effort to conform to the law when it came 
to dispensing marijuana, including consulting with San Francisco District 
Attorney Terence Hallinan, who is expected to testify for the defense.

"There were not sales out the back door to high school kids," he said.

Although some court rulings have held that caregivers can be compensated 
for their expenses and services in providing marijuana, Claeys said Hayes 
had no paperwork to show itemization of costs.

"They were straight out selling marijuana for money," she said.

She said the pot farm was worth a half-million dollars. It consisted of six 
small greenhouses and a hydroponic operation using artificial lights inside 
the barn. Authorities also seized a .22-caliber rifle, but the defense says 
Hayes was using it to guard the chicken coop against raccoons.

Rebutting arguments that Hayes does not qualify under California's medical 
marijuana law as a caregiver, Panzer said Hayes' club did more than simply 
furnish marijuana.

He said the club, with Hayes at the helm, also provided social programs, 
dinners, massages and a place to go for sick people who otherwise would be 
sitting at home.

After taking the reins of the club in 1998, Panzer said Hayes decided it 
would be cheaper for the club to grow its own marijuana and had that in 
mind when he rented the two-acre property on King Road.

Although prosecutors said last week that Hayes had been arrested for 
growing 50 marijuana plants in Marin County in 1997, Claeys acknowledged 
Tuesday that that information was incorrect and Hayes was neither arrested 
nor charged in connection with that case.

Hayes said a neighbor complained about his growing operation in Marin 
County, but the police who investigated were satisfied the plants were for 
medical purposes.

The trial, which began Tuesday in the courtroom of Sonoma County Judge 
Robert Boyd, is expected to last two to three weeks, with most of the 
testimony from defense witnesses.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens