Source: Orange County Register Contact: Pubdate: 10 Jan 1998 Author: Bob Egelko - The Associated Press GOVERNMENT MOVES TO CLOSE MARIJUANA CLUBS MEDICINE: Six associations in Northern California are named in civil suits filed by the U.S. attorney San Francisco - The federal government renewed its battle against the state's medical marijuana law Friday,moving to shut down six marijuana buyers' clubs in Northern California. U.S. Attorney Michael Yamaguchi filed civil suits seeking to halt operation of the clubs - two in San Francisco and one each in Oakland, southern Marin County, Santa Cruz and Ukiah - for violations of federal laws against the possession, cultivation and distribution of marijuana. "The issue is not the medical use of marijuana. It is the persistent violation of federal law," Yamaguchi said at a news conference. He said the civil suits, which target only the clubs and their operators and not individual patients, were a "measured approach" short of criminal charges. Undercover drug agents had bought marijuana at each club and had seen purchases by other customers, according to court papers. Most of the clubs were started after the November 1996 passage of Proposition 215, which changed state law to allow patients suffering from cancer, AIDS, glaucoma or a variety of other illnesses to possess and grow marijuana for medical use, with a doctor's recommendation. But at least one, now called the Cannabis Cultivators Club, has operated for years in San Francisco, with the tacit approval of local law enforcement. In fact, Yamaguchi's office declined to file criminal charges against the club in 1996, before Prop.215 passed, determining that the level of drug-dealing was too minor to justify federal involvement. Around the same time, state Attorney General Dan Lungren's office raided the club, had it closed by a judge and obtained a grand jury indictment against its leaders, including founder and Prop. 215 sponsor Dennis Peron, on charges of selling and transporting marijuana. Another judge let the Cultivators Club reopen after Prop. 215 passed, saying it could qualify as a "caregiver" that could legally supply marijuana to thousands of members. But a state appeals court overturned the ruling last month and said selling marijuana remains illegal. Peron plans to appeal to the state Supreme Court on Monday. Lungren welcomes Yamaguchi's action, said spokesman Rob Stutzman. "Yamaguchi has gone a long way toward clarifying how federal laws will have a real impact upon so-called marijuana clubs," Stutzman said. Marvin Chavez, a founder of the Cannabis Co-op of Orange County, criticized Lungren and other state officials for going along with the federal action. "The state government is not protecting the people," Chavez said. "They're letting the federal government come in here and tell us what to do. The voters have spoken." Chavez contends that his group does not sell marijuana, but distributes it to patients in return for "voluntary donations." "What do you think people are going to do when they shut down these clubs?" he asked. "Where are these patients going to go? Right back into the black market." Peron, who is running against Lungren for the Republican nomination for governor, told reporters that the federal government was "defying the people of California." "First they threatened the doctors, now they're threatening the patients," he said, referring to the Clinton administration's initial threat to act against doctors who prescribed marijuana. Peron said federal courts should respect the state law - but if a shutdown is ordered, "we are going to go perfectly limp and be carried away" rather than cooperate.