Pubdate: 22 Mar 1998
Source: The New York Times 
Contact:  
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ 
Editors note: Our newshawk writes: 'This is old news, but it's good to see
it in the NYT!' 
Yes, and now our letter writers have another target. We want the stories,
even if they have appeared before. 

FOUR MAYORS ASK CLINTON TO STOP SUIT AGAINST MARIJUANA CLUBS

SAN FRANCISCO, March 21 -- The mayors of four California cities have
written to President Clinton, urging him to halt a federal lawsuit that
threatens to close clubs that distribute marijuana for medical use. The
letters follow an announcement last week by the San Francisco district
attorney that if the clubs close, city officials might distribute marijuana
to patients who say they need it.

Mayor Willie Brown of San Francisco wrote to Clinton: "At stake is the
well-being of 11,000 California residents who depend on the dispensaries to
help them battle the debilitating effects of AIDS, cancer and other serious
illnesses. If the centers are shut down, many of these individuals will be
compelled to search back alleys and street corners for their medicine." The
letters were sent to forestall a federal court hearing scheduled in San
Francisco this week in a government suit against six marijuana buyers'
clubs in northern California.

Brown called on the president to drop the suit and impose a moratorium on
enforcing drug laws that "interfere with the daily operation of the
dispensaries."

Mayors Elihu Harris of Oakland, Steve Martin of West Hollywood and Celia
Scott of Santa Cruz sent the president similar messages. A White House
spokesman, Barry Toiv, said the suit would move ahead as planned. "The
civil suits by the Justice Department were a measured step designed to make
sure that everybody understands that distribution of marijuana is still a
violation of federal law," Toiv said.

Federal authorities have locked horns with state and local officials over
marijuana since 1996, when California voters approved Proposition 215, an
initiative to legalize cultivation and distribution of the drug for
seriously ill patients.

In January, the Justice Department sued six clubs, in San Francisco,
Oakland, Santa Cruz and Ukiah, contending that they had violated the
federal Controlled Substances Act. The six cases were combined into one
suit, scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday.

"Until marijuana's medical value is proven and a mechanism is developed for
its safe production and distribution, marijuana cannot be legally sold or
distributed in California or anywhere else in the United States," said
Gregory King, a spokesman for the Justice Department.