Source:  Spartan Daily (Student paper for San Jose State University)
Contact:    408-924-3237
Pubdate:  Mon, 2 Feb 1998
Author:  Lois Jenkins, Opinion Editor

SAN JOSE POT CENTER AVOIDS SHUTDOWN

Proposition 215 no longer a safe haven

The Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis Center avoided the boot in the six
federal lawsuits filed against Northern California cannabis clubs on Jan.
9, but it may not be long before the shoe drops.

"They bypassed us this time, but it doesn't mean we can't get shut down,"
said Peter Baez, the center's executive director and co-founder.

Despite the fact that California voters approved Proposition 215, the
initiative that allows the possession and culitvation of marijuana for
medical purposes with a doctor's recommendation, the U.S. Justice
Department appears determined to shut down the clubs that now exist.

San Jose City Attorney Joan Gallo said she's not really sure why the center
on Meridian Avenue, which opened on April, 1997 and serves nearly 250
members, was not included in the lawsuits.

"Our approach in San Jose is not a club (atmosphere), and that may or may
not be the reason they weren't included in the federal lawsuit," Gallo
said, referring to Baez and Jesse Garcia, who is the center's director and
secretary.

Baez said the center dispenses marijuana, but does not allow consumption of
the drug on the premises, unlike many other clubs such as the San Fransisco
Cannabis Buyers' Club and the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative.

"We don't allow smoking on the premises, including the parking lot," Baez
said.  "If someone is caught doing that, we void their membership."

It's quite all right for the members of the San Fransisco club to light up,
according to Lynne Barnes, a nurse volunteer who has worked there for three
years.

"People can come here and smoke and socialize, as opposed to the pharmacy
like atmosphere of other clubs," Barnes said.  "Some people think this is a
negative thing, but we see it as very positive."

Barnes said people who come to the club can buy their marijuana and meet
others who suffer from the same illness.  She said socializing helps them
get through some of the bad times.

"Some clubs try to distance themselves from Dennis Peron and his co-op
idea, thinking it will keep them safe from the lawsuits," Barnes said.
Peron is the founder of San Fransisco's club and the author of Proposition
215.

"If the case makes it to the Supreme Court," Barnes said, "we think it will
be a 10th Amendment defense.  States rights should be reserved for the
states, not the feds."

Baez said that the agreement between the center and the city of San Jose is
in violation of federal laws regarding the possession and transportation of
controlled substances.

"The city's actually telling us to break federal law by saying that we must
grow our own," Baez said.  "Right now it's just a nod and a blink and keep
your nose clean."

Director Garcia said the center's present location precludes growing
marijuana on the property because there is no arable land, so they are
negotiating that part of the agreement with the city.

"We're in the process of working on a cultivation agreemnet with the Santa
Cruz center to grow it for us in Santa Cruz County," Garcia said.  "We're
working with them and the Santa Cruz P.D. and our P.D."

In the meantime, the center buys its marijuana from several unnamed sources
in the Bay Area, and, so far, there have been no complaints about its
operation.

James Cook, a member who has AIDS and has been buying his marijuana there
since the center opened, is glad he doesn't have to buy it off the streets
any more.

"I was having to go to Oakland to buy it because I couldn't get it locally
very easily," Cook said.  "The center being there eliminates a lot of
unnecessary effort and crime that people have to go through to get what
they need."

Wendee West, from the operations departmnet at the Better Business Bureau
of Santa Clara County, said the bureau had no file on the center.

"That means either it's too new to have established a performance record or
no complaints have been brought to our attention," West said.

The center's next door neighbors don't seem to have serious complaints,
either.  Paul Liccardo, owner of Option Realty, said he's never met the
people at the center and doesn't have a stong opinion about it except for
the general principle of the thing.

"I think it's ridiculous that they don't dispense (marijuana) in pharmacies
like they should," Liccardo said.

Corey Ebadat, one of the owners of E.G.S. Insurance, said the employees of
the center were nice people, but it's a little disconcerting for his
clients in business suits.

"We're willing to risk doing this because we think it's right," Baez said.

Baez said the federal government's position on the issue is hypocritical at
best.

"For the last 22 years the federal government has been running a program
called Uncle Sam's Pot Farm," Baez said, referring to an experimental
program for people with various illnesses such as AIDS and glaucoma in
which patients were given marijuana free of charge in an effort to study
the benefits of the drug.

"As soon as the AIDS epidemic hit, they shut the program down, except for a
few remaining patients who still get their marijuana shipped to them," Baez
said.  "I think once a lot of the old, white, Bible-thumping guys in the
Senate die off, things will change for the better."