OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) - A large crowd of cancer and AIDS patients rallied peacefully Monday as the largest of California’s remaining medical marijuana clubs shut its doors under court order.

The Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative closed after a federal appeals court refused to grant an emergency stay of a lower court’s ruling that said the club was violating federal narcotics laws by distributing marijuana.

Opting to cooperate with federal marshals before the deadline to shut the facility, club officials removed boxes of files and locked the doors to the bright, downtown Oakland offices that resemble a pharmacy.

Jeff Jones, executive director of the club, expressed concern for the welfare of the more than 2,000 club members who use the drug to alleviate pain and sickness.

He also vowed to continue the legal fight to reopen the facility under the terms of the 1996 voter-approved state law that legalized medical marijuana use, and he blasted the Justice Department’s attempts to override the will of California voters.

"Not only do we fear for our patients, but we are bitterly disappointed for the voters of the state of California who have had their votes nullified today by the efforts of a heavy-handed and misguided federal government," Jones said.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Monday refused to grant a stay of the injunction issued last week by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer.

Breyer, while noting that closing the club would likely cause "human suffering," said Tuesday that club lawyers had failed to demonstrate that enforcing a federal ban on marijuana distribution would violate the constitutional right of sick people to relieve excruciating pain—a cornerstone of the medical marijuana movement’s legal strategy.

From the San Francisco Chronicle
chronletters@sfgate.com
http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
October 20, 1998
By Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

OAKLAND POT CLUB CLOSES—LEADER TO FIGHT ON

Appeals court denies request to stay open

Oakland’s beleaguered medical marijuana club, the state’s largest remaining dispensary, closed its doors yesterday, but its leaders vowed to find other ways to serve its members.

In the latest blow to the medical marijuana movement, the U.S. Court of Appeals denied a request by the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative to stay open pending its appeal of a federal judge’s shutdown order.

Employees of the 2,200-member club on Broadway closed voluntarily at 3 p.m. yesterday, two hours before federal marshals could have padlocked the doors.

At a news conference, Jeff Jones, the club’s executive director, said he would hand over his keys to federal marshals in compliance with the court’s decision. But he vowed to work with Oakland to find other ways to help those who rely on medical marijuana to survive or ease pain.

"They may have won a battle, but they haven’t won the war," Jones said to the cheers of 40 club members who rallied outside the cooperative. "We will prevail."

Jones decried the closure in the wake of Proposition 215, the 1996 voter-approved medical marijuana initiative.

"The voters of the state of California have had their votes nullified today by a heavy-handed and misguided federal government," Jones said, adding at one point, "I’m kind of saddened to be an American right now."

Matt Jacobs, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in San Francisco, declined comment on the matter.

In January, the federal government filed a civil lawsuit seeking the closure of the Oakland club and five others in Northern California. In May, U.S.

District Court Judge Charles Breyer issued an injunction barring the clubs from distributing marijuana. Of the six targeted clubs, only two remain open, one in Fairfax and another in Ukiah.

Breyer ordered the Oakland club shut down last Friday after rejecting arguments by the cooperative that medical marijuana relieves pain and saves lives.

The judge then granted the club a three-day reprieve while its attorneys sought an additional stay from the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

The club’s appeal before the appellate court stands despite the closure.

Jones complimented Breyer for allowing the club to remain open for nine months after the federal government’s lawsuit.

As the smell of marijuana wafted through the club yesterday, workers gave away trays of marijuana plants to members.

"We’re going to use our medicine, instead of letting the government store it on shelves and letting it mold," said Scott, 25, a club member who uses marijuana to combat nausea as a result of AIDS.

As he spoke, club volunteer Stacie Traylor yelled out, "Last call!" and workers emptied glass display cases of marijuana plants. Security guard

Ernest Grayson herded out stragglers, saying, "We are closed. Thank you for your support."

Even as Jones announced the closure yesterday, the mood was buoyant as club advocates insisted that their fight was far from over.

"DEA, go away!" dozens of protesters chanted on Broadway as motorists honked in support. They rallied around an emotional Jones as he told of his father’s death to cancer 10 years ago.

"I vowed at that time not to allow other families to go through this suffering without compassionate response," said Jones, 24, his voice quavering.

Jones said it was possible his club could break into small groups to dispense marijuana, adding he would have no way to prevent individual members from taking such action.

The Oakland City Council is expected tonight to consider an emergency declaration that would allow the city to dispense medical marijuana.

The city has already been on the forefront of the issue. In August, Oakland designated club employees as "officers of the city," allowing them immunity from prosecution, but Breyer rejected that argument. In July, the city passed a policy allowing medical marijuana users to store 1 ½ pounds of the drug at home.