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Appeals court rules against California marijuana clubs
December 13, 1997
Web posted at: 11:37 p.m. EST (0437 GMT)SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) -- California marijuana merchants are pained by a court ruling that bars their cooperative from selling pot for medicinal purposes.
A state appeals court on Friday reinstated an injunction that shut down the Cannabis Buyers' Club in San Francisco after a raid by state agents in August 1996.
The club's founder described the judges' decision as "a slap in the face of the voters."
The club had been allowed to operate by San Francisco authorities under a new state law allowing marijuana to be grown and used by patients, under a doctor's recommendation, to ease the nausea and ill effects of AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and other health problems.
But the state attorney general's office claimed marijuana was being sold to people without doctors' prescriptions and was resold on the street, and that children were on the premises.
After Proposition 215 passed, a state judge allowed the Cannabis Buyers' Club to reopen, ruling that the law allowed a nonprofit organization to sell marijuana to patients who had designated the club as their "primary caregiver."
A Cannabis Buyer's Club member
The appeals court disagreed. The only way patients can access marijuana legally is to grow it or have an individual -- not a commercial enterprise -- grow it for them, the court said.
"The intent of the initiative was to allow persons to cultivate and possess a sufficient amount of marijuana for their own approved medical purposes, and to allow 'primary caregivers' the same authority to act on behalf of those patients too ill or bedridden to do so," said presiding Justice J. Clinton Peterson.
"If the drafters of the initiative wanted to legalize the sale of small amounts of marijuana for approved medical purposes, they could have easily done so," he said.
Supporters incensed
Dennis Peron, founder of the club and author of Proposition 215, said he would appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.
"They say the cannabis clubs are illegal, and yet they give us no alternative or avenue for these people to get marijuana," he said.
Peron and five others face charges of sale and transportation of marijuana seized in the raid.
"I'm not going to close the doors," an incensed Peron vowed. "They can put me in jail."
Peron said the court misinterpreted the measure he drafted.
Proposition 215 "never said you couldn't assign an entity as your caregiver," like a nurses' organization that furnishes nursing care, he said. "We envisioned cooperatives that would supply marijuana to people until the government started centers."
Added AIDS patient Marty Orton: "We just have to convince the government to cut us some slack ... We are sick people, and this is medicine."
In a separate opinion, Justice J. Anthony Kline indicated his colleagues' ruling could make it practically impossible for sick people to take advantage of Proposition 215.
"The right to obtain marijuana is .... meaningless if it cannot legally be satisfied," Kline said. He said the majority ruling would make marijuana unavailable for many seriously ill Californians whose caregivers were unable to grow the plant or await harvest.
"A person cannot even cultivate marijuana without obtaining seeds, and the majority does not suggest how this may legally be accomplished," Kline said.
State officials mark win
Still, California Attorney General Dan Lungren applauded the ruling.
"Had the people of the state of California believed they were voting for the purpose of establishing Cannabis-Buyers'-Club-like operations around the state, they probably would have defeated this proposition," he said.
Sean Walsh, spokesman for Gov. Pete Wilson, also praised the decision.
"The state needs to do everything in its power to limit the distribution of potentially dangerous drugs," Walsh said.
The ruling, the first by a California appellate court on the issue, takes effect in 30 days unless appealed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Special section
Related stories:
- San Francisco club raid reignites conflict over legalized marijuana - April 22, 1997
- Experts urge new study of medical uses of marijuana - February 20, 1997
- Patients flock to Cannabis Club for medicinal fix - January 15, 1997
- Source: U.S. won't let doctors recommend marijuana - December 24, 1996
Related sites:
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- Los Angeles Cannabis Buyer's Club
- Berkeley's Rx. Cannabis Growers and Buyers Club
- Medical Marijuana
- Marijuana Policy Project
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
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