CALIF. COURT RULES MARIJUANA CLUBS ILLEGAL

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) A state appeals court has ruled police can close
California's marijuana buyers'clubs despite a state law that makes it legal
to use the drug for medicinal purposes.

The First District Court of Appeals Friday held that California's
Proposition 215 permitting medical use of marijuana did not legalize groups
like San Francisco's Cannabis Buyers' Club, used by many victims of AIDS
and other serious diseases as a source for the drug.

The court said such groups, if allowed to operate, would set a precedent
for "marijuana to be sold as a loss leader or at cost in coops, grocery
stores, liquor stores etc., or to be provided on a complimentary basis at
bars, restaurants, nightclubs or casinos ..."

California Attorney General Dan Lungren, who had put the case to the
appeals court, applauded its verdict.

"We believe (the ruling) gives proper guidance throughout the state of
California. We will so advise law enforcement district attorneys,
sheriffs and police departments," Lungren said in a statement.

"Had the people of the state of California believed that they were voting
for the purpose of establishing Cannabis Buyers' Clublike operations
around the state, they probably would have defeated this proposition."

Proposition 215, which California voters passed in November 1996, allowed
patients and their primary caregivers to possess and cultivate marijuana
for personal medical use under the advice of a doctor.

The appeals court ruling stated that buyers' clubs cannot be considered
"primary caregivers", and hence remained illegal.

"This sort of subterfuge is certainly not what the voters approved or
intended," the court's ruling said.

The San Francisco Superior Court issued a preliminary injunction against
the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers' Club in November 1996 before the state
law was passed. In early 1997, the court modified its ruling to allow
nonprofit operation of the club.

Lungren appealed that decision, and Friday the appeals court agreed, saying
that if patients could designate commercial establishments as their primary
caregivers it would effectively decriminalize marijuana distribution in the
state.

Supporters of medical use of marijuana, which patients say relieves the
pain and nausea of AIDS, cancer, and other serious diseases, said they
planned to appeal the decision to the state supreme court.

The appeals court ruling takes effect in 30 days unless a fresh appeal is
made.