By JOHN WOOLFOLK
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

SANTA CRUZ Costco is watching you. That was the lesson a
Santa Cruz medical marijuana club learned recently when it took
photographs of its members and growing operation to the warehouse chain
for processing.

The club, Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, newly
legalized under the recently passed Proposition 215, soon found itself
doing some explaining to local police.

Club director Valerie Corral said that when a friend went to pick up the
photos, a Costco employee told her to wait 10 minutes because the
equipment was broken. Moments later, the friend was summoned outside by a
pair of police officers, Corral said.

"I hit the ceiling," Corral said after learning of the Costco snitch." I
was just furious. It's pretty outrageous that they take it upon
themselves to turn people in. What right have they got to be Big
Brother?"

Corral said police questioned her friend for about 20 minutes. They
returned photos of club members but confiscated the pictures of the
growing operation and forwarded them to the sheriff's narcotics
enforcement team, Police Chief Steve Beicher said.

Sheriff Mark Tracy promptly ordered the remainihg photos returned
to the club and dropped the matter Corral said.

"He's been great," Corral said. "He's been so open and approachable and
willing to resolve problems so we don't have to be treated like
criminals."

When called about the matter, Costco's store manager said, "Our policy is
to obey the law as we understand it" and that "we are reviewing our
policies." He would not give his last name and hung up. The clerk who
transferred the call to him later identified him as warehouse manager
David Aue.

District Attorney Art Danner said a 10yearold state law requires
filmprocessing companies to report photos of suspected child
pornography. Private companies may report other suspected criminal
activity as any citizen could without violating privacy laws, but are not
bound to do so, he said.

Chief Belcher said in a memo to City Ha1l that "it is not a
particularly unusual situation" for photo labs to report suspected
criminal activity. Police get occasional calls about photos of suspected
narcotics, child molestation and beatings, he said.

Corral said her club uses the photographs for record keeping and
that it usually takes them to Bay Photo or Longs without any trouble. She
said she'd think twice about letting Costco process her film in the future.

California voters in November overwhelmingly passed Prop. 215,
legalizing marijuana use to treat medical conditions under a doctor's
advice. The new law is still the subject of considerable handwringing
among law enforcement officials.

"Proposition 215 is forcing people to think in ways they never thought of
before," Corral said. "Five years ago, when I got arrested, they said go
change the law Now we changed the law and we're still dealing with this
nonsense.

The Clinton administration has refused to honor the initiative, noting
that federal law still bans marijuana use, and has threatened to
prosecute doctors who recommend marijuana.