cannabisnews.com: Cannabis Club Pot-Growing Trial Begins 





Cannabis Club Pot-Growing Trial Begins 
Posted by FoM on March 14, 2001 at 06:21:51 PT
By Pamela J. Podger, Chronicle Staff Writer
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
The state's first jury trial on suppliers to cannabis clubs got under way yesterday, pitting Sonoma County's vigorous prosecution of pot growers against the more tolerant views in San Francisco. While San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan openly supports medical marijuana clubs, Sonoma County District Attorney Mike Mullins said he doesn't want his county to be transformed into a pot garden for the Bay Area. 
"If San Francisco wants to have a marijuana supplier, they can grow it in Golden Gate Park," Mullins said yesterday. Cannabis clubs, he said, are illegal. The trial that started yesterday focuses on two Petaluma growers, who are being tried for providing cannabis for a San Francisco club for users of medical marijuana. In opening arguments, prosecutors argued that the motive was greed. The defense insisted it was providing lawful compassionate use. Hallinan, who is on the witness list for the defense, sent an observer from his office to monitor yesterday's court action. Cannabis clubs sprang up in several California cities after the 1996 passage of Proposition 215, which permits cultivation and consumption of the weed for chronically ill people who have a doctor's recommendation. Proponents say cannabis helps alleviate the effects of chemotherapy, promotes appetite in cancer and AIDS patients and helps relieve pain. Defendants Kenneth E. Hayes and Michael S. Foley grew 899 marijuana plants, some in six greenhouses and others inside a barn on a rural King Road farm. Fifteen pounds of dried weed, one pound of hash, $3,700 in cash and a rifle also were found on the property. Hayes was the executive director of the 1,280-member club CHAMP -- Cannabis Helping Alleviate Medical Problems, described as a cross between "a living room and a cabaret" -- located in the Castro district. Foley was the club's general manager. Both men face felony charges for unlawful cultivation and possession of concentrated cannabis for the purpose of sale. There is also an enhancement for the rifle, which an Oakland defense lawyer said was used to protect Hayes' chickens from raccoons. Surrounded by burlap bags containing confiscated weed, Sonoma County prosecutor Carla Claeys began her remarks by saying the two defendants met and hatched a plan to run a sophisticated $500,000 operation. "This is a case of profit. It was not done for compassionate use or from the kindness of their hearts," Claeys said. "It was about money. "This is not a case about cannabis clubs in San Francisco or politics in San Francisco or whether marijuana should be used for compassionate purposes. It was a sales game. It wasn't for compassion. It was for greed." In testimony yesterday, Sonoma County Sheriff's Deputy Steven Gossett said that when he served the search warrant in the morning of May 14, 1999, the rented house reeked of marijuana smoke. Mullins said his office interprets the state law as allowing an approved patient to grow cannabis for personal use -- or if a person is unable to do so, an approved caregiver may instead. In other words, one-on-one situations are allowed, Mullins said, not extensive sales operations. Defense lawyer William G. Panzer, who co-wrote Proposition 215, said Hayes was a designated "caregiver," who gave the cannabis "essentially free of charge" to ill people. He said Hayes' San Francisco club provided a gathering spot for his members, where social interaction, massages, dinners and doctors consultations were available. Hayes, he said, operated with the full knowledge of the San Francisco Police Department and Hallinan's office. He also said CHAMP was honored by Mayor Willie Brown and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. "Mr. Hayes was essentially doing God's work," Panzer said. "He grew this for compassionate use." During a break outside the Santa Rosa courtroom, Panzer said Mullins' stance is counterproductive because it forces medical users to resort to black market suppliers. "I see Mike Mullins as Captain Ahab going after the great white whale of medical marijuana," Panzer said. "He honestly believes there is no medical benefit. He doesn't want reasonable regulation and is giving business to drug dealers." Mullins said he knows of no research that supports the medical benefits of marijuana. He said if anyone is driving ill people into the arms of drug dealers, it is the initiative drafters. "Right now, there are 58 different ways of interpreting this because there is no uniformity," Mullins said. "They drafted a hopelessly ineffective initiative that fails to provide a means to distribute this particular product. " E-mail Pamela J. Podger at: ppodger sfchronicle.comSource: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Pamela J. Podger, Chronicle Staff WriterPublished: Wednesday, March 14, 2001Copyright: 2001 San Francisco Chronicle Page A - 13 Address: 901 Mission St., San Francisco CA 94103Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Forum: http://www.sfgate.com/conferences/Feedback: http://www.sfgate.com/select.feedback.htmlRelated Articles & Web Site:C.H.A.M.P.http://www.champsf.org/County Jurors To Rule on Medical Marijuana Againhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8985.shtmlPetaluma Pair Facing Trial in Pot-Growing Case http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread5443.shtml
END SNIP -->
Snipped
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #3 posted by Dan B on March 14, 2001 at 11:29:06 PT:
NIDA B.S.
Several years ago, NIDA sponsored television ads with the exact same message, showing two radically different brain scans and saying that one represented the brain of a "normal" person while the other represented the brain of someone who had smoked marijuana for a lengthy period of time. They had to retract the ads when a growing number of doctors began pointing out that the supposed brain scan of a "marijuana user" was actually the brain scan of a person in a coma. There was no basis for the lie; they just assumed they could get away with lying because they had lied so many times before.The brain scan pictures shown on the web page appear quite similar to the ones they showed in the television ads (they may be the same ones). If marijuana truly had such an effect, wouldn't it show up in behavior? How many long-term marijuana users do you know who appear to be in comas? Can you tell just by talking to a person for a little while whether he or she is a long term marijuana smoker? Not likely.Consider the case of Steve Kubby, the 1998 California gubernatorial candidate for the Libertarian Party who was diagnosed with adrenal cancer, a form of cancer that is not in itself malignant, but that causes problems with the functioning of the adrenal glands (as I understand it), thus impairing certain bodily functions (including immune functions) necessary for survival. Patients almost always die within five years, but Kubby has survived now for upwards of 17 years as a result of the positive effects he receives from smoking marijuana on a dialy basis. Well, when the doctor who diagnosed Kubby's condition saw that in 1998 he was running for governor, he could not believe it. It had been 15 years since the diagnosis was made, and he fully expected Kubby to have long since passed away. He was further astounded to learn that marijuana was the key to Kubby's survival, and he quickly had Kubby return to his office for a visit and several test. He found no evidence of any decline in cognitive function whatsoever. That was after 15 years of daily use. Compare this evidence with the fabricated "evidence" found on that website, and the conclusion must be that the website is a fraud.Dan B
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by Dave in Florida on March 14, 2001 at 09:42:03 PT
can you say "Propaganda"
It is BS, greenfox. Look here:http://www.mfiles.org/hidta/hidta.html
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by greenfox on March 14, 2001 at 06:40:48 PT
Off subject, but take a look...
Has anyone seen this?http://www.mfiles.org/mariweb/user_impact/user_impact.htmlThere's a picture of two brains. One is normal, the other is all f*cked up. Kap, obs, fom: what is this? Anyone know? If this isn't real, how can they get away with it?sly in green, foxy, foxy, foxy, FOXY in kind....-gf
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: