Santa Clara Cannabis Club
Operator/Cancer Patient Baez
Arrested for Selling To Man Who Only Has Broken Back
March 25, 1998 (Ed. note: This article makes
several points very clear.
- The narks are using enormous resources and doing everything possible to shut down the
even "cleanest" of the Buyers Clubs.
- Doctors are easily intimidated, because they are so vulnerable.
- The narks use extorted testimony from vulnerable patients who may be defendants in other
cases. This is consistent with their use of coke dealers and addicts to go after medical
marijuana users.
- Many law enforcement officials do not care about the obviously serious health problems
of medical marijuana users.
- While medical access to marijuana is of immediate importance to people with serious
medical conditions, their rights and the rights of all citizens can be protected only by
the dismantling of the prohibitionist apparatus and the full legalization of marijuana.
Otherwise the narks will intimidate doctors and harass patients, making a mockery of the
law.)
From the San Francisco Chronicle
Pot Center Stays Open Despite Arrest
Maria Alicia Gaura, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, March 25, 1998
The only medical marijuana center in Santa Clara County remained open for business
yesterday despite charges that its director sold pot without a prescription.
Director Peter Baez, released on $5,000 bail early yesterday morning, said he was
devastated by the arrest, which he claimed was based on false information.
``We did have a verbal recommendation from the doctor in this case, which is legal
under Proposition 215 (the voter initiative that legalized medical marijuana in
California),'' Baez said. ``We have followed the law. We are a good family organization
here.''
Baez's famous cousin, folk singer Joan Baez, released a statement
of support for him yesterday, and pledged to dedicate a song to him at her Carnegie Hall
concert tonight.
``The farcical charges against him must be dropped immediately, and consideration given
to his own life-threatening illness'' Joan Baez wrote. ``I know my cousin's work to be
meticulously law abiding and desperately needed.''
County prosecutors said yesterday that Peter Baez sold marijuana nine times to Enrique
Robles, a defendant in a recent criminal case. Robles suffers
from complications of a broken back, but prosecutors said his doctor did not recommend
marijuana use.
``We did a thorough investigation and none of the three physicians (who treated Robles)
gave a recommendation,'' said Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu. ``Robles is in no condition to be getting marijuana.''
San Jose police descended on the marijuana center Monday afternoon, after
confirming that Robles, who had initially claimed to be a medical marijuana patient,
pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of possessing marijuana.
Police also took copies of personal files of all 270 of the center's clients. ``The
police copied all confidential patient files, and that's what we're most concerned
about,'' Baez said. ``Most of our patients don't want police to know that they have AIDS
or whatever.''
The center opened last year with the blessing of San Jose Mayor Susan Hammer, the City
Council, city attorney and county prosecutors, who helped work out a tough set of local
regulations.
Baez and co-founder Jesse Garcia enthusiastically worked with officials and were lauded
for their strict attention to detail. When narcotics agents
attempted to buy marijuana recently, they were found out by the center's staff. Several
other marijuana clubs, including those in San Francisco and Santa Cruz, failed to screen
out the agents and were later named in a federal lawsuit.
Attorney B.J. Fadem yesterday called the arrest a ``travesty,'' saying that the
doctor's recommendation was confirmed by three people at the center.
Both Fadem and Baez said that some doctors will only give verbal recommendations for
medical marijuana because they fear prosecution from federal authorities.
Fadem noted that Baez, who recently underwent surgery for colon cancer, was denied
water and prescription medicines for the 12 hours he was held at Santa Clara County Jail.
``There was no need to arrest him. He has always cooperated with the police,'' Fadem
said. ``His health may have been permanently harmed by this treatment.''
©1998 San Francisco Chronicle
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