MEDICAL MARIJUANA: San Francisco Judge Orders Cannabis Healing Center Closed
San Francisco Superior Court Judge William Cahill yesterday ordered the Cannabis Healing Center, the nation's largest medicinal pot club, to close shop for good, after declaring it a "public nuisance," the San Francisco Chronicle reports. As part of his opinion, Cahill "noted that three times in May, undercover agents bought marijuana at the center after submitting phony prescriptions." He wrote: "The evidence shows that marijuana can be purchased in practically any quantity by anyone willing to fill out the Cannabis Healing Center's forms and to designate (director) Hazel Rodgers as their 'exclusive' caregiver." Matt Ross, spokesperson for Attorney General Dan Lungren, said his office was "very pleased." He said, "We argued that the law allows for a patient to have a primary caregiver to care for their needs on a consistent basis. That was not what was happening here." The center's "staff vowed to continue serving an estimated 8,000 patients while their lawyer appeals" the closure order. However, Eileen Hirst of the San Francisco Sheriff's Department said the office is planning to evict unauthorized persons, remove their property and change the locks by 5 p.m. Tuesday. She said, "This is not your average everyday eviction. We need to do some planning, and we'll do it within the time the judge ordered." Yesterday, a federal judge ordered six clubs closed, including the Cannabis Healing Center (Lee/Van Derbeken/Minton, 5/22).
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