San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey refuses to shutdown S.F. Cannabis Center." Sheriff Hennessey eventually complied because if he refused any longer, he would have been subject to arrest. The center was notorious for excepting fake prescriptions, and supplying drug dealers with marijuana.
State Pot Order Rejected
S.F. sheriff won't enforce ban on club's sales
Thursday, August 8, 1996
San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey has rejected a request by the state attorney general's office to enforce a temporary restraining order forbidding the sale of marijuana at the Cannabis Buyers' Club, the public pot emporium busted on Sunday.
Mayor Willie Brown also weighed in on the issue yesterday, issuing a statement lambasting the raid.
``I am dismayed by the Gestapo tactics displayed by Attorney General Dan Lungren on Sunday,'' Brown said, ``and (I) wish he would refrain from political grandstanding at the expense of the health and welfare of the people of San Francisco.''
An acerbic missive by Hennessey was provoked by a Tuesday letter from Deputy Attorney General Lawrence A. Mercer asking the sheriff to enforce the court order issued by Superior Court judge William Cahill on Monday to stop further pot sales at the club's headquarters at 1444 Market St.
Before the raid, the club openly sold approximately 100 pounds of marijuana a week. Club staffers say it went to people suffering the debilitating effects of AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and other diseases. State law enforcement agents said anybody could
buy the weed and that children and toddlers were regularly exposed to secondhand marijuana smoke at the club.
Hennessey wrote Mercer and Attorney General Dan Lungren that he will not abide by the request to enforce the order, saying the matter is more properly the responsibility of the San Francisco police.
Hennessey also said he ``does not wish to spend precious law enforcement dollars busting people engaged in distributing marijuana for medicinal purposes,'' adding that the state law may well be changed in November by Proposition 215, the marijuana decriminalization initiative.
At times, Hennessey grew philosophical in his letter:
``If the attorney general wishes to assist local law enforcement, why not assist in arresting the tens of thousands of state parolees who have outstanding arrest warrants? Why not assign Department of Justice personnel to help solve the thousands of unsolved murders and armed robberies in the state?
``Heck, the attorney general would even (provide) a better form of public protection if (he) would help local law enforcement arrest some of the ten thousand drunk drivers that are on the the highways every minute of the day in California.''
Hennessey closed by asking Lungren to ``not waste the time of local law enforcement agencies,'' which have not requested state help in dealing with local crime.
NO PRESSURE FOR HENNESSEY
Steve Telliano, press secretary for the attorney general, said his office will not push Hennessey to enforce the order because it appears the Cannabis Buyers' Club is abiding by the edict.
When asked if the Department of Justice has the authority to compel the sheriff to enforce the order, Telliano said, ``Perhaps -- but we'll have to look at that at a later time.''
Telliano took issue with Hennessey's contention that the club was distributing only ``medicinal'' marijuana.
``There were sales to minors, and there was second-hand marijuana smoke exposure to infants and children,'' said Telliano. ``Even if Proposition 215 passes, those activities would still be illegal.''
Meanwhile, Brown -- who had been silent on the raid -- denied that he was tardy in his response. He said he was upset from the beginning but that he wanted to gather all available information on the issue before making a statement.
Brown also said he ``would be very annoyed'' if San Francisco police had a hand in the bust. Police narcotics officers have said that only one officer participated in the operation, but reports are floating that police may have been more deeply involved.
``I think this process started long before (Fred) Lau became chief (of police),'' said Brown, referring to his appointment of the new chief in January.
``Lau . . . honestly and accurately states that he did not know of anything except the appropriate monitoring that should be done by any police department. If he finds out (that there was substantive police involvement in the raid), I'm sure he will deal with it,'' Brown said.
In Sacramento, 14 state legislators signed a letter to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno saying Lungren ``may have used the powers of his office for purely political reasons.'' The legislators signed a letter by Santa Clara Assemblyman John Vasconcellos that suggests Lungren staged the raid to harass proponents of the medical marijuana measure. Lungren is a leader of the opposition to the initiative.
Chronicle staff writers Clarence Johnson and Catherine Bowman contributed to this report.