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| Raid Yields Pot Farm at the Hayward Hempery |
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Posted by FoM on February 24, 2000 at 23:01:35 PT By Jeff Chorney, Staff Writer Source: Oakland Tribune 
The battle over medicinal marijuana reignited in Hayward on Tuesday when police raided an outspoken advocate's downtown pot club. There was no word if Robert Wilson, owner of the Hayward Hempery, was arrested during the 3 p.m. search of his business, 22580 Foothill Blvd. Narcotics investigators were inside the building into the evening. As of 8 p.m., Wilson had not been booked into the city jail. Officially, the Hempery sells used records and hemp-fiber clothing. But Wilson has made it no secret that he will provide anyone with a doctor's note with marijuana. Officers didn't comment on what they'd discovered inside the shop, but Hayward Police Chief Craig Calhoun said they found a marijuana growing operation. He didn't know how large. "It's been our experience that people who are cultivating marijuana (do it) to sell drugs and make money," Calhoun said. "This isn't about medical marijuana and Proposition 215 issues. This is about cultivating marijuana for sales." Oakland attorney Bill Panzer -- who has represented Wilson in the past -- said the state Health and Safety code drafted by Prop. 215 allows for a care giver to cultivate marijuana. He said the search warrant was "low-key." Officers didn't want to surprise or disturb any terminally ill patients who might have been inside. "It depends on how many people a person is care giver for," Panzer said. "The yield on these plants is much much less than the cops think." He got a call from the shop about the raid but hadn't heard whether Wilson was arrested. As owner of one of only five known medical pot clubs in the East Bay, Wilson serves a lot of people who need the drug, Panzer said. Prop. 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, legalized marijuana for medical use. People with painful, often terminal diseases such as cancer and AIDS are allowed to use the drug as medication for nausea and pain. Some advocates also claim it remedies dozens of mental conditions, including alcoholism and anxiety disorders. But two years after voters approved the law, many users and drug providers exist in a gray area, subject to the discretion of local cops. Even the government can't seem to agree on how to handle sick people smoking dope. Last year, Attorney General Bill Lockyer convened a task force to explore the issue. That task force drafted Senate Bill 848, which would have created a state registry with membership cards for medical marijuana users. The bill was rendered inactive after the office of Gov. Gray Davis said he likely would veto it. Panzer said Oakland created special guidelines to help police determine whether large marijuana growing operations are for medical use or for illegal recreational use. Hayward City Manager Jesus Armas said the city has not taken a position on medical marijuana. Tod Mikuriya, a Berkeley doctor who works with Wilson to provide marijuana, said the legal wrangling and differing attitudes among all levels of law enforcement has created "functional anarchy." Instead being up to local police, marijuana should be a health issue, he said. "I don't know why Bob (Wilson) is under scrutiny. I don't think there have been any kind of incidents or people hanging out in the street or being indiscreet," Mikuriya said. At least not recently. The Hempery was robbed twice in 1998, the same year a 34-year-old Oakland man was shot to death when he broke into a Hayward home where Wilson had recently lived. Hayward Related Articles & Web Sites: The Hayward Hempery Tod H. Mikuriya, M.D. 215NOW Justice Department Asks For Rehearing of Medical Marijuana CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives: Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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