MEDICAL POT CLUB CLOSES DOWN

A Santa Rosa medical marijuana club reportedly halted operations Thursday
as its owner and another man appeared in court on drug charges in the
aftermath of the latest federal raid on a California marijuana provider.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents searched the Aiko Compassion
Center on West College Avenue on Wednesday. They then arrested Daniel H.
Nelson, identified by a DEA agent as the owner, and Edward M. Bierling of
Santa Rosa, described by his lawyer as a patient.

Both men appeared before a federal magistrate in San Francisco on charges
of cultivating more than 100 marijuana plants, charges that carry a
mandatory prison sentence of at least five years. Nelson is also charged
with maintaining a place where marijuana was cultivated. Both were released
on bond.

Attorney Richard Ingram said Bierling has a certificate from a doctor,
reviewed by a medical panel established with approval of local law enforcement,

entitling him to grow and use marijuana for his medical condition. The
lawyer declined to discuss the condition.

The Aiko center, which has more than 100 patients as members, halted
operations Thursday after being served with a three-day eviction notice by
its landlord, said Ernest Knapp, spokesman for the Sonoma Alliance for
Medical Marijuana. Knapp said the landlord had gotten a letter from a DEA
lawyer warning that the government would seize the property if the landlord
didn't stop the illegal activity.

"Patients have been coming in all day, panicked. Some are disabled and have
a hard time getting to the three other clubs in the county," Knapp said.

DEA spokesman Richard Meyer said the agency is not going after marijuana
clubs. "We target marijuana traffickers," he said.


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Pubdate: Fri, 31 May 2002
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Page: A-24
Copyright: 2002 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: letters@sfchronicle.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer