DEA FIGHTING THE WRONG WAR

THE SANTA CRUZ rally for medical marijuana shows how strongly
Californians feel about using cannabis products to relieve human suffering.

Hundreds came to Tuesday's City Hall pot giveaway -- even the mayor,
council members and a county supervisor. As did most of the
participants, the public officials came to support the dozen or so
gravely ill residents who rely on marijuana to ease the effects of
chemotherapy, cancer and other diseases.

But the rally went beyond a mere demonstration of compassion. It was
an act of defiance in the biggest skirmish yet between California
voters and the federal government over medical marijuana. Two weeks
ago, the Drug Enforcement Agency raided Santa Cruz's Wo/Mens
Alliance for Medical Marijuana, which opened in 1996 after voters
overwhelming passed Proposition 215, the medical marijuana
initiative. The raid curtailed pot distribution to the cooperative's
230 members.

But the alliance is precisely what voters had in mind - a tightly
regulated program that mandates identification before giving away
organically grown pot. It's a program for very sick people with a
doctor's prescription. The DEA should wisely direct its drug war
efforts elsewhere.

Pubdate: Thu, 19 Sep 2002
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2002 Hearst Communications Inc.