Pubdate: Wed, 7 Nov 2001 Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA) Copyright: 2001 San Francisco Examiner Contact: http://www.examiner.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/389 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?203 (Terrorism) COMPASSIONATE LIBERALISM ON POT IF the federal government descends upon every medical marijuana club and user in the state it will be enforcing the law. But it also will be violating the mandate we gave our leaders two months ago to crack down on the real dangers society now faces. To conservatives who never liked the idea of medical pot, now is the perfect time to eliminate it. The nation, shaken by the threat of terrorism, is more behind President Bush than it ever was or likely will be. Under the direction of Asa Hutchinson the DEA recently closed two clubs near Los Angeles and Sacramento. San Francisco is drawing a line in the sand. District Attorney Terence Hallinan and Supervisor Mark Leno want to declare The City a "sanctuary" for the medicinal use of marijuana. That will be a comfort to the more than 3,000 patients who rely on marijuana to treat glaucoma, AIDS and a host of other serious ailments. Comfort, but not protection. The Supreme Court last spring ruled that federal anti-drug laws make no exception for medical use. That gives the DEA a green light to shut down clubs and pursue patients. But the ruling was vague enough to ensure that opponents will have plenty to fight about for years. Will the DEA call San Francisco's bluff, call in Special Ops to do reconnaissance on cannabis dispensaries, and seize the Department of Public Health's records of registered pot users? If it tries, it will have ended an experiment California undertook in 1996 with the passage of Prop 215, the Compassionate Use Act. It also will show that the Bush administration is using the sympathy it gained after Sept. 11 to beat up on enemies who have nothing to do with terrorism. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh