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.
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MAP posted-by: Josh