Pubdate: Wed, 31 Oct 2001
Source: LA Weekly (CA)
Copyright: 2001, Los Angeles Weekly, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.laweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/228
Author: Michael Simmons
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)

THE OTHER WAR

Unable to find Osama bin Laden or dismantle al Qaeda, the Bush 
administration has attacked an easier target - the 960 mostly AIDS and 
cancer patients of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center.

Thirty agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration raided the 
West Hollywood center last Thursday. They detained eight patient/staffers 
for six hours and seized 400 plants, bagged marijuana and brownies, patient 
and doctors' records, computers, and growing equipment. "The effect on 
people's health will be devastating," said center president Scott Imler, 
who has epilepsy. "I don't understand why America is declaring war on its own."

No arrests were made. The center remains open, but the dispensary is 
closed, forcing members onto the black market to receive their medicine.

The basis for the raid is the long-standing state-vs.-federal government 
dispute over who has say over drug laws. In 1996, California voters 
approved Proposition 215, which gave patients the right to possess medical 
marijuana. The federal government has refused to recognize the law in 
California and eight other states and Washington, D.C., which have passed 
similar medical-marijuana measures. Last May, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 
against the reopening of an Oakland club, a decision cited in last week's 
search warrant.

The center's leadership has yet to announce its legal strategy, or if it 
will try to restore its operation, which serves 960 members, 80 percent of 
whom have AIDS and use marijuana to combat wasting syndrome and the nausea 
from multiple medications. Another 10 percent have cancer, for which 
cannabis is a time-honored treatment during chemotherapy. The remainder 
suffer from assorted ailments, including glaucoma and multiple sclerosis.

The center opened in 1996 with the help of the West Hollywood City Council 
and the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. "I stand up in support of what 
Scott has been doing," Sheriff Lee Baca told the Weekly in 1999. "He's done 
an excellent job." The West Hollywood City Council held a news conference 
denouncing the raid. Asked West Hollywood Sheriff's Station Captain Lynda 
Castro: "Where's the sensitivity level?"

The center's supporters say the raid points up the folly of America's drug 
war, and its lack of compassion. Other countries are setting more 
progressive examples. Four months ago, Canada became the first country to 
legalize medical marijuana. The Dutch, who've already decriminalized 
recreational use, announced this month that cannabis will be available by 
prescription. And the British are reclassifying pot in their least 
restrictive class with antidepressants and steroids.

"While the rest of the world moves steadily into the 21st century, the Bush 
administration is dragging its knuckles and America back into the Dark 
Ages," said Imler.

A candlelight vigil will be held across the street from the center, on the 
corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Gardner Street, at 5 p.m. Tuesday, 
November 6, the fifth anniversary of the passage of Proposition 215.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager