Pubdate: Sat, 10 Nov 2001
Source: Columbia Daily Tribune (MO)
Copyright: 2001 Columbia Daily Tribune
Contact:  http://www.showmenews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/91
Author: David Broder
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?194 (Hutchinson, Asa)

PINCHED, DEA STILL GOES AFTER POT CLINIC

Asa Hutchinson, the former Republican representative from Arkansas 
now serving as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, has a 
reputation as a straight shooter. When he was up for confirmation a 
few months ago, even Democrats who had strongly opposed his views as 
a manager of the impeachment proceedings against President Bill 
Clinton testified in support of his nomination.

The other morning, Hutchinson was the guest at one of the breakfast 
interviews arranged by Godfrey Sperling Jr. of The Christian Science 
Monitor. Asked what the events of Sept. 11 had done to the war on 
drugs, Hutchinson readily admitted that the diversion of government 
resources to the anti-terrorism campaign had left his agency 
stretched thin.

A significant number of FBI agents who had been working drug cases 
have been pulled off to assist in the dragnet for suspected 
terrorists, he said. Coast Guard vessels that had been patrolling the 
Caribbean to intercept drug smugglers are now protecting harbors. 
Customs agents are focusing on bioterrorism.

Hutchinson assured reporters he agreed with the new priorities but 
acknowledged that the DEA is struggling to "pick up the slack." All 
of which makes it very strange, in my view, that on Oct. 25 about 30 
DEA agents spent six hours in a raid on the Los Angeles Cannabis 
Resource Center, a source of marijuana for patients with doctors' 
prescriptions for its use as a painkiller.

There was nothing illegal about the raid. The agents had a search 
warrant signed by a visiting federal judge from Florida. Scott Imler, 
the president of the center, told me the agents "were very polite. 
They did not pull guns or put anyone on the floor or handcuff anyone 
or physically or verbally abuse anyone. They just gathered us 
together and went about collecting stuff."

They took marijuana plants, processed marijuana, 3,000 medical 
records and all the business documents on the site. The next day, 
Imler said, they seized the organization's bank accounts, effectively 
shutting down its normal operations.

In turn, Imler and his staff did not try to conceal anything; in 
fact, they opened the safe and allowed the agents to take away the 
contents. This was no clandestine operation.

Five years ago, when California voters overwhelmingly approved a 
medical marijuana initiative financed by George Soros and two other 
multimillionaires, the Los Angeles County sheriff, Sherman Block, and 
officials of West Hollywood encouraged Imler and his associates to 
set up operations, even finding them a building they could use.

John Duran, the center's attorney and a city councilman, said the 
organization has worked hand-in-glove with local officials, acceding 
to their requests that patients' status be verified every three 
months and that they carry identity cards attesting to their 
eligibility for marijuana possession.

"We've had nothing to hide for five years," Duran said. Indeed, DEA 
agents visited the center on Sept. 17 and were given a tour of the 
premises and a full explanation of its operations.

The authority for the raid rests on a Supreme Court decision last May 
that the passage of medical marijuana initiatives in California and 
seven other states does not override federal law classifying 
marijuana as an illegal drug.

The question raised by Imler, Duran, civil liberties attorneys and 
even some conservative editorial pages is why such a raid would 
command the resources of the DEA at a time when it is clearly being 
stretched to the limits.

When I asked Hutchinson, he replied that carrying out the federal 
marijuana ban "is our responsibility but not a high priority." He 
acknowledged that he prefers to work with elected officials and local 
law enforcement rather than opposing them, as in this case, but said 
that "when there is a gap" between state and federal law, his job is 
to enforce the congressional statutes.

That answer does not satisfy local officials. At the time of the 
raid, 960 people - most of them with AIDS, the rest with cancer, Lou 
Gehrig's disease and other serious illnesses - were alleviating pain 
and nausea with marijuana from Imler's center. No arrest warrants 
have been issued since the raid, and a spokesman for the U.S. 
attorney's office told me it will be "some time" before any 
prosecutions are decided. But the center has closed its dispensary 
because, as Imler said, "we do not want to distribute black-market 
products." Now, Duran added, "we have 960 patients out in the parks, 
looking for drug dealers to get their marijuana, which is exactly 
what the city didn't want."

No one has alleged - let alone proved - that anyone obtained 
marijuana without a medical prescription. Why in the world is the 
Bush administration fighting this battle when there are so many more 
important wars to be won?
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MAP posted-by: Josh