Pubdate: Sun, 11 Nov 2001
Source: Columbus Dispatch (OH)
Copyright: 2001 The Columbus Dispatch
Contact:  http://www.dispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/93
Author: David S. Broder
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

DEA RAID SEEMS BEYOND REASON

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 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 that 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, Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block and officials 
of West Hollywood encouraged Imler and his associates to set up operations, 
even finding 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 
requests that patients' status be verified every three months and that they 
carry ID cards attesting to their eligibility to possess marijuana.

"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 in 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 got 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: Beth