Pubdate: Sun, 11 Nov 2001
Source: Wichita Eagle (KS)
Copyright: 2001 The Wichita Eagle
Contact:  http://www.wichitaeagle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/680
Author: David Broder, http://www.mapinc.org/author/David+Broder

MARIJUANA RAID RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT DEA'S PRIORITIES

Asa Hutchinson, the former Republican representative from Arkansas now 
serving as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, has a reputation as 
a straight shooter. Asked recently what the events of Sept. Asa Hutchinson, 
the former Republican representative from Arkansas now serving as head of 
the Drug Enforcement Administration, has a reputation as a straight 
shooter. Asked recently 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, the Los Angeles County sheriff 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 council member, said the 
organization has worked hand in glove with local officials.

"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 that 
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: Keith Brilhart