Pubdate: Mon,  9 Sep 2002
Source: Daily Texan (TX Edu)
Copyright: 2002 Daily Texan
Contact:  http://www.dailytexanonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/115
Author: P. Ryan Petkoff, Daily Texan Staff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?194 (Hutchinson, Asa)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

CALIFORNIA MARIJUANA RAID CONTRADICTS STATE LAW

Action Highlights Disparity Between State, Federal Law

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency raided a medicinal marijuana dispensary in 
California last week, despite a California state law permitting 
distribution to prescribed patients. DEA agents seized 167 marijuana plants 
along with a small amount of hashish at an operation run by Michael and 
Valerie Corral said Richard Myer, a DEA spokesman. The Corrals, who as of 
Sunday had not been charged, grew and harvested their own cannabis plants 
for patients around the Santa Cruz area.

Thomas Hinojosa, a DEA spokesman in Washington, D.C., said the 
contradiction between state and federal laws could not continue.

"The DEA enforces the controlled substances act," Hinojosa said. "We 
enforce what is law, unless the laws are changed, marijuana falls into that 
category -- a dangerous drug."

The DEA's stance on medicinal marijuana remains steadfast, despite 
criticism from advocacy groups like the Drug Policy Forum of Texas. 
Thursday's busts were protested in nearly 50 cities nationwide including 
Austin, said Karen Heikkala, an activist with the Austin chapter.

Heikkala said the busts showed the inhumanity of the federal government. 
"It's a sad day when our federal government attacks the sick and the 
dying," she said.

The DEA fails to recognize the importance of responsible marijuana use and 
creates a negative image of patients who use cannabis, said Noelle Davis, a 
volunteer with the Drug Policy Forum of Texas.

"It's very irresponsible of the DEA to say that all these people want to 
get high," Davis said. "They're lying to America."

The issue of medicinal marijuana was explored by a special Senate committee 
on illegal drugs in Canada last Wednesday. The committee concluded a 
two-year study of public policy on cannabis and found that it should be 
legalized.

Committee chair Sen. Pierre Claude Nolin said the government could not 
differentiate its policies on alcohol with those designed for the 
criminalization of marijuana.

"Whether or not an individual uses marijuana should be a personal choice 
that is not subject to criminal penalties," Nolin said. "But we have come 
to the conclusion that, as a drug, it should be regulated by the state much 
as we do for wine and beer, hence our preference for legalization over 
decriminalization."

The only instance in which the committee said that the government should 
interfere would be in the event that harm to others was a risk -- illegal 
trafficking, or selling marijuana to people under the age of 16. The DEA 
disputed the committee's findings.

"I respect the right of the Canadian government to make laws that it feels 
is in the best interest of its citizens," said DEA Director Asa Hutchinson 
in a statement. "But I don't believe legalization is the right direction 
for America. Marijuana is a dangerous and addictive drug. Legalizing 
marijuana sends the opposite message -- that drug use is safe."

An annual household survey conducted by the U.S. Depart-ment of Health and 
Human Services released last week, found that only 53 percent of Americans 
felt that using marijuana once or twice presented a dangerous health risk.

The DEA suggests that patients using medicinal marijuana use Marinol - a 
prescription drug designed to produce the same medicinal effects as smoking 
marijuana. The Drug Policy Forum of Texas contends that patients fail to 
see the same effects from the drug.

The California raid was the fourth since last October. The group said more 
than 100 people have lost safe access to medicinal marijuana because of the 
DEA crackdown.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom