In a recent demonstration of money well spent during the Bush Administration's tenure, agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency raided medicinal marijuana clinics to confiscate the one medicine many believed could help them. Upholding the concept of federalism by granting supremacy to federal law over California state law, the DEA seized the contraband in part to honor the federal ban of marijuana.

Our country's prohibition of pot began not as a concern for our health but rather as a reflection of early 20th century racism. Harry Anslinger, as commissioner of narcotics in the Bureau of Narcotics, campaigned for marijuana prohibition vehemently. The result was a 1937 act levying a tax on marijuana. During the hearings on the law when it was debated in Congress, Anslinger let this one slip: "There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others."

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