DUO PRECIPITATED DEADLY STANDOFF

Friends and ideological supporters of Grover T. Crosslin and Roland Rohm,
though understandably upset and horrified at this weekend's shocking events
in Vandalia, are nevertheless skewing the fundamental debate behind the
standoff and police killings of Crosslin and Rohm.

The war on drugs didn't kill Crosslin and Rohm. Both men turned manageable
events into a war with police; a war that ended when on consecutive days
Crosslin and Rohm aimed guns at law officers and were in turn shot and
killed, according to police.

Crosslin more than Rohm stood at the center of the controversy, which
stretches back to last spring when police raided Crosslin's Rainbow Farm
campground in Cass County, just prior to the scheduled HempAid 2001 event.
Several drug arrests were made. Crosslin and Rohm were both charged. Then
last Friday Crosslin faced a $150,000 bond revocation hearing for allegedly
violating terms of his release. When Crosslin failed to show for the bond
hearing, it set in motion the events leading to the standoff and eventual
shootings by police. Also over the weekend several aircraft were shot at by
Crosslin or Rohm and a TV news helicopter was hit.

It is doubtful that the Rainbow Farm incident will reach the level of
notoriety equaling federal lethal forced used at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and
Waco, Texas, in the 1990s, yet the incident is already stirring similar
passions among those who favor the legalization of marijuana.

Local, state and federal government officials seem to be releasing
information in a timely manner. It is crucial that they continue to do so,
to avoid any appearance that they are covering up any key details of the
incidents. Despite this effort, Crosslin and Rohm will surely become
martyrs for some true believers.

News that the U.S. Justice Department has opened an investigation into the
shootings is welcome, even if such probes are routine after an agent uses
deadly force. The FBI in particular has been hit with accusations in recent
years of operating under too much secrecy.

Already there is one small twist in the Crosslin shooting. Initially police
said that a lone FBI agent shot and killed Crosslin. Then on Wednesday
police said a second FBI shooter was involved. Such discrepancies, unless
fully explained now, will only make conspiracy theory fodder later.

But as for the notion that Crosslin and Rohm are victims, nothing so far
supports that view. Neither man was singled out for his convictions. In
fact, one of the overriding strengths of our democracy is that people are
free to speak their minds and lobby for what they feel are just causes.
Crosslin's view, that marijuana should be legalized, is a cause many are
passionate about.

But another feature of democracy, one conveniently forgotten by Crosslin
and many like-minded people, is that we are a nation of laws supported by
the majority.

The sale and possession of marijuana is illegal. Police aren't the bad guys
when they move to enforce drug laws. When Crosslin's campground, a known
haven for drug users, was raided, rather than working within the law to
move forward, Crosslin and Rohm instead chose to escalate tensions and
later initiate armed confrontations with police.

It is too bad they chose those actions, but the choice was clearly theirs.