BLOWING SMOKE

The city's promise not to cooperate with federal drug raids means
little without a concrete plan to accompany it.

They don't pass out coupons on Telegraph or sport neon signs above
their doors, but they're nevertheless a Berkeley staple. Windows
shuttered, bouncers at the door-they're your friendly local medical
marijuana dispensaries, and the City Council wants you to know it
has their backs.

In response to Drug Enforcement Agency raids on Bay Area
dispensaries, the Council this week voted to declare the city a
"sanctuary" for medical marijuana, pledging noncooperation with
federal raids.

The decision is an accurate reflection of local views. Eighty-five
percent of Berkeley voters supported the 1996 state proposition that
legalized medicinal marijuana-not that the city needs statistics to
back its pot-friendly credentials.

What's more relevant is that the city measure is consistent with the
decision reached at the state level. The consequences of that
vote-and the legal implications of individual states flouting
national drug policy-are issues beyond the purview of the Council
members. Their job is to honor the wishes of the constituents they
serve and the state government to which they report.

It's a job only half done. Grand pronouncements of disregard for
federal law are a surefire crowd-pleaser in a city where it's easier
to window-shop for bongs than flower vases. But simply declaring
support for medicinal marijuana in a state that's already gone much
further than that is essentially redundant.

The recent vote fits a long and tired pattern of grandstanding and
empty gestures. If the Council is truly concerned about ensuring
users' access, it should establish clear procedures to be followed in
the event that federal authorities turn their attention to local
dispensaries. If it lacks the initiative or resources to do so-and
we're putting our money on the DEA if push comes to shove-then the
measure is nothing but bluster. And you can't smoke that.