MARIJUANA POLICY

Re "Medical pot dealers protest" (Jan. 19):

Does the Drug Enforcement Agency really have nothing better to do than
attack medical marijuana dispensaries that assist struggling patients
like Jorge Ceballos? Has the meth problem been solved? Has the flow of
heroin from Afghanistan been shut off?

If some dispensary operators aren't following California law, that can
be dealt with through state and local regulation, but the federal
government - wedded to the phony claim that marijuana has no medical
value - doesn't care about that. Indeed, the feds raided several
establishments in West Hollywood, where the city has worked diligently
to set up a regulatory scheme and where city officials were furious
about the raids. Finally, Chief William Bratton of the Los Angeles
Police Department needs to educate himself. While no one wants kids
smoking marijuana, the "gateway theory" has been repeatedly and
thoroughly discredited by scientific research.

Bruce Mirken

Marijuana Policy Project

Washington, D.C.