WAR TRUDGES ON IN STATE VERSUS FEDERAL POT LAWS

When the county Planning Commission thought about granting licenses
to dispense medical marijuana a few years back, then- Commissioner
Bruce Gibson opined that it's "a huge constitutional gray area."

That was a huge understatement.

Federal law bans the practice. State law allows it.

State versus federal law is as gray and -- in this country of fierce
individualists--as contentious as it gets.

It is the crux of the matter. But the judge in the medical marijuana
trial of Charles Lynch of Morro Bay will not allow jurors to consider it.

That is a huge insult to the jury, because he will be asking them to
make a decision without context.

The disappearance of context is another column, one that needs to
focus on the news media more than courts.

Still, it would be nice to see context in the Halls of Justice as well.

Lynch's trial began last week in Los Angeles, and prosecutors are
taking the old "it doesn't matter why he did it; he did it" approach.

Here's why Lynch did it: People are suffering from cancer, intestinal
disease, other ailments. They reached the end of the tether with
routine treatments; marijuana gave them a respite from the pain.

Lynch and other dispensary owners provided that relief.

Lynch is not one of those guys who grow huge fields of weed in the
hills above Cambria for sale to perfectly healthy potheads. He was
providing a medical service, filling a business need, and he was
regulated. The Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce and city leaders welcomed him.

In the dispute between federal and state law, you have to take sides.

The people of California, when they passed the legislation that
allowed medical marijuana, chose compassion. Gibson and other county
leaders chose compassion and state law. "I'm here to operate under
state law," said Gibson, now the supervisor whose district includes Morro Bay.

Sheriff Pat Hedges, though elected locally, chose to follow federal
law, even though the supervisors, who control his budget, don't
believe in Washington leading states and counties around by the nose.

That's the thing about this issue: It forces you to reveal where you stand.

Speaking of which, it's a bit of a hoot to see the old states
rights-federal rights actors changing places.

Back in the days of civil rights, when Southern states were using
their laws to institutionalize segregation, the federal government
finally stepped in and said, "This is not what our nation is about."

Those who are old enough will recall federal troops trying to open
all-white schools to black students in Arkansas and Alabama. Southern
governors such as Alabama's George Wallace stood on the schoolhouse
steps and shouted, "This is a state's rights matter."

Now the right-wingers of the country love the federal government, as
it tries to stop marijuana. The latter-day liberals have found a new
appreciation for state's rights that allow medicinal marijuana.

All this history and context matter in Lynch's trial. It's a shame
the jury will never hear any of it or be able to act on it.