RULING REEKS OF REEFER MADNESS

Medical marijuana.

Why should the average Coloradan be troubled by the Supreme Court's
ruling giving the federal government the power to prosecute patients
who use pot?

Actually, there's a reason for everyone.

For progressives ... well, let's be honest, you guys look for any
excuse to smoke the stuff.

For liberals, there is the compassionate position. Shouldn't patients
with neurological disorders, degenerative diseases and cancer be
allowed to make personal decisions regarding painkillers without
government interference?

For social conservatives: If you guys rely on states'-rights arguments
when it comes to abortion and gay marriage, shouldn't you speak up
now?

If you don't, you'll appear to be hypocrites the next time you mention
"federalism" in conversation.

And hey, didn't God create "Purple Haze" weed for a
reason?

For traditional conservatives, your concern should center on
preserving the Constitution, especially the 10th Amendment, which
reserves powers like criminal law enforcement for the states.

Our state (Colorado, for those of you who use pot for nonmedicinal
purposes) approved the decriminalization of medical marijuana back in
November 2000.

But did you know that the federal government already spends taxpayer
funds on political campaigning against drug reforms such as Colorado's?

Well, now the federal government can now simply ignore the Colorado
initiative. Yes, I know. I can see the e-mail already: Marijuana is a
"gateway" drug.

Reefer madness.

Mind-altering drugs, as much fun as watching Animal Planet while on
them may be, are not for kids. There are plenty of folks, however, who
have smoked pot, including businessmen, presidents, parents and (lots
of) journalists, and I rarely find any of them in the alley toking on
a crack pipe.

And in any event, cancer patients have a lot more on their
minds.

What this boils down to - to borrow H.L. Mencken's definition of
Puritanism - is "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be
happy."

The perfectly titled "drug czar" contends that medicinal marijuana
doesn't work - which must mean that someone, somewhere, is smoking it
to feel good.

Consequently, patients with degenerative spinal disease, multiple
sclerosis and brain cancer can now be arrested.

Now, I lack the qualifications to ascertain marijuana's medicinal
qualities. But I'll tell you something that indisputably didn't work:
czars.

Larissa and Thomas Lawrence run the Colorado Compassion Club. They
know a thing or two about marijuana. They help around 50 patients as
caregivers. I've been following their story for a year.

The club has already seen its crop decimated by a DEA raid. It also
battled the Denver police, who were forced to hand back a bag of
"Kahuna Salad."

"We're not going to change what we're doing," Thomas tells me. "Either
we can be afraid of what's going to happen if they (DEA) come back, or
we can continue to try and help people. My wife and I continue to try
and help people."

Thomas is right not to worry excessively, as Colorado's
medical-marijuana provisions protect against state-level prosecution
as much as they did before the ruling.

Still, "it's distressing," says Thomas.

He also maintains this ruling may drive many of his club members to
the black market. Others, he says, may just quit.

That would be a misfortune.

But there is hope. Next week, Congress will vote on the
Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment, which would prevent the Justice
Department from spending money on arresting or prosecuting marijuana
patients in states like Colorado.

I wouldn't dream of instructing my readers to bother
politicians.

But if you're compassionate and believe in the Constitution and
justice, you may want to just check in and see how your representative
is voting.

You can contact all of them at this website: www.house.gov.