DEA IS OUT OF TOUCH

The Drug Enforcement Administration cannot fail to hear the message
sent by the one-day jail term given Ed Rosenthal, a grower of medical
marijuana in California. The reaction of the federal agency to this
exceptionally lenient sentence was to say, essentially, that it will
continue to pursue medical marijuana growers even in states that have
legalized the drug for that purpose.

Rosenthal's case was closely watched around the nation. Before being
arrested last year, Rosenthal was a well-known activist for the
legalization of marijuana and was growing the drug under the auspices
of the city of Oakland and its medical marijuana program. California
voters passed a ballot initiative legalizing medical marijuana in
1996. But the Justice Department, under Attorney General John
Ashcroft, reversed a prior hands-off approach and unleashed the DEA to
shut down medical marijuana operations.

Rosenthal was charged with marijuana cultivation and conspiracy,
crimes that carry a penalty of up to 100 years in prison and a
$4.5-million fine. He was convicted after being precluded by Federal
District Court Judge Charles Breyer from raising medical marijuana as
a defense at trial. After the verdict, a majority of the jurors wrote
the judge to say they would not have convicted Rosenthal had they
known about the medical marijuana connection. California's attorney
general and other state leaders added their voices to the call for
leniency, as did editorial pages around the country, including this
one.

Judge Breyer heard the plea. He sentenced Rosenthal to one day in jail
- - a term he won't have to serve because he was credited with time
served - and a small fine.

This case suggests the White House's drug warriors - who insist on
conflating marijuana with every other illicit substance - are
increasingly out of touch with the common-sense views of people on the
state and local level. Out of compassion for people who say they truly
benefit from marijuana's medicinal value, nine states have legalized
marijuana for medical uses, eight of those through ballot initiatives.
Various studies demonstrate that marijuana offers therapeutic relief
from a number of ailments, including AIDS, glaucoma, cancer and
chronic pain.

Washington has used every form of persuasion to keep other nations
from liberalizing marijuana laws. But the shoes keep dropping. Several
countries in Western Europe, including Spain and the Netherlands, have
decriminalized marijuana in small amounts. Canada is about to join
them, despite frantic lobbying by the Bush administration and threats
that there will be inordinate delays at the border if the measure
becomes law.

Rosenthal's prosecution resulted in a much-deserved public repudiation
of the Bush administration and its overheated drug war. It's likely to
happen again if Ashcroft continues to pursue growers of medical
marijuana in states where the voters have approved its use.