GROTESQUE CONVICTION

B. E. Smith's conviction in federal court for growing marijuana for
compassionate use (Page 3B, Aug. 7), much less his long sentence, is an
outrageous slap in the face to the citizenry and the voters.

U. S. District Court Judge Garland Burrell has overstepped the bounds of
judicial propriety in not removing himself from a case where he knew the
defendant in a prior matter. His refusal to allow Smith to use Proposition
215 as part of his defense is more evidence of gross judicial prejudice:
the passage of that law authorizing the use of marijuana for compassionate
medical relief is prima facie evidence of the will of the people of the
state of California.

I can only imagine that Judge Burrell is attempting to shoehorn the entire
medical marijuana debate into the lap of the Supreme Court, by
stage-managing a conviction which cannot withstand judicial review and a
sentence which cannot withstand common sense. It's too bad he has to do it
on the back of a man who is merely standing up for his rights.

The judge, the governor and the Drug Enforcement Administration had better
get on the right side of this issue quickly, before voter disgust with
their strong-arm tactics starts to erode what little support is left for
the bloated bureaucracy of the "drug wars.''

SARAH STEGALL
Campbell