DON'T BLAME MEDICAL MARIJUANA TROUBLES ON ITS ADVOCATES

The editorial "Fixing compassion" is woefully uninformed. It unwittingly
excuses the ongoing two-year police rampage against "medical marijuana" in
California. Your characterization of even some of those running the
original buyers' clubs as "unscrupulous entrepreneurs and promoters of
legalized marijuana (who) used the law for their own purposes" buys into
the dishonesty that justified their wholesale prosecution.

The thriving criminal marijuana market in California never needed medical
buyers' clubs to reach its customers.

Two Orange County medical distributors were railroaded into state prison
and are now serving terms that can only be described as savage. Open
judicial and prosecutorial contempt for the concept of medical marijuana
was reported at both trials.

Until now your reporting on this issue has been fair. Don't be misled into
supporting the notion that most police opposition to medical marijuana
around the state is motivated by anything but a desire to retain the power
to arrest.

Tom O'Connell, M.D.
San Mateo