PROPOSITION 215 AND MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Recent attacks on medical marijuana dispensaries are abusive to more
than the patients and caregivers who rely on their services. The
authoritarian override of Proposition 215 is an affront to voters and
a threat to our democracy.

The comments attributed to District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis in Jeff
McDonald's July 7 article are telling ("15 held in raids on pot
stores," Local). According to the article, "Dumanis said her office
decided not to target legitimate medical marijuana patients." Does she
also decide not to target people who drive within the speed limit, or
who take legal prescription medicines?

That Dumanis believes her office has a choice about whether to harass
law-abiding citizens shows that she misunderstands the limits of the
power of her position. She seems to have joined the San Diego County
Board of Supervisors in misinterpreting a duty to uphold the law as an
opportunity to create the law.

The same article mentioned the ages of patients, as well as the
percentage of patients suffering from "AIDS, glaucoma or cancer." I
wasn't aware that one's age determined the effectiveness of medical
marijuana, or that the District Attorney's Office was qualified to
assess -- better than a licensed physician -- which ailments might be
effectively treated by medical marijuana.

Dumanis is also quoted as saying that "Proposition 215 is being
seriously abused," and "It's just really gotten out of hand. . . .
Those of us in law enforcement have tolerated it for too long." I
would like to reply to Dumanis that San Diego County's abuse of
medical marijuana patients, their caregivers and -- most important --
the voters who believe that patients should have access to the
medicine of their choice has gone on for too long and should not be
tolerated. Dumanis' authoritarian abuses of her office are the true
crime in this situation.

JENNIFER WHITMONT

Encinitas