NARCS TOSS POLITICAL GIFT TO NEW PRESIDENT

Dear President Obama,

How about the congratulations offered to you by the Drug Enforcement
Administration? Only days into your tenure, a federal agency
challenges your authority and attempts to undermine your credibility.

Some say yesterday's raid by the Drug Enforcement Administration on a
medical cannabis dispensary in California was primarily an act of
disrespect to you, as you pledged to stop such raids while campaigning.

And while the raid was indeed disrespectful to you and the voters of
California, it offers a great opportunity.

I imagine you and your advisers are already on this, but I can't
resist tossing in my two cents, hoping you might run across it via Blackberry.

You talked about change, you talked about the end of wasteful
practices, you talked about the importance of inclusiveness. Here's
an easy way to show you meant it.

Tell the DEA to stop blocking medicine from the sick, and to respect
the will of state voters. Tell the DEA to expect consequences if
they do not listen.

Such an act would have the following effects:

* Show that you are serious about change

* Demonstrate that you will protect the weak

* Stop a stupid and wasteful practice that is not supported by a
majority of Americans

* Indicate to other federal agencies (and the American people) that
you are not afraid to kick a little bureaucratic ass if those
agencies seem to be going rogue

What's the downside? You will irritate some DEA people and some
professional prohibitionists.

They are irrelevant.

Many within the DEA know that there are much bigger problems to be
addressed and that the cannabis club raids offer nothing more than
bad publicity.

As for the prohibitionists, you'll quickly learn that they will
display something akin to withdrawal tremors any time they perceive a
challenge to their domain. And far from accepting austerity, they
will always demand more resources. (I used to tell a joke about it:
How many prohibitionists does it take to change a light bulb? Nobody
knows, but they need a lot more money and power to get the job done.)

Prohibitionists need to understand lean times call for cut-backs on
obvious waste; sometimes entire government efforts need to go, as you
noted in this section of your inauguration address:

"The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big
or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find
jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is
dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where
the answer is no, programs will end."

General prohibition meets none of the standards you set forth.
Cannabis club raids demonstrates a direct mockery of those standards.

When you demand that the raids end, you and the people win politically.

If only all the conflicts you will face were this easy to resolve.

Best,

Stephen Young