ENDING POT RAIDS ONLY A FIRST STEP TOWARD SANITY

When Charles Lynch asked local officials for permission to sell an
herbal medicine in the central California town of Morro Bay, they
granted it to him, even though the medicine was marijuana.

Marijuana recommended by a doctor has been legal in California since
1996. A dozen other states have passed similar laws. Illinois, Iowa,
Minnesota and New Hampshire are among about 10 states that have been
debating similar measures.

Lynch applied for a business license, joined the Chamber of Commerce,
talked to lawyers and even called the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration before opening his medical marijuana dispensary with a
grand ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Unfortunately for Lynch, none of this prevented him from being
arrested in March 2007 when federal authorities raided his home and
small business. That's because the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Gonzalez
v. Raich in 2005 that in the issue of medical marijuana, federal law
trumps the states.

"Today's decision," crowed President George W. Bush's drug czar at the
time, John Walters, "marks the end of medical marijuana as a political
issue."

Not quite. President Barack Obama's attorney general, Eric Holder, has
announced that the Justice Department will stop raiding marijuana
dispensaries in California and other states that allow medical marijuana.

But, that doesn't help Lynch, whose sentencing is scheduled for March
23. Lynch, who tried to conduct his business as openly and legally as
possible under the laws enacted by Californians, is one of the more
poignant examples of nonviolent offenders arrested and jailed by
federal raiders.

Putting the brakes on medical marijuana raids is only one small step
of the many that still need to be taken toward a sensible drug policy
after years of backpedaling by Bush.

Obama apparently likes to multitask. Faced with a long list of thorny
issues, he's decided to take them on while his honeymoon lasts. While
he's at it, he needs to modernize federal policy on the medicinal use
of marijuana. Stopping the raids in states where it's legal is good
for starters. He also needs to lift what has amounted to a ban on
scientific research and push to change federal law that equates
marijuana with heroin.

That's right. Since 1971, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule
1 narcotic, meaning it has no medical value. It's the same category as
heroin. And as if that's not goofy enough, that would suggest
marijuana is more dangerous than crack cocaine, a Schedule 2 drug.

That's the kind of thinking that gave a green light for the DEA to
terrorize growers, providers, caregivers and patients with hundreds of
commando-style raids. At least 90 major raids have been conducted by
DEA agents in California, according to the Marijuana Policy Project,
which advocates legalization of medicinal marijuana.

The Bush administration justified the federal crackdown against the
medicinal use of marijuana as a way to stop some people from abusing
the drug - as if some people didn't abuse every type of drug, legal or
otherwise. In fact, the same rationale was used to justify alcohol
prohibition a century ago. That didn't work out so well, either.

Walters, like the drug czars before him, argued that the law must rely
on scientific research, "not popular opinion."

Yet, 10 years after a study commissioned by President Bill Clinton's
administration found medical value in smoked marijuana, the Bush
experts insisted that's not enough.

Days before Obama's inauguration, the DEA denied an application by
professor Lyle Craker, who for eight years has been fighting in and
out of court to get a license for further DEA-approved research. Yet
his study is the sort that must be done to provide the sort of data
that the Bush administration said was lacking.

Obama recently reversed much of what has been called the Bush
administration's "war against science." He needs to stop the war
against medicinal marijuana research, too.