SNUFFING OUT POT RAIDS

Next: Get Marijuana Off List Of Hard Drugs

Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement that the federal
government will effectively end the Bush administration's policy of
raiding medical marijuana distributors who are operating legally
under state law is welcome and long-overdue news and in line with
promises President Barack Obama made repeatedly along the campaign
trail. Of course, this simple statement will require more detailed
changes in procedure as it is implemented, and it should be followed
by more thoroughgoing reform of federal laws applicable to marijuana.

Holder refined his position by saying, as The New York Times
paraphrased him, that "the Justice Department's enforcement policy
would now be restricted to traffickers who falsely masqueraded as
medical dispensaries and 'use the medical marijuana laws as a
shield.'" That could leave open a range of activities that appear to
us more designed to undermine state law than to uphold federal law or
protect innocent citizens.

For example, Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Thomas
O'Brien in Los Angeles, under whose auspices dozens of raids have
been conducted, noted that only four operators and their associates
had actually been charged in the past seven years, and claimed that
"in every single case we have prosecuted, the defendants violated
state as well as federal law." The relative rarity of actual
prosecutions suggests that raids on dispensaries are designed more to
intimidate people than to put criminals behind bars, and resembles
domestic terrorism more than legitimate law enforcement.

Assuming Holder is sincere and that rogue elements in the Drug
Enforcement Administration do not conduct unwarranted raids, however,
this is an important step. It should not be the last step.

Under the federal Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is listed on
Schedule I, the most restrictive regimen, making any possession,
production, transportation or use of the substance illegal. However,
the law itself says that for a drug or substance to remain on
Schedule I, it must have a high potential for abuse, have no accepted
medical use and be incapable of being used safely under medical
supervision. Marijuana does not meet any of these criteria.
Therefore, under existing law it is arguably illegal to keep it on Schedule I.

Over the years a number of citizen efforts to get marijuana
"rescheduled" have been undertaken. On each occasion, including one
when the DEA's chief administrative law judge issued an official
ruling saying it would be "unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious" to
keep marijuana on Schedule I, the DEA administrator has made a
political decision to keep marijuana on Schedule I. The Obama
administration has said that on medical matters it will be guided by
science rather than political considerations. If that is so, it
should immediately expedite one of the pending rescheduling
applications and decide it based on science rather than hysteria.

Attorney General Holder has announced a constructive first step on
medical marijuana. There is more to be done, however.