MARIJUANA: WEEDING OUT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Freedom lovers rejoiced in February when Attorney General Eric H.
Holder Jr. promised the Drug Enforcement Administration would stop
raiding small marijuana dispensaries in states where it was legal, as
long as they followed state law. Sorry, Maryland is not one of those
states yet. But even President Barack Obama's greatest critics on the
economy praised him for his new policy.

The beneficiaries were likely ecstatic. Old people and sick people
were happy because they could alleviate some of their worst pain
without worrying about when their shopkeeper would get busted and
their supply would disappear, sending prices higher. And college
students were happy because it has got to be pretty easy for them to
find a doctor to diagnose them with some fake disease so they could
carelessly toke up.

Should we hold Obama to his word that sick people and their
pharmacists/dealers are now safe? What are American citizens supposed
to think if Obama goes back on what he said? And how should Maryland
legislators weigh this development as they consider a bill to legalize
medicinal marijuana?

The answer came last week, and it wasn't promising. The DEA shockingly
raided a San Francisco cannabis club after promising the raids would
stop. No arrests were made, but computers, marijuana plants and
growing lamps were hauled off the property.

The DEA won't tell us why the club was raided, of course, only
claiming it violated state law. Local governments said the club hadn't
even been on their radar screen, and were unsure why it was raided.
Shouldn't state and local governments be responsible for state and
local laws?

Matthew Miller, a spokesman at the Department of Justice, said that in
fact, no new policy was in place. The department's funds were simply
redistributed. They were diverting money away from busting
dispensaries to use toward other needs the DEA believes are more pressing.

So what if we do legalize medical marijuana here in Maryland? Should
we rejoice? No. In California, the DEA has had to make substantial
investments to develop their presence on the West Coast. We're so
close to the department's headquarters that that won't even be an obstacle.

Many people on the campus support a strong central government in order
to deliver national programs such as universal health care. But issues
like medicinal marijuana are precisely why I have always championed
states' rights.

States are in the ideal position to judge what's best for the local
populations. California determined marijuana is good medicine, and are
considering legalizing it completely. Central planners don't do well
planning anything, so of course they're not going to be good at
planning the national drug policy.

Thirty-three states have already improved their policies on medical
marijuana, according to the Drug Policy Alliance Network, and 80
percent of Americans support the cause. Many state legislatures are
trying to legalize it themselves. There are countless stories of how
improving medical marijuana has helped people. Yet, the DEA is
perfectly willing to undermine state governments for no explainable
reason.

So much for change we can believe in.

Nathan Cohen is a junior economics and journalism major.