FEDS' CONFUSING CRACKDOWN ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

California's confusing and chaotic marijuana laws just got more so.
The blame this time goes to the U.S. Department of Justice, whose top
prosecutors in the state announced a major crackdown on cannabis
dispensaries and the growers that supply them.

The onslaught features scores of threatening letters to property
owners who house the pot clubs and others whose land is used to grow
marijuana. Stop operations or face forfeiture, the federal enforcers say.

The prosecutors reeled off a string of abuses - shady business
people, street crime, satchels of cash and even pot-laced cotton
candy - to show how far out of line California is with federal laws
barring marijuana.

It's true that "medical marijuana" clubs are flourishing in a legal
netherworld with few restrictions, easy public access to the drug,
and little oversight. But Washington's leadership has been erratic
and unhelpful in charting a course for a humane law supported by
California voters 15 years ago. Blame should also go to cities and
counties eager to milk the trade and Sacramento leaders who've shown
little interest in reforming the state's lax guidelines.

The latest crackdown is remarkable for how far the Obama
administration has shifted in its thinking. When he first took
office, the president said he had little interest in going after
state policies at odds with federal strictures. That stance was
backed up by Attorney General Eric Holder who likewise gave the issue
a low priority.

That outlook completely flipped earlier this year with a Department
of Justice warning that dispensaries and growers would face drug and
money-laundering charges, a warning hardened by the actions this
week. This White House is proving as anti-marijuana as any
administration before it.

A better goal would be an inclusive and thorough federal policy that
accepts marijuana as a medical alternative and puts usage on strict
and measured terms. Get rid of the bad actors, crime and misuse, just
as the federal prosecutors want. But safeguard a plant that the
public in this state - and over a dozen others - believes has therapeutic use.

Going in this direction would involve political effort to change a
hidebound drug law, a risky course as a presidential election year
approaches. But it would also be in line with Obama's first
inclinations, which remain the right ones.