TWO EXCESSIVE DISPLAYS AT THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA HEARING

I headed down to the Illinois statehouse in Springfield yesterday to see a
committee hearing on medical marijuana. Unfortunately, the bill failed to
be voted out of committee, so there it remains. Yet many interesting things
took place; Pete at Drug WarRant has a complete report at
http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/2005/02/17.html#a777

To me, the day was typified by the two incidents involving heavy security
and seemingly harmless middle-aged white men.

One man was named John Walters; the other was named Irvin Rosenfeld. Both
came from out of state to testify at the hearing.

John Walters, of course, is the federal drug czar. This political appointee
flew in at taxpayer expense with a full entourage, including several
serious-looking security people. The intense security detail was there, I
suppose, to protect the czar from the good people of Illinois. Or,
perhaps, to give an otherwise bland and unimpressive bureaucrat a sense of
authority. Either way, it was unnecessary overkill.

Walters insisted he wasn't there to influence the legislative process - an
obviously false cover story contradicted by his very presence (when else
does he show up at a state level committee meetings?) and indicative of his
sincerity in general.

Physically isolated by his security team, intellectually insulated by rigid
ideology, I wonder if Walters even carries the capacity for recognizing the
difference between a truth and a lie.

And, indeed, he and his allies did not want to acknowledge the truth of the
other fellow who found himself surrounded by security at the state house.

Irving Rosenfeld came to Illinois by himself from his home state of Florida
and offered an unimpeachable, fact-based presentation on his experience
with medical marijuana. One of the seven surviving patients in a federal
medical marijuana program, Rosenfeld gets eleven ounces shipped to his
pharmacy by Uncle Sam every 25 days. He's been smoking roughly 12
government joints a day for 22 years. He and his doctors know that it helps
relieve the pain from a rare bone disease called multiple congenital
cartilaginous exostoses.

He believes that the marijuana has not only extended his life, but made his
disease bearable for all these years. He's had comprehensive physical
examinations which have determined no ill effects from smoking his medicine.

"The government does give marijuana to patients. I'm living proof," he told
reporters during a press conference. "I'm also living proof that it works
well. I'm also living proof that the government doesn't want to know how
well it works. If they want to do research, all they have to do is contact me."

He brought a tin can full of marijuana cigarettes that he picks up at his
pharmacy each month and showed them to a room full of astonished state
legislators during the hearing. Shortly after his presentation, he found
himself surrounded by four burly state security officers. They wanted to
ask him some questions, and they didn't want the press to follow, so some
other reporters and I were barred from the elevator where he was hustled away.

Fortunately, one of the reporters had a good idea where they were taking
him. I followed her and watched as Rosenfeld faced what seemed like an
unofficial interrogation over his medicine (asked repeatedly whether
Rosenfeld was under arrest or being detained, the security officers would
only say, "No comment.").

I thought Rosenfeld was a hero before, but watching his grace under
pressure amazed me. He was polite and cooperative with the officers,
effectively educating them, while remaining firm about his rights and the
limits of their intrusions (he was not going to let the tin can out of his
sight, and I don't blame him).

He showed them many documents confirming his situation, and offered phone
numbers for his pharmacy as well as a DEA agent with whom he is on friendly
terms. Eventually the officers got confirmation they deemed acceptable and
let him go, but not before an officer finally acknowledged that Rosenfeld
was being detained, and he was removed from the sight from reporters. In a
few minutes he was free to go.

Rosenfeld said such things happen when he speaks up. Why does he continue
to do it?

Because, unlike sicker patients who have more trouble with mobility, he
can, he said. And because citizens have the right to spread the truth in
America.

So it goes in the drug war. If you're a private citizen, obeying the law
and exercising clearly established rights, prepare to be hassled by
security. If you are a political appointee engaging in legally
questionable behavior and spreading false and defamatory insinuation as
fact, then you are entitled to the best protection taxpayer money can buy.

In a more sane world, Rosenfeld wouldn't face any scrutiny from law
enforcement, but Walters sure would.