MEDICAL POT

Inhumanity Of Federal Policy Prompts Local Cities' Response

Jay Stromgren, banker and volunteer, ranked among Santa Rosa's most admired
citizens. He was the soft-spoken, straight-arrow, conservative banker who
spent his spare time working on behalf of the homeless, the poor and
families in distress.

In 1998, when he was dying of pancreatic cancer, Santa Rosans read about
his generosity and about his courage, and they prayed for him. During those
difficult months of treatment when the former college quarterback lost most
than 60 pounds, Stromgren was taking marijuana to relieve pain and nausea
for the simple reason that nothing else worked. "I was totally amazed at
the benefits," his widow, Santa Rosa City Councilwoman Sharon Wright told
Staff Writer Paul Payne the other day. Six years after passage of
Proposition 215 and four years after Jay Stromgren's death at age 57,
Californians are still thwarted in their efforts to provide relief to
people who -- in the judgment of a physician -- could be helped by medical
marijuana.

The federal government continues to pursue a cruel and narrow-minded policy
that seeks to punish anyone who would help the sick. This week, the
Sebastopol City Council voted to criticize the federal government's
inflexibility and to invite the local police department to refuse to
cooperate with federal agents pursuing physicians and pot clubs. In two
weeks, the Santa Rosa City Council will consider a similar resolution --
though one that steers clear of asking local police to refuse to cooperate
with federal investigators.

In matters of politics, the city councils of these two cities find many
reasons to disagree, but what they have found here is a matter of
conscience that transcends politics.

People shouldn't have to suffer because Congress lacks the courage to make
a humane exception to the laws prohibiting marijuana use.