DISTURBING ATTITUDE

I did not expect to be reading about or thinking of the possible danger of
speaking out against a U.S. attorney who appears to target activists for
the medical use of marijuana - or those who support them ("Feds pose
challenge to use of medical marijuana," Local News, Sept. 16).

According to the story, 100 plants is about the allowable number for one
person with a doctor's prescription for marijuana use. One hundred plants
were seized, along with a lot of expensive equipment, from four men with
prescriptions. Something is wrong with the math, isn't it?

What truly sickened me and prompted me to write this letter was the
attitude behind the federal prosecution of the four, dying Bremerton men.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Whalley said, "I never met a medical marijuana
user who didn't smoke and grow it before they got sick." This is
terrifying! This is exactly the same kind of thinking that used to prevail
against rape victims. The men's drug use before they got sick is no more
part of the issue now than a woman's sexual history before a rape.

It should also be noted that the federal government will waste time and
resources prosecuting dying people for trivial marijuana possession and use
because "those issues don't make any difference to us at the charging
stage." Does it really make sense to take such a narrow view and ignore the
full reality? Last time I read the paper, there were more important things
to do.

Sherry Rind, Seattle