PARTY ATMOSPHERE, SEROUS ISSUE

Medical Marijuana

Santa Cruz's role in medical marijuana needs to remain focused on the
health issue.

The great marijuana giveaway took on a carnival-like atmosphere at City
Hall on Tuesday, with a huge throng of people, placards and plenty of
cheering when medical marijuana was distributed to patients.

Nearby were maybe a dozen television trucks, carrying the message across
America that Santa Cruz is the medical-marijuana capital of the world.

Is that the image the City Council wanted to present? Is that what Santa
Cruz should be known for?

The question is harder to answer than one might think.

On the one hand, the event certainly brought out a number of people who'd
like to see marijuana legalized. More than a few were on hand not only
because they'd like to see regulations eased to allow for the medical use
of marijuana, but because they'd also like to see people be allowed to
smoke pot at will.

On the other hand, there's a serious matter of changing federal law. The
genesis of the giveaway began with the raid on a Santa Cruz County
marijuana farm dedicated to providing the drug to patients with serious
illness. Local and state law allow such accommodation; federal law does
not. And federal law supersedes state law, which makes the drug raid by
federal agents a legal action.

The best way to change the law is to challenge it the way the Santa Cruz
City Council did. It's unlikely that the law would be changed through court
action; rather, any change would have to go through Congress. So a public
action like the one Tuesday could be seen as effective strategy to bring
the matter to the attention of Congress.

With regard to changing federal law, a number of those in attendance saw
the matter simply: it's a matter of states' rights. They believe -
especially in this case - that state law allowing medical marijuana ought
to trump federal law.

Not so fast. That's exactly the argument used decades ago when Southern
segregationists fought against civil rights. Those Southern police officers
and National Guard units turned the hoses on civil-rights demonstrators
under the misguided principle of states' rights.

Civil-rights leaders like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. achieved their
goals thanks to the priority given to federal laws. And the enforcement of
those laws is perhaps the most enduring legacy left by President Dwight D.
Eisenhower, who ordered federal troops to Little Rock in order to enforce
federal law.

The irony of Tuesday's giveaway was that lurking behind the carnival
atmosphere was a highly scripted and organized event that left no room for
any pot-smoking shenanigans. As one observer told us: "There was less pot
smoking there than on any given day on Pacific Avenue."

We hope that the city and groups like the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical
Marijuana continue to separate their drive for medical marijuana from those
advocating changes to drug laws. Plenty of people were in attendance whose
lives have been improved because of medical marijuana. To confuse their
need with the desire by others to legalize pot is to make a major mistake.

If the city of Santa Cruz wants to continue this drive toward medical
marijuana, its leaders need to stay focused on the issue and not let it
drift into a confusing and counterproductive attempt to legalize pot.