WAR ON DRUGS DETRACTS FROM WAR ON TERRORISM

Kind Madam/Sir :

On 25 October 2001, 30 Drug Enforcement Administration (D.E.A.) agents
raided and shut down the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center which provides
medicinal marijuana for roughly 1000 physician-approved seriously ill
patients, most of whom have A.I.D.S.

Predictably, the Olympian (which gives banner headlines to any report about
adverse effects of marijuana, no matter how trivial) omitted to run the
story.

As a physician I wonder why the Bush administration would waste law
enforcement manpower on depriving patients of access to their medicine
which is protected by California's medicinal marijuana law. Especially so
since law enforcement manpower is so desperately needed to protect us from
terrorism at airports, borders, and post offices, and for tracking down
suspects.

It is outrageous that, instead, D.E.A. agents harass sick people and force
them to turn to street drug dealers for their medicine at a time when
citizen safety is of the highest priority. We cannot afford to wage the
wasteful, ineffective Drug War simultaneously with the War on Terrorism.

This is yet another example of the administration implementing a
conservative agenda item while attention is distracted by the 11 September
attack.

So much for Bush's "Compassionate Conservatism" !!

Sincerely,

David L. Edwards, M.D.

Olympia, WA