ASHCROFT'S BOLD MOVE

Another bravo for Attorney General John Ashcroft - this one for
deciding the Drug Enforcement Administration may move against
physicians who assist a patient's suicide.

Ashcroft's order, reversing the position of former Attorney General
Janet Reno, is aimed at Oregon's assisted suicide law, twice enacted
by referendum. Where the DEA finds that controlled substances were
used to end a patient's life, it can revoke a doctor's federal license
to prescribe such drugs. Because no self-respecting physician would
want to take that risk, the action effectively nullifies the Oregon
law.

Under the Controlled Substances Act, the government licenses
physicians to prescribe certain drugs to alleviate pain - not to kill.
That Oregon voters have chosen to venture down a dark and dangerous
path does not require Washington's acquiescence.