TIME WASTED ON MEDICINAL MARIJUANA

Asa Hutchinson, the former Republican representative from Arkansas now
serving as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, has a reputation as
a straight shooter. The other morning, Hutchinson was the guest at one of
the breakfast interviews arranged by The Christian Science...

Asa Hutchinson, the former Republican representative from Arkansas now
serving as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, has a reputation as
a straight shooter.

The other morning, Hutchinson was the guest at one of the breakfast
interviews arranged by The Christian Science Monitor. Asked what the events
of Sept. 11 had done to the war on drugs, Hutchinson readily admitted that
the diversion of government resources to the anti-terrorism campaign had
left his agency stretched thin. A significant number of FBI agents who had
been working drug cases have been pulled off to assist in the dragnet for
suspected terrorists, he said. Coast Guard vessels that had been patrolling
the Caribbean to intercept drug smugglers are now protecting harbors.
Customs agents are focusing on bioterrorism. Hutchinson said the DEA is
struggling to "pick up the slack." All of which makes it very strange, that
on Oct. 25 about 30 DEA agents spent six hours in a raid on the Los Angeles
Cannabis Resource Center, a source of marijuana for patients with doctors'
prescriptions for its use as a painkiller. There was nothing illegal about
the raid. The agents had a search warrant signed by a visiting federal
judge from Florida. Scott Imler, the president of the center, said the
agents "were very polite. They did not pull guns ... or handcuff anyone, or
physically or verbally abuse anyone."

They took marijuana plants, processed marijuana, 3,000 medical records and
all the business documents on the site. The next day, Imler said, they
seized the organization's bank accounts, effectively shutting down its
normal operations.

Five years ago, when California voters overwhelmingly approved a medical
marijuana initiative, the Los Angeles County sheriff, Sherman Block, and
officials of West Hollywood encouraged Imler and his associates to set up
operations, even finding them a building they could use. John Duran, the
center's attorney and a city councilman, said the organization has worked
with local officials, acceding to their requests that patients' status be
verified every three months and that they carry identity cards attesting to
their eligibility for marijuana possession.

The authority for the raid rests on a Supreme Court decision last May that
the passage of medical marijuana initiatives in California and seven other
states does not override federal law classifying marijuana as an illegal drug.

Hutchinson said carrying out the federal marijuana ban "is our
responsibility, but not a high priority." He acknowledged he prefers to
work with elected officials and local law enforcement, but that "when there
is a gap" between state and federal law, his job is to enforce the
congressional statutes. That answer does not satisfy local officials. At
the time of the raid, 960 people - most of them with AIDS, the rest with
cancer, Lou Gehrig's disease and other serious illnesses - were alleviating
pain and nausea with marijuana from Imler's center. Now, Duran said, "we
have 960 patients out in the parks, looking for drug dealers to get their
marijuana, which is exactly what the city didn't want." Why is the Bush
administration fighting this battle, when there are so many more important
wars to be won? - The Washington Post