COMPASSIONATE LIBERALISM ON POT

IF the federal government descends upon every medical marijuana club
and user in the state it will be enforcing the law. But it also will
be violating the mandate we gave our leaders two months ago to crack
down on the real dangers society now faces.

To conservatives who never liked the idea of medical pot, now is the
perfect time to eliminate it. The nation, shaken by the threat of
terrorism, is more behind President Bush than it ever was or likely
will be.

Under the direction of Asa Hutchinson the DEA recently closed two
clubs near Los Angeles and Sacramento.

San Francisco is drawing a line in the sand. District Attorney
Terence Hallinan and Supervisor Mark Leno want to declare The City a
"sanctuary" for the medicinal use of marijuana.

That will be a comfort to the more than 3,000 patients who rely on
marijuana to treat glaucoma, AIDS and a host of other serious
ailments.

Comfort, but not protection.

The Supreme Court last spring ruled that federal anti-drug laws make
no exception for medical use. That gives the DEA a green light to
shut down clubs and pursue patients.

But the ruling was vague enough to ensure that opponents will have
plenty to fight about for years. Will the DEA call San Francisco's
bluff, call in Special Ops to do reconnaissance on cannabis
dispensaries, and seize the Department of Public Health's records of
registered pot users?

If it tries, it will have ended an experiment California undertook in
1996 with the passage of Prop 215, the Compassionate Use Act. It also
will show that the Bush administration is using the sympathy it
gained after Sept. 11 to beat up on enemies who have nothing to do
with terrorism.