THE OTHER WAR

Unable to find Osama bin Laden or dismantle al Qaeda, the Bush
administration has attacked an easier target - the 960 mostly AIDS and
cancer patients of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center.

Thirty agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration raided the
West Hollywood center last Thursday. They detained eight patient/staffers
for six hours and seized 400 plants, bagged marijuana and brownies, patient
and doctors' records, computers, and growing equipment. "The effect on
people's health will be devastating," said center president Scott Imler,
who has epilepsy. "I don't understand why America is declaring war on its own."

No arrests were made. The center remains open, but the dispensary is
closed, forcing members onto the black market to receive their medicine.

The basis for the raid is the long-standing state-vs.-federal government
dispute over who has say over drug laws. In 1996, California voters
approved Proposition 215, which gave patients the right to possess medical
marijuana. The federal government has refused to recognize the law in
California and eight other states and Washington, D.C., which have passed
similar medical-marijuana measures. Last May, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
against the reopening of an Oakland club, a decision cited in last week's
search warrant.

The center's leadership has yet to announce its legal strategy, or if it
will try to restore its operation, which serves 960 members, 80 percent of
whom have AIDS and use marijuana to combat wasting syndrome and the nausea
from multiple medications. Another 10 percent have cancer, for which
cannabis is a time-honored treatment during chemotherapy. The remainder
suffer from assorted ailments, including glaucoma and multiple sclerosis.

The center opened in 1996 with the help of the West Hollywood City Council
and the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. "I stand up in support of what
Scott has been doing," Sheriff Lee Baca told the Weekly in 1999. "He's done
an excellent job." The West Hollywood City Council held a news conference
denouncing the raid. Asked West Hollywood Sheriff's Station Captain Lynda
Castro: "Where's the sensitivity level?"

The center's supporters say the raid points up the folly of America's drug
war, and its lack of compassion. Other countries are setting more
progressive examples. Four months ago, Canada became the first country to
legalize medical marijuana. The Dutch, who've already decriminalized
recreational use, announced this month that cannabis will be available by
prescription. And the British are reclassifying pot in their least
restrictive class with antidepressants and steroids.

"While the rest of the world moves steadily into the 21st century, the Bush
administration is dragging its knuckles and America back into the Dark
Ages," said Imler.

A candlelight vigil will be held across the street from the center, on the
corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Gardner Street, at 5 p.m. Tuesday,
November 6, the fifth anniversary of the passage of Proposition 215.