DEA is out of touch - A Times Editorial

June 19, 2003 -- The Drug Enforcement Administration cannot fail to hear the message sent by the one-day jail term given Ed Rosenthal, a grower of medical marijuana in California. The reaction of the federal agency to this exceptionally lenient sentence was to say, essentially, that it will continue to pursue medical marijuana growers even in states that have legalized the drug for that purpose.

Rosenthal's case was closely watched around the nation. Before being arrested last year, Rosenthal was a well-known activist for the legalization of marijuana and was growing the drug under the auspices of the city of Oakland and its medical marijuana program. California voters passed a ballot initiative legalizing medical marijuana in 1996. But the Justice Department, under Attorney General John Ashcroft, reversed a prior hands-off approach and unleashed the DEA to shut down medical marijuana operations.

Rosenthal was charged with marijuana cultivation and conspiracy, crimes that carry a penalty of up to 100 years in prison and a $4.5-million fine. He was convicted after being precluded by Federal District Court Judge Charles Breyer from raising medical marijuana as a defense at trial. After the verdict, a majority of the jurors wrote the judge to say they would not have convicted Rosenthal had they known about the medical marijuana connection. California's attorney general and other state leaders added their voices tothe call for leniency, as did editorial pages around the country, including this one.

Judge Breyer heard the plea. He sentenced Rosenthal to one day in jail - a term he won't have to serve because he was credited with time served - and a small fine.

This case suggests the White House's drug warriors - who insist on conflating marijuana with every other illicit substance - are increasingly out of touch with the common-sense views of people on the state and local level. Out of compassion for people who say they truly benefit from marijuana's medicinal value, nine states have legalized marijuana for medical uses, eight of those through ballot initiatives. Various studies demonstrate that marijuana offers therapeutic relief from a number of ailments, including AIDS, glaucoma, cancer and chronic pain.

Washington has used every form of persuasion to keep other nations from liberalizing marijuana laws. But the shoes keep dropping. Several countries in Western Europe, including Spain and the Netherlands, have decriminalized marijuana in small amounts. Canada is about to join them, despite frantic lobbying by the Bush administration and threats that there will be inordinate delays at the border if the measure becomes law.

Rosenthal's prosecution resulted in a much-deserved public repudiation of the Bush administration and its overheated drug war. It's likely to happen again if Ashcroft continues to pursue growers of medical marijuana in states where the voters have approved its use.