NY Times
\r\nSeptember 21, 2002\r\n\r\nWhy I'm Fighting Federal Drug Laws From City Hall\r\n\r\n<\/p>
By CHRISTOPHER KROHN\r\n\r\n<\/p>
SANTA CRUZ, Calif.\r\n\r\n<\/p>
How did I, a mayor of a small town in California, wind up in a tug of war \r\nwith the Drug Enforcement Agency? \r\n\r\n<\/p>
This week, I stood in front of Santa Cruz's city hall as a local group that \r\nprovides medical marijuana went about its weekly task of distributing the \r\ndrug to the sick and dying.\r\n\r\n<\/p>
My story begins on the morning of Sept. 5 when approximately 30 men, dressed \r\nin military fatigues and carrying automatic weapons, descended on a small \r\ncooperative farm run by the Wo\/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in \r\nnorthern Santa Cruz County, about 65 miles south of San Francisco. They were \r\npulling up organically grown marijuana plants. \r\n\r\n<\/p>
When the Santa Cruz County sheriff's office learned what was going on, it was \r\nat a loss to explain who the intruders were or what type of response was in \r\norder. I didn't hear about the raid until 10 a.m., when I was called by \r\nmembers of the collective. I then telephoned the Santa Cruz police chief and \r\nother local officials. The chief hadn't heard anything either. \r\n\r\n<\/p>
Later it became clear that the D.E.A. was making a raid. Agents collected \r\nmore than 130 plants and arrested the founders of the medical marijuana \r\ncollective, Valerie and Mike Corral. The Corrals were taken to a federal \r\ndetention center in San Jose, but no charges were filed and they were \r\nsubsequently released.\r\n\r\n<\/p>
The D.E.A. was right to release them. But the Corrals shouldn't have been \r\nthere in the first place. They had not been breaking the law. They were \r\ngrowing marijuana specifically for people who had been legally prescribed the \r\nsubstance to help them with chronic pain brought on by cancer, diabetes and \r\nother illnesses. \r\n\r\n<\/p>
These weren't new laws, either. Residents in Santa Cruz County had voted in \r\n1992 to legalize the use of medical marijuana. In 1996, Californians approved \r\nProposition 215, a statewide measure to allow the use of marijuana for \r\nmedicinal purposes. Two years ago our city council passed an ordinance to \r\nmake it easier to grow and distribute medical marijuana under the new law.\r\n\r\n<\/p>
Before the morning raid, Santa Cruz had a good relationship with drug \r\nenforcement officials. Santa Cruz, like many communities, has a problem with \r\nillegal drugs, most notably heroin and methamphetamine. In the last 15 \r\nmonths, the D.E.A. has conducted two operations here; working with the \r\nsheriff's office and the Santa Cruz Police Department, the agency has caught \r\nhundreds of drug dealers and users. According to our police chief, \"the \r\nD.E.A. did an excellent job\" in these operations. \r\n\r\n<\/p>
That was not the case on Sept. 5. The D.E.A. came to town unannounced and \r\nunder cover of darkness.\r\n\r\n<\/p>
I'm worried that the agency is going to be coming to other towns, too. Since \r\n1996, eight other states — Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, \r\nHawaii, Colorado and Maine — have passed laws allowing for the use of medical \r\nmarijuana. At the same time, the Department of Justice has made it clear that \r\nit opposes the use of marijuana under any circumstances. \r\n\r\n<\/p>
Clearly, state law and federal law are on a collision course. I would not be \r\nsurprised if there are more raids. \r\n\r\n<\/p>
And if there are more raids, more mayors and elected officials will find \r\nthemselves doing what we did here this week: standing with people like the \r\nCorrals as they deliver medical marijuana to patients who are using the drug \r\non the advice of a physician.\r\n\r\n<\/p>
The government is fighting a losing battle. In the states where medical \r\nmarijuana has been on the ballot, it has received overwhelming approval from \r\nvoters. Canada and Great Britain recently approved the medical use of \r\nmarijuana and plan to have the government grow and distribute it. \r\n\r\n<\/p>
As medical costs skyrocket, medical marijuana is a cost-effective way to \r\ntreat people with chronic pain. Most of all, making medical marijuana \r\navailable is an act of common sense and compassion. The Corrals' collective \r\nlost 40 members this year; many of them left this world with Ms. Corral \r\nholding their hand.\r\n\r\n<\/p>
I'm hopeful that this week's events will prompt the federal government to \r\nbegin working with state and local governments to determine how far it can go \r\nin regulating activity that has been approved by the states and that has \r\nnegligible effects on interstate commerce. There's legislation in Congress, \r\nsupported by a bipartisan coalition, that would allow all states to approve \r\nmedical marijuana, thus eliminating any conflict with federal law. To me, \r\nthat makes sense. But until it passes, I'm standing with the Corrals. \r\n\r\n<\/p>
Christopher Krohn, a Democrat, is mayor of Santa Cruz, Calif.\r\n\r\n<\/p>
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