DEA: Harming Sick People in the Name of a Failed Policy

Yes, California has seen a "surge of organized crime groups" dealing in marijuana. So has every other state, and probably to a greater degree. Marijuana's attraction to organized crime is a function of its illegality everywhere (under federal law), not its limited legality in California (under state law).

To put a finer point on it, Agent Taylor and the organization he works for are the ultimate facilitators of the phenomenon he's griping about. And he knows it -- keeping marijuana illegal is a matter of job security for himself and his compadres.

I'm surprised that Agent Taylor would go out of his way to make my case for me, but he does: "Most of the people buying marijuana from these pot clubs do not appear to be seriously or terminally ill," he writes. "They are able bodied, some even athletically fit ..."

Two facts are implicit in Taylor's description: Marijuana doesn't turn its users into shambling wrecks, and medical marijuana WORKS. Instead of wasting away to nothing, AIDS patients live normal lives. Instead of spending their days vomiting, chemotherapy patients hit the tennis courts. I know that I personally look a lot better with medical marijuana. As a malignant phenochromocytoma patient, I'd have been dead 30 years ago without it.

I doubt that Agent Taylor really drinks the DEA/NIDA Kool-Aid: He and his bosses know that marijuana has proven safe and effective versus various ailments in numerous rigorous scientific studies. They've known this for more than 30 years. They just don't want YOU to know it.

I hope Taylor and his DEA colleagues never have to deal with cancer, AIDs, or any other serious illness, but the odds are that someday they, or someone they love, will suffer a terrible illness or accident. What will Mr. Taylor and others do when their doctor tells them they need to get some medical marijuana? I can tell you what they will do, they will put their drug war ideology aside and join the rising tide of medical marijuana patients whose quality of life has been saved by cannabis.

So ease up Agent Taylor and stop arresting sick people in the name of a failed policy that causes far more harm, than good.