[420 Girl]

They don't pass out coupons on Telegraph or sport neon signs above their doors, but they're nevertheless a Berkeley staple. Windows shuttered, bouncers at the door-they're your friendly local medical marijuana dispensaries, and the City Council wants you to know it has their backs.

In response to Drug Enforcement Agency raids on Bay Area dispensaries, the Council this week voted to declare the city a "sanctuary" for medical marijuana, pledging noncooperation with federal raids.

The decision is an accurate reflection of local views. Eighty-five percent of Berkeley voters supported the 1996 state proposition that legalized medicinal marijuana-not that the city needs statistics to back its pot-friendly credentials.

What's more relevant is that the city measure is consistent with the decision reached at the state level. The consequences of that vote-and the legal implications of individual states flouting national drug policy-are issues beyond the purview of the Council members. Their job is to honor the wishes of the constituents they serve and the state government to which they report.

It's a job only half done. Grand pronouncements of disregard for federal law are a surefire crowd-pleaser in a city where it's easier to window-shop for bongs than flower vases. But simply declaring support for medicinal marijuana in a state that's already gone much further than that is essentially redundant.

The recent vote fits a long and tired pattern of grandstanding and empty gestures. If the Council is truly concerned about ensuring users' access, it should establish clear procedures to be followed in the event that federal authorities turn their attention to local dispensaries. If it lacks the initiative or resources to do so-and we're putting our money on the DEA if push comes to shove-then the measure is nothing but bluster. And you can't smoke that.

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/in...ing-smoke.html