Is
Blackwater being contracted out by the D.E.A. to assist in medical marijuana dispensary raids?
The picture linked above was originally attached to the L.A. Times story. It has since been removed from their compilation of photos.
The treatment of the raid by the reporters (namely, their use of quotations to call into question people's medical status) was commented upon by Ellen earlier. I had briefly blogged about the D.E.A. coming in, stealing everything in sight, and leaving as an example of wasted law enforcement resources, and wondering if there weren't maybe some ultra-violent Mexican Cartels they could go after instead.
For this blog entry, I would like to comment on the possibility that once again, we have mercenaries operating on our soil, enforcing laws against sick people.
That's right: sick people. The D.E.A. has stated repeatedly that enforcing the Controlled Substances Act in raiding medical marijuana dispensaries isn't a high priority for them and doesn't use up a lot of resources.
No doubt part of this is true: they come in, they steal all the money and marijuana they can find, and then they leave without pressing charges on anyone. That way, no paper work to do. Of course, it is now very hard to distinguish the D.E.A. from a common thief. Should Blackwater be involved, it would mean that the D.E.A. was contracting civilians to take things from other civilians - we call this stealing, or legally: larceny, robbery, and burglary under color of law or authority.
I suppose we could look for the truth in this: if the D.E.A. is indeed contracting out medical marijuana raids, it doesn't use up much of their manpower resources. Their fiscal resources, however, surely would be used up - but then again, they are taking money and marijuana. I'm sure whatever the contract price is, they more than made up for it with what they seized.
The alternate reading of this, however, is that 1) they don't have the physical resources to pursue medical marijuana raids, so 2) it is such a high priority that they have to contract out to make sure the raids keep happening, despite the fiscal cost.
No matter what the reading, isn't it time we stop spending human resources and financial resources going after sick people and their medical supply? Let's say 10 people going to a medical marijuana dispensary are just going to get high for recreation, and just 1 is going for medicine. Would you refuse the one?
During the Salem Witch Trials, Increase Mather, then president of Harvard, denounced the use of spectral evidence: "It were better that ten suspected witches should escape than one innocent person be condemned."
Similarly, is it not better ten marijuana users get their marijuana, than one sick person be denied?
Posted by Malakkar Vohryzek