Marijuana for Aids Patients

Marijuana is to be distributed to cancer and Aids patients this morning on the steps of the city council in Santa Cruz, California, in the latest battle of an increasingly bitter war between the states and the federal government over the medical use of the drug.

A growing number of states, including California, Colorado, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Washington and Oregon, allow marijuana to be grown for medical use. But the federal government is opposed to its use under any circumstances and has adopted an aggressive policy towards medical marijuana projects, diverting agents from work on crack cocaine and heroin.

The latest target of the drug enforcement administration is the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Santa Cruz. On September 5 federal agents arrived at the marijuana farm run by Valerie and Michael Corral, which has been supplying patients with the drug for nearly 10 years. The agents, dressed in camouflage gear, destroyed 150 plants.

"It looks like the last hurrah of a failed policy," Valerie Corral said yesterday. "I suspect they felt that they could operate under the veil of a nation in mourning. But the response from across the country to the raid has been tremendous - we have had thousands of messages of support."