Former presidential candidate Ralph Nader spoke at the Students for a Sensible Drug Policy conference Sunday not long after about 30 agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration raided the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center Oct. 25. The center was a distribution point for medical marijuana, made legal in California five years ago by an overwhelmingly popular ballot initiative. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May that state ballot initiatives cannot trump federal law, and in October the DEA did its job enforcing that law.

The problem lies in the law itself. The federal government does not bear the burdens associated with illegal drug use. Instead, the DEA tries to dismantle large drug organizations while local police target local drug dealers and gangs. Local health departments and hospitals deal with overdoses or other drug-related medical problems. And city resources deal with the homeless who may also be addicted to drugs. With so much local responsibility, the decision-making power for drug enforcement should at least partially lie with local government.

In Los Angeles, city officials cooperated with and supported the cannabis resource center’s administration as a means of removing as many as 960 people who needed marijuana for medical reasons from the illegal drug black market. These people carried identity cards and had medical charts all detailing their need for the drug. The center verified that need at least every three months and also made sure prescriptions were legitimate.

For states to be able to allow the use of medical marijuana, federal law needs to be changed. Marijuana should be reclassified, and the feds should treat it in the same manner as morphine and other Schedule II drugs. These drugs relieve pain but should not be used recreationally, at least according to public officials. Using morphine without a prescription is a serious offense that carries severe penalties, as does trafficking in or distributing any prescription drug illegally. Of course, there is still a black market for morphine and other prescription drugs, but tight controls make them that much harder to obtain. A similar system could work for marijuana.

Student activists are right in trying to persuade federal officials to allow local governments control of marijuana laws. Not all localities will allow medical marijuana, but some will. That is a choice the voters should be able to make.