I find it revealing that so many “medical” marijuana advocates have reflexively flocked to the defense of Bruce Olson — whether in person or in print. You’d think that people who had a sincere interest in promoting the supposed medicinal qualities of pot would be especially anxious to see Mr. Olson punished if, in fact, it’s shown he abused the privilege.

After all, they’re the ones who insist they can be trusted to use the substance only to relieve their own suffering. If it turns out Olson was growing more than he needed and dealing to common stoners, his actions would undermine the movement’s credibility — and I assume the advocates would be even more angry about that than the rest of us.

Unless, of course, their true goal is rehabilitating marijuana’s image in hopes of eventually seeing the drug decriminalized for recreational use, in which case their feigned outrage would be perfectly understandable.

The fact that they can’t even wait until the trial has concluded to weigh in on Olson’s guilt or innocence indicates to me that these are people who don’t much care whether he actually broke the law or not because they don’t think the law is worth obeying.

Personally, I’m skeptical of the one drug in the history of pharmacology that has to be smoked, but in any case I applaud the Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office for having the guts to wade into this firestorm.

If Olson is found not-guilty, his defenders will be vindicated. But if he’s convicted, his sentence will serve as a warning to those exploiting the genuine suffering of others just so they can get stoned, and it will also expose the real agenda of those who hide behind the veil of compassion when all they really care about is frying their brains.

Either way, it’s well worth the time, trouble and expense to try a case like this.

A.E. JOHNSTON

Port Orchard