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Before we rush out and roll up a prescription reefer, let's take a look at the presidential campaign of Gov. Bill Richardson.

In arguing for the medical-marijuana bill, Richardson did a little verbal tripping of his own, telling reporters that signing legislation he's consistently opposed until now may be "risky - but it's the right thing to do." Courage under fire and all that.

But the "right thing to do"? Reports of California doctors dosing doobies for everything under the sun notwithstanding, it's far from a pipe dream to speculate that Richardson's flip-flop on this bill had less to do with its so-called safeguards than because such legislation is wildly popular in certain circles. Far left-wing circles. George "$$$" Soros circles, to be precise.

A fund-raiser here and there raising a quarter-million dollars isn't going to buy Campaign Richardson much TV in New Hampshire or Iowa. Some radio, I suppose - but, look: Soros' bank account and his interest in legalizing drugs are well-documented. His big contributions to Richardson's gubernatorial campaign were noted as well.

No, legalizing medical marijuana isn't the right thing to do. For the same reason the folks at Planned Parenthood and NARAL have fought partial-birth abortion bans, folks against legalizing drugs have fought medical-marijuana legislation - incrementalism. Once the horse sticks his nose out of the barn, well, pal, the arguments against letting that pony run free melt away like this winter's snowpack.

And let's make this understood: Soros is no humanitarian. Soros isn't concerned about the "160 people in deep pain" the governor often referred to.

Who do you think Soros hurt when he attempted to bring down the Bank of England? The queen? Whose pensions, investments and retirement funds were crushed along the way, as Soros greedily manipulated European money markets? Paul McCartney?

It's fairly repulsive to watch America's vaunted, deeply-concerned-about-the-working-stiff-left buy into Soros' malicious machinations for the sake of a few bucks. All right, a few million bucks.

Anyway, for a guy who has spent the past few years working on a whole new r‚sum‚ under the heading "moderate Democrat," it didn't take but a few weeks on the campaign trail for Richardson to realize he'd better shuffle back to the left and reaffirm his liberal bona fides.

Along with his new stand on medical marijuana, the governor spent great political capital reviving his domestic partners bill - the bill to give gay and straight nonmarried couples rights generally reserved for traditional couples.

Richardson hasn't changed positions on this issue, but he did work hard this past session to gain headlines fighting for the bill. It was a quieter move during his first term that brought domestic rights to state workers.

Ultimately, efforts for pot and partners are two large steps for Richardson. But will they be two giant leaps for his campaign's bank account? We'll see.