WAR ON DRUGS PERVERSE

The July 14 article about the Oakland doctor losing his medical license for
prescribing medical marijuana without conducting sufficient medical exams is
typical of the perverse "war on drugs" led by Ashcroft and the Bush
administration.

The government says its attack on the doctor is not about marijuana, but
because the doctor "didn't do enough personal exam, check the medical
history and do follow-up work."

What a joke. Every day I get about 20 unsolicited e-mail spams inviting me
to click the screen and they will send me any amount of hard, addictive
drugs like Valium, Xanax, Prozac, even Vicodin, Oxycontin, etc. Their
on-line doctors will sign off on the prescription and the drugs will arrive
the next day. This has been going on for months and I have never heard of
any of these pushers being threatened with loss of their licenses. Maybe
it's because the corporate drug makers are getting a cut of the action on
their products, while getting nothing from marijuana and other street drugs.
Follow the money. It explains a lot.

STEVE NEWMAN