DOCTORS SHOULD STICK TO MEDICAL OPINIONS

Editor, The Leader:

Thank you for publishing Dr. Hepburn's lighthearted look at medical
marijuana (Leader, Sept. 28). I'm glad he and your readers were enlightened
as to the professional attitude and essential services offered by marijuana
compassion clubs. Dr. Hepburn managed to expose common fears and then
dispel them (i.e. the club is a "clinical" environment, not a pothead haven.)

I appreciate Hepburn's medical opinion regarding marijuana and the
compassion clubs that supply it. I am less comfortable with the doctor
using his medical credentials to lend support to a moral stance on a
societal issue. "Marijuana, like Valium and Demerol and even cigarettes
should not be used recreationally." The position of the medical community
on the recreational use of drugs should go no further than stating the
drugs' effects and possible interactions. It is up to the rest of society -
or the individual - to use that information in deciding whether or not to
condone the recreational - often called non-medical - use of drugs. So long
as a drug is deemed to hold little medical risk, I believe it should be up
to the individual to decide whether or not to use it for non-medical reasons.

Marijuana allows the user to enter an altered state of consciousness, with
little risk to body or mind. Many religions call their followers to do the
same when entering into prayer. Why we, as a culture, are accepting of this
approach and balk at allowing people to take drugs to achieve the same ends
is something I have yet to understand.

Neil MacNaughton
Ontario