TRUTH IS OUT ON MARIJUANA MYTHS

Regarding the Sun's Aug. 13 editorial on Nevada's medical marijuana law,
Congress needs to show leadership on the issue, which 70 percent of
Americans support.

The reefer-madness myths have long been discredited, forcing the drug war
gravy train to spend millions of tax dollars on politicized research,
trying to find harm in a relatively harmless plant. Meanwhile, research
that might demonstrate the medical efficacy of marijuana is consistently
blocked.

The direct experience of millions of Americans contradicts the
sensationalistic myths used to justify marijuana prohibition. Illegal drug
use is the only public health issue wherein key stakeholders are not only
ignored, but actively persecuted and incarcerated.

In terms of the recent Supreme Court ruling mentioned in the Aug. 13
editorial, those stakeholders happen to be cancer and AIDS patients.

ROBERT SHARPE Washington, D.C. Editor's note: The writer is program officer
for the Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation, a drug policy research
institute that supports marijuana for medical uses.