MARIJUANA MADNESS

Reading Ellen Goodman's column supporting Canada's policy on medical use of
marijuana (Opinion, Aug. 3), it sounds to me as if Goodman is suffering
from a "contact high" or perhaps something even more profound. Never has a
drug so addled the brains of its users that they throw out all logic, all
common sense, and defy reality, to worship and promote the substance.

Marijuana is not medicine. It is a plant that has many compounds, some of
thich have medical properties. But like the urine of pregnant mares, from
which Premarin is made, and frog slime, snake venom, fox glove, and
thousands of other things found in nature, it is not the raw material that
is safe and effective for use -- it is the isolated compound that is
extracted or synthesized, and tested for safety and effectiveness.

Smoking pot just doesn't cut it. What it does do is accentuate the pacebo
effect and mask symptoms.

Goodman is uninformed, in denial or is part of the problem - any of which
is a sad trait for a journalist.

Sandra S. Bennett Director, Northwest Center for Health & Safety LaCenter, WA