'MEDICAL' MARIJUANA MISINFORMATION

Dear Editor,

Clarence Page's recent "medical" marijuana column was amazing. What
on earth is "medical" marijuana? Of course, sick people feel better
after smoking a joint. That's what "getting high" means -- just like
too much alcohol makes one "feel good."

Would Page advocate eating moldy bread (penicillin), or fox glove
(digitalis), or the willow tree (aspirin)?

People must stop confusing marijuana, a dangerous psychoactive weed,
with THC, one of its more than 450 chemicals already available in
pill form. Also, a company in England is researching a
non-psychoactive THC patch.

Unfortunately, there is little interest in taking a pill or wearing a
patch. Media would rather discuss smoking a joint. Have they
disregarded the more than 15,000 marijuana research papers on file at
the University of Mississippi? Marijuana weed has been extensively
tested and has failed to meet even one of the Federal Drug
Administration's eight criteria for safety and efficacy.

A well-financed propaganda machine has sold its misinformation. Drug
advocates were advised to use "medical" marijuana as a stepping-stone
to legalization and to use lots of "victim" stories. They were
advised to establish credibility with the media because, "After you
do this, you can say whatever you want, and people will believe you!"

Joan Bellm, founder International Drug Strategy Institute

Carlinville