THE JOYS OF DOPE

To the editor:

Bob Stewart's June 11 letter, "Pothead paradise," fails to mention that
legislation legalizing the medicinal use of cannabis in no way releases
"potheads" from state or federal impairment laws. Drinking is legal, but
drunken driving is not.

Sinister portraits of racketeering doctors aside, given the enormous
amount of peer-reviewed research showing that medical marijuana: cures
two types of "fatal" cancers; slows the progression of multiple
sclerosis; stops epileptic seizures; protects brain cells from damage in
cases of head injury or strokes; eases rheumatoid arthritis; maintains
mental clarity in old age; reduces the symptoms of attention deficit
disorder; reduces glaucoma; eases depression; restores appetite; and
more, it seems unlikely that doctors will need an "excuse" to prescribe
or recommend the herb.

Our brains produce a type of cannabanoid (marijuana), and that natural
marijuana acts as the chemical link between the brain cells, allowing
thoughts to occur, peer-reviewed research shows.

Drug testing is a billion-dollar-a-year corporate racket. It's a clear
violation of our constitutional rights and it drives people to use hard
drugs (they're out of your system only hours after ingestion, unlike
marijuana, which remains at detectable levels for as long as a month).

Marijuana is the substance of choice in the world of professional
basketball, snow boarding, surfing and many other sports. The marijuana
high is not particularly debilitating, once one becomes used to the
effects. The FDA's own guidelines for THC acknowledge this. Research
shows that it tends to make drivers more, not less, cautious. It is
nothing like being drunk.

Holland's rate of drug use is half of ours. Marijuana prohibition and
the "War on Drugs" are the policies of a police state.

Lee Eisenstein, Watsonville, Calif.