THERAPEUTIC CANNABIS

Sir--The Press (May 17) states that MP Roger Sowry, member of the
health select committee's cannabis inquiry, has dismissed evidence
showing that cannabis could be used therapeutically. This is akin to
a judge deciding a case before hearing half of the facts.

Mr Sowry will study submissions from many New Zealanders who use
cannabis to relieve symptoms of various physical disorders. Will he
simply dismiss these also?

For committee members to do their job well it is vital that they be
impartial and open to all avenues of evidence. Impartial research
into medical marijuana has overwhelmingly found that cannabis
successfully treats a wide variety of ailments with almost none of
the side effects of pharmaceutical drugs. Furthermore, cannabis has a
3500-year history of medical use.

That's a huge body of data not to take into account. What could Mr
Sowry be thinking?

S. McINTYRE
May 22, 2001