MEDICAL MARIJUANA

To the Editor,
In response to Mr. David Morgan's letter stating that thirteen pounds of
marijuana couldn't possibly be used for medicinal purposes. I would like to
know where Mr. Morgan received his Doctorate? How does a layman on the
subject assume he knows how much marijuana a person could use in a day and
how long that 13 pounds was intended to last this individual? To label
medicinal users as criminals is biased and self serving. To deny an ill
person a medicine that helps them is inhumane.

Alcohol isn't used medicinally yet it is a common poison in most homes in
the North Country. It causes more social problems than marijuana. Yet do we
monitor the amount of booze a person can have in their home..or how
fastthey consume it?

I don't understand some peoples callousness toward someone who tries to
alleviate their suffering if it involves unconventional methods. If this
man chose to self medicate himself with alcohol there would not have been
any problems legally, even though alcohol is associated with violence. But
since he chose marijuana he is scorned by some because they don't approve
of his choice of drug even though it is being recognized all over the world
for having medicinal value.

Kelli Rentsch Potsdam. New York

MARIJUANA USE

To the Editor;
It seems that Mr. David Morgan is not satisfied with the sentence a local
man received for possession of marijuana. In his 5/21/01 letter to the
editor "Pot Perspective" he analyzes how much of the substance a person
should have for personal use with government statistics. Although I don't
have a medical degree I feel that people use mind altering substances for
different reasons and in various quantities and that the human psyche is
far to complex to be diagnosed by government statistics.

From what I understand the man in question is a former marine who used
marijuana to self medicate himself to cope with post traumatic syndrome
from his service in the Vietnam War. We don't know what horrors he may have
witnessed in that often brutal war. Mr. Morgan should walk in that mans
shoes a while before he passes judgment on him.

In his letter Mr. Morgan points out the large quantity of marijuana being
possessed but, I have never heard him address the large volumes of alcohol
possessed and consumed in this area. I have seen some local residents
literally purchase a truck load of beer and some stock a personal bar that
would rival any nightclub. But possession of this amount of alcohol is
acceptable because it is the drug most prevalent in our society.

Lee Monnet Ogdensburg, New York