RULING CREATES CATCH-22

The Supreme Court's decision not to legalize marijuana for medicinal
use ("Court rules against medical marijuana," May 15) was predictable,
not because marijuana is dangerous but because it is politically
incorrect. So this Supreme Court did its ideological end run around
scientific evidence from the National Academy of Science confirming
that marijuana is effective treatment for pain and nausea caused by
cancer, AIDS and glaucoma.

In spite of the scientific evidence presented to the court, Justice
Clarence Thomas wrote that "marijuana has no currently accepted
medical use." This now becomes a "Catch 22" situation -- if it is not
allowed to be used, it never will have accepted medical uses.

The reason it is not allowed to be used is that most politicians know
little about marijuana, and the ones who do are afraid to speak up
because they will be branded as soft on drugs. So marijuana continues
to be lumped in with the hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine, at the
expense of some very sick people.

There is little doubt that this Supreme Court decision was
ideologically driven and not made on the merits of the case. And this
Supreme Court seems to be making a habit of such shameful decisions.

BERT BASS

Tequesta