POT PERSPECTIVE

I want to provide information, and a perspective, to the recent sentencing
of a person convicted for being in the criminal possession of 13 pounds of
marijuana. From published accounts, it appears that the defense in that
case was able to make a persuasive argument that the 13 pounds of marijuana
were intended for "self-medication". I assume that this was offered to
challenge any idea of the possibility of the drug being available for
criminal sales.

I found this argument creative, but difficult to accept. The typical
marijuana joint contains between 0.5 and 1.0 grams of the cannabis plant
matter (source: National Institute on Drug Abuse Notes, Vol. 11, No
2). Doing the math on this is easy, yet informative. Thirteen pounds of
marijuana is equivalent to 5,902 grams. This amount would then be
available to produce between 5,902 to 11,804 joints, or between 16-32
joints daily for a year! Hence, my difficulty in accepting the argument of
"self-medication".

David Morgan Ogdensburg, New York