LETTING THEM SUFFER

William Blackstone once said, "It is better that 10 guilty persons
escape than that one innocent suffer." It is a shame that our state
and federal representatives do not feel the same with respect to
medical marijuana.

For our representatives, it is better to let 100,000 suffer pain,
wasting diseases and nausea than to let one recreational user
accidentally get marijuana.

In Texas, we cannot even put a medical marijuana bill on the ballot
with a voter initiative. Texas HB 513, if passed, would allow for a
medical marijuana defense and is a step in the right direction, but
it certainly does not help those who are suffering and might benefit
from medical marijuana.

If those using medical marijuana get caught, we will just let them
suffer in jail. If they don't get caught, they still have to turn to
the black market for their supply and may be pushed on to hard
addictive drugs by their suppliers.

Are we really so paranoid about medical marijuana that we let
hundreds of thousands suffer who might be helped with a medicine that
the drug czar's 1999 Institute of Medicine Study said should be
immediately made available to those with certain afflictions?
Apparently our representatives are.

Steve Helms
Southlake