MARIJUANA AS MEDICINE

I don't think most people have any objections to marijuana being used for
medical reasons. I find it objectionable that patients and/or their
caretakers are growing their own medicine.

If marijuana is to be used as medicine, it should be manufactured,
controlled and dispensed the same way other prescription drugs are. And
won't smoking it cause lung cancer.

If marijuana came in the form of a pill, liquid, or inhaler, patients such
as Sharon Place's son (Register, Guard, Feb. 3) wouldn't have to battle
with the embarrassment of hiding his medication. The school could even
dispense it, if necessary.

Patients would not have to worry about their homes being broken into and
their plants stolen. Nor would they have to worry about providing space,
money and time to grow their own crops.

If marijuana were a prescription drug instead of a home-grown drug, it
would be a lot easier to keep the record straight. Police wouldn't have to
waste their time checking with the State Health Division before searching a
suspect's home. No one would be allowed to grow it, period. I think
physicians would be more inclined to use it also.

To my understanding, it is not legal for anyone to manufacture their own
codeine or morphine for their own medical use. Why are people allowed to
grow their own marijuana for that purpose. Shouldn't it be a controlled
substance.

Lynne Nelson, Springfield