POT SMOKERS NEED TO BE OPEN ABOUT IT

Chris Colin hits the nail on the head when he states "its threat lies in
its utter ungovernability." Imagine if pot were legal. The pharmaceutical
companies (the richest companies in the nation, I believe) wouldn't be able
to corner the market, and their bean counters would calculate all the money
they were "losing" because people would be growing their own, instead of
buying from them. The government wouldn't be able to tax it for the same
reason.

I don't believe for a second that the government is concerned that it's a
gateway drug, or that it's addicting. Even if it is addicting, what's the
harm? If you need to smoke a joint each night to relax, how is that any
different from drinking a glass of wine each night?

Everyone who smokes needs to be open about it, whether for medical use or
recreation. The taboo must be broken. When we are at a party, my boyfriend
and I wish we could just announce, "Hey, we've got a joint -- who wants to
smoke it?" without the fear of being ostracized.

Perhaps pot smokers should form a foundation. We all join and pay a
reasonable annual fee. When one of us gets busted, everybody chips in a
share based on the need divided by the membership. This way, we will all
have the backing and support needed to clearly state, "I've got pot here --
who wants to smoke this fatty?"

- -- Sheila J. Burnham

MARIJUANA WORKS

Two years ago, I was stricken with an extremely serious case of salmonella
poisoning. For the first two weeks, I thought I had just a bad stomach flu.
The high fever and constant diarrhea eventually led to severe dehydration
and a trip to the emergency room.

After I was misdiagnosed at the emergency room and given incorrect
medicine, the infection entered my bloodstream.

For almost two months, I had constant agonizing pain, vomiting and
diarrhea. I was later correctly diagnosed by an internist. She put me on
heavy-dosage antibiotics and gave me a prescription for an anti-nausea drug.

These medicines didn't seem to help; after another week of no improvement,
I became so debilitated and exhausted that I felt that I wanted to die.

That day, a friend came over and convinced me to smoke a joint with him. If
I could only convey how much better I felt after I smoked it! The pain
retreated, the nausea disappeared and for the first time since the
beginning of my ordeal, I was able to eat solid food.

Anyone who says that marijuana has no medicinal value is wrong, wrong,
wrong. Nothing else I was prescribed during the nightmare I went through
even came close to the relief that marijuana offered.

If the people who are saying that marijuana is evil could go through what I
went through, they'd realize that marijuana is no more evil than any other
plant or herb that grows out of the earth. If they had a family member who
was suffering the pain of chemotherapy or a host of other debilitating
afflictions, they would be singing a different tune about medical marijuana.

They'd realize that marijuana is a powerful and promising tool in the
treatment of chronic pain. It's not evil. What's evil is following the
irrational but politically safe path of demonizing a plant that offers so
much relief to so many sick and suffering people.

- -- Maria