Regarding the Dec. 6 "From both sides", editorials that deal with the
recent passage of propositions in California and Arizona legalizing
marijuana for the treatment of certain medical ailments: Opinion editor
John Webster does not get it.

Webster, like ex-drug czar William Bennett, has this incredible arrogance
and-self-appointed medical authority and claims to know what form of
medicine would benefit sick people.

Marijuana is not even a narcotic but has a Schedule 1 rating which, until
now, has prevented scientists from studying the plant's medical
applications. Apparently, 5,000 years of use and countless personal
testimonies, coupled with no reported deaths, had some bearing on the
passage of these propositions. Even the government grows and supplies
marijuana cigarettes to about a half- dozen sick people in the United
States.

The people of California and Arizona have spoken in the form that a free
society allows. Let them test the issue. Besides, no doctor has to
prescribe a medicine he does not believe is effective.

Webster's view seems to be an example of how the 30-year drug war has
evolved to be worse than drugs (see the Feb. 12,1996, issue of National
Review).

J.J. Satkoski
Sagle, Idaho