MEDICINAL MARIJUANA NEEDED

Re: "Briefs - Jury finds man needed marijuana for his HIV," Saturday
news story.

The Amarillo jury that acquitted Tim Stevens of possession of
marijuana is to be commended for its compassion and fiscal
responsibility.

The controversy over medical use of cannabis is really a controversy
over whether this very easy-to-grow herb should be allowed to compete
with pharmaceutical products for pennies on the dollar. According to
surveys conducted by the Australian National Drug and Alcohol Research
Centre in 2004 and by the University of California at Santa Cruz in
2007, more than two-thirds of people who use marijuana for medical
reasons decrease or stop taking their pharmaceutical medications altogether.

Texans should follow the lead of the Amarillo jury and tell their
lawmakers to stop arresting patients for using a medicinal herb.

Suzanne Wills, Drug Policy Forum of Texas, Dallas