POT'S BENEFITS

Re: More Ontarians using marijuana, April 15.

Maybe more people are using marijuana because they have heard about
its myriad medical benefits, including (but not limited to) the
treatment of arthritis, asthma, HIV/AIDS, MS, epilepsy, glaucoma,
Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.

As federal medical marijuana license holder, I have read that recent
science out of Germany even shows how cannabinoids (the active
ingredients in marijuana) stimulate the body's production of TIMP-1,
a substance which helps healthy cells resist cancer invasion.

This might explain why chronic pot smokers have lower -- not higher
- -- rates of cancer than tobacco smokers as a recent California study showed.

Russell Barth,

Nepean