MEDICAL MARIJUANA MAKES SENSE

Currently, 12 states have medical marijuana laws on the books, and
it's time Minnesota joined them.

In our state, a bill has already been passed by the Senate, and the
House will vote on it soon. The governor has indicated he may veto
it, even though Minnesotans favor it by a 2 to 1 margin.

The governor says he stands with law enforcement, but he ought to be
listening to the medical professionals. For instance, the American
College of Physicians published a paper in February urging the
reclassification of marijuana to allow for medical use, but also
emphasized the tremendous amount of evidence in support of its
medical efficacy that we already have. And the physicians went on to
urge protection from arrest for patients in states where medical
marijuana laws exist.

ACP is the second-largest physician group in the country, with a
membership of more than 124,000, and its supportive policy position
is good news for patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS, and
chronic pain for whom medical marijuana can provide some relief.

Rather than exhibiting such a "reefer madness" mentality that relief
is denied to sick and suffering patients, our government and our laws
should embody the compassion that is a part of our state's character.

Dennis Denzer

Rochester