THE GREAT COMFORT OF POT

Editor - Debra J. Saunders' column, "Hazy thinking on medical
marijuana" (May 13) got it right.

California has made it clear we want our doctors, not the federal
government, to decide what is right for our sick friends and family members.

Quick story: My sweetheart died of cancer in 2002. I had known her
for 15 years by then and she had never been a pothead. But as she
told me one day, late in the progress of her disease, when it had
debilitated her significantly, "I got two problems: I can't eat and I
can't sleep. I take a toke and I get the munchies. After I eat, I
take another toke and I get sleepy. Sometimes I fall asleep in my
chair with a full stomach. You have no idea how good that feels."

Anyone who would deny this simple herbal remedy to those in their
final and most difficult struggle is the criminal, not those who use
it, nor those who supply it.

CLIF MURRAY LANGLOIS Santa Rosa