LAW WOULD PROTECT PATIENTS

Having just returned from Albany where I joined seriously ill
patients from across the state to urge our Senate to pass a
compassionate medical marijuana law, I'd like to correct a common
misconception that was repeated in the June 3 story, "Patients to
push for medical marijuana law."

It's true, as Sen. James Seward said in the article, that the U.S.
Supreme Court has ruled that federal law enforcement agencies may
enforce their misguided laws regarding medical marijuana even in
states that protect patients who use the drug with their doctor's
recommendation.

But that does not mean states are helpless to protect their
vulnerable citizens.

The bill before the Senate is perhaps the most tightly worded,
strictly regulated in the country. It builds off the experiences of
the 12 existing medical marijuana states to ensure that qualified
patients and their doctors may avoid conflicts with federal law and
have safe, legal access to their medicine.

I have been disabled since a back injury in 2001. I live in constant
pain, and an allergy to narcotics limits my legal pain relief
options to over-the-counter Tylenol.

The Senate has the power to give me at least some of my old life
back if it will just pass this sensible, compassionate bill before
the legislative session ends June 23.

Jeannine Zagiel

Morris