MEDICAL MARIJUANA

I am writing in response to Cindy Rodriguez's Aug. 27 column
("Legalizing pot would hurt kids, and here's why") and letters to the
editor from Robert K. Hoshide and Matthew Hayes (Sept. 3 Open Forum).

Twelve days ago, I spent the afternoon in Swedish Medical Center with
a longtime friend of mine who suffers from epilepsy. How surprised we
both were when the doctor, after a short interview, mentioned that
marijuana use would raise his threshold of tolerance to seizures,
which in turn might allow him to take a lower dose of anti-seizure
meds that are known to damage the liver over time.

Four years ago, I witnessed firsthand the benefits of marijuana use
as my mother struggled through the poisonous affects of chemotherapy,
including nausea, followed by increasingly intense pain from terminal cancer.

These are but two examples of everyday citizens who have chosen to
break the law by obtaining marijuana for its inherent benefits. These
are facts, not "programmed" opinions.

John N. Train, Denver