Your July 19 editorial raises a fair question about medical marijuana:
can't other drugs do just as well? The answer is an emphatic no. I
suffer from seizure disorder and rely solely on cannabis to prevent
seizures.

The drugs I would be prescribed legally are highly toxic, addictive
and debilitating narcotics such as Phenobarbital and Dilantin.
Cannabis is clearly the superior choice for its extremely low toxicity
and non-addictive nature. Very few, if any, pharmaceutical medications
contain antioxidants, but cannabis contains antioxidants "more
powerful than vitamin E or vitamin C," according to Dr. Aiden Hampson
of the National Institute of Mental Health. This is in addition to its
well documented neuro-protective, anti-inflammatory and analgesic
properties. Medical marijuana is a redundant phrase. Cannabis has been
a medicine for at least 5,000 years.

Legalizing cannabis completely would obviate the" higher risk of
spreading an illegal drug" you decry.

Larry Stevens,
Illinois Resident