MEDICINAL POT

BENSENVILLE -- Clarence Page was certainly right on the mark in his
Sept. 15 column about the medical use of marijuana. Morphine should
not be used as a recreational drug, nor should it be abused in any
other way, but I was very grateful that it could be medically
administered to me in the hospital when I was in considerable pain
following surgery. Certainly cocaine and its derivatives should not be
uncontrolled and used carelessly, but I was very happy that my dentist
could administer procaine to me before drilling into my tooth.

I do not understand why marijuana cannot be medically prescribed to
treat pain or other unfortunate conditions where it has been shown to
be helpful in the relief of suffering or discomfort. Other drugs are
so used under proper medical control. Of course some marijuana might
escape control or supervision, just as cocaine, morphine, other
opiates, barbiturates, etc., sometimes fall into the wrong hands.

I don't believe that we should put marijuana into the public domain
for free use by anyone. But marijuana could and should be legalized
for use under medical supervision to bring relief to those whose
sufferings cannot be alleviated by other means.

Walter Trost