Cannabis (marijuana is a Mexican slang term adopted by the government
in the 1930s to associate cannabis with negative stereotypes of
Hispanic immigrants) has a history of thousands of years use as a
medicinal herb, a religious sacrament and, yes, as a recreational
drug. Looked at unemotionally, cannabis has much less physiological
impact than coffee, tobacco or alcohol.

The worst side-effects are arrest and incarceration. Regardless of
one's personal choices on these matters, the fact remains that the
legitimate cannabis users -- cancer patients, AIDS patients, people
with glaucoma, etc. -- want legal access to something that experience
has proven gives them relief.

Who are we to deny them this?

Joe Lev,
Sacramento