I am happy about the stand Rep. Patsy Mink has taken on the importance
of further study of medical cannabis, and am thankful she is on the
drug policy subcommittee. I don't think more research is needed,
because people should be able to put whatever they want into their own
bodies as long as it's not disturbing others.

Mink's subcommittee met recently on "The Pros and Cons of Drug
Legalization, Decriminalization and Harm Reduction." During the
hearing, a New York representative characterized legalization as "a
surrender to despair." In many aspects, the hearing was an effort to
smear proposals for drug policy reform, with the threatening tag of
being "soft on drugs."

Many groups such as the Libertarian Party and Cato Institute have
well-researched, reasoned explanations of how legalization is a better
alternative to criminalization. I wish our elected officials could be
more open-minded when they look at what drug prohibition has done to
our country.

We have lost the war on drugs and legalization is one option we should
be looking at.

Cynthia Verschuur Powell Kaneohe Via the Internet