LEGALIZATION A HEALTH ISSUE

To the editor:

Growing marijuana isn't always about money.

Far more people than the police and the government would like to admit use
marijuana for medical reasons.

Is our government really as "willing to help" as it claims?

It is going to "conduct more studies."

More studies?

Who is the government trying to kid? If we start with the seven- volume
British India Hemp Commission Report, 1893-94, marijuana is the most
thoroughly investigated drug of the last hundred-plus years. All of them -
our own prestigious LeDain Commission report, 1972, not least among them -
agree marijuana use should be decriminalized.

What happens to those who are going through chemotherapy now? Can we, in
good conscience, ask them to wait? Of course not! The verdicts already
handed down by Justices Kennedy and McCart reflect the unconstitutionality
of such a notion.

The government can put off making a decision.

This is a luxury denied the terminally ill. We do not have time on our
side. Desperate situations occasionally call for desperate choices. Many
are on disability, unable to work. Growing a crop might be a costly
proposition. So is getting caught.

Maybe one day our government and citizens will realize we are not criminals.

Ours is a health issue.

It should be treated as such.

Lynn Harichy
London, Ont.