DRUG FIRMS TRY TO CASH IN ON POT

THE article headlined ``Pot proponents gain a victory'' (Page 1A,
March 18) was a wonderful piece of news, but we still have a long way
to go.

My big concern is the pharmaceutical companies and others who insist
that the only way marijuana can become a viable medicine is for some
huge company to make it into something that they can sell back to the
public for a profit. Marijuana is, and should remain, a free medicine.
Anyone can grow it and use it to help with aches and pains.

The multimillion-dollar industry in legal drugs cannot stand the
thought that it's not going to be able to make lots of money on this.
It is behind this idea to ``make marijuana safe'' by taking control
away from the patient.

We can't let this happen. So many people who use this drug cannot
afford the prices that they will have to pay to manufacturers. Someone
worried about smoking the weed can put it in brownies, muffins,
spaghetti and even drink it in a base of soy milk. It isn't right to
take a perfectly good, free medicine and make people pay for it.

Jean Hanamoto
San Martin