MARIJUANA MORE MORAL

In regard to the June 30 editorial titled ``Killer doctors,'' it was
reported Nashville heart surgeon George Burrus has a tobacco allotment that
makes him a measly $4,000 a year. (How much does he make for one open-heart
surgery?) He justifies it by saying, ``I don't feel like, say, the guy
that's raising dope.''

I assume Burrus meant marijuana when he said ``dope.'' And he would be
right. First, marijuana use is probably much less harmful than tobacco if
for no other reason than people usually don't smoke it frequently, like all
day long, as do tobacco smokers who go through 10-40 cigarettes per day.

Second, at least marijuana smokers get an altered perception. And there is
absolutely nothing wrong with that. That is why so many people drink
alcohol.

Third, a ``dope'' raiser would be making at the very least ten times the
money Burrus makes on whatever size his piddling tobacco allotment is, but
only because marijuana is presently illegal. Once it is non-criminal (again)
to grow, sell and use, the price would drop substantially.

Health-wise, and from the perspective of the Hippocratic Oath, Burrus, et
al., would be much more moral if he grew marijuana. It would fit with his
admitted greediness, too.

David A. Nichols

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"