AMA RIGHT TO TALK UP MEDICINAL MARIJUANA

The American Medical Association says that doctors should be allowed to
talk with their patients about the potential benefits of using marijuana
for medicinal purposes without the risk of facing criminal charges.

I hardly support the AMA's position and I wish that our elected
representatives were as willing as the AMA to talk about marijuana. To
date, my numerous attempts to engage in a rational discussion of the
marijuana issue with my congressman and my assemblyman have been an
exercise in futility.

Neither of these men can cite one credible scientific study that proves
marijuana is dangerous, and they can't produce any data to justify jailing
people for marijuana use. So they simply refuse to discuss the issue. They,
like most of their fellow politicians, face the facts with fear the fear
that the simple act of talking about legalizing marijuana will end their
political careers.

Our government has created a fascistlike hysteria about marijuana.
According to FBI statistics, an individual is arrested for possession of
marijuana every 49 seconds. It's safer for politically correct politicians
to accept the persecution of pot smokers than it is to discuss the merits
of marijuana prohibition. What kind of message does this send our children?

WALTER F. WOUK
Howes Cave

(The writer is Schoharie chapter president of the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws.)