Contrary to Dr. Satel's argument, California's Prop 215 is hardly
a stalking horse for legalization. Unless you have a doctor's
recommendation for a serious illness, marijuana remains very much
illegal in California. Only about 13,000 of Califor-nia's
five-million-plus marijuana users are currently qualified as
medical patients under Prop. 215. Arrests and convictions for
marijuana have continued unabated since Prop. 215.

Before impugning the motives of those of us who organized Prop.
215, Dr. Satel should step down from her, ivory tower behind the
Beltway and consider the victims. Consider, Will Foster, 38, torn
from his wife and children to serve 93 years in prison for
growing his pot to treat his crippling rheumatoid arthritis.

Those of us who proposed Prop. 215 did so for one overriding
reason: seriously ill patients who needed marijuana for medicine
were being arrested, criminalized, and denied treatment. If, as
Ms. Satel admits, there is good reason to believe that marijuana
has medical value, what is the "scientifically sound" basis for
punishing them while they await the tardy approval of risk averse
FDA bureaucrats?

Dale H. Gieringer
Co-Director
Friends of 215 State Coordinator
California NORML
San Francisco