CANNABIS CAMPAIGN LETTERS

IN 1883, Benjamin Ward Richardson, a distinguished doctor, denounced the
evils of a drug. He said it caused an "extremely nervous, semihysterical
condition". He was talking about tea. In 1936, the American Journal of
Nursing claimed that a marijuana taker "will suddenly turn with murderous
violence upon whomever is nearest to him". It seems clear that the author
had finished a heavy teadrinking session just before writing this. It is
time to discard the old images and outdated propaganda.
John BonhamCarter, Manager, Biotech company, London

I AM a diabetic with damaged kidneys, which puts pressure on my heart, and
causes high blood pressure. One of the drugs I am prescribed damages the
kidneys when taken over a long period. Either I take the tablets knowing
that my kidneys will fail, or stop taking the tablets and have a stroke .
Cannabis could lower my blood pressure without putting my kidneys at risk.
Should I have to make such a choice when there is an alternative?
Eva M TrippWhiting

THE policy of attacking soft targets is one which the West Mercia
Constabulary employs constantly. A man with known social problems was
observed by police going into the gents' toilets in Malvern. They waited,
on their own admission for "two or three minutes", and then went in and
found him smoking cannabis. He was fined [pounds]163;160 for possessing
the drug. Never do we see or hear of heroin, coke, or crack being
discovered always vulnerable people who are recreational users of cannabis.
Terry Warneford, Worcestershire

FOR THE past three years under catchy codenames such as "Operation Rumble"
the lives of lawabiding people in my area have been wrecked by the
attitudes of the drug squad. People are stripsearched on the flimsiest of
pretexts and houses ransacked. As a result, it is now easier to score
heroin than it is to get cannabis.
H Gibbons, Address supplied

I AND dozens of others with serious illnesses I have MS have been
campaigning to make cannabis available on prescription. Patients use
cannabis as it is the safest and most effective way of controlling these
diseases. We will continue to use the medicine that helps us, even if we
are breaking the law.
Clare Hodges, Director, Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics