Patients persecuted

To the editor:

I noted that Peter March's Aug. 11 column on the medicinal uses of
marijuana arrived to us on the same day that British Columbia's
Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh called for still more mandatory minimum
sentences for convicted drug traffickers, including, presumably,
traffickers in the evil weed. Is this what Mr. Dosanjh has in mind for
AIDS patients like Wilson Hodder?

Kelly T. Conlon
Hamilton, Ont.
Via the Internet

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Cannabis cuts drug use
To the editor:
I read Peter March's column with interest because, like Wilson Hodder,
I use cannabis for medicinal purposes. I am quite frustrated by the
fact that my doctor is unable to prescribe this drug for me, as is
she. I am prescribed Tylenol 3s, as codeine is the lowest level
analgesic I can be given, due to interactions most painkillers have
with a drug I must take for the rest of my life.
After eight years, Tylenol is losing effect as a painkiller on me, and
having increasingly powerful sideeffects. The next lowest painkiller
that I can be safely given is demerol, which is too potent to allow
for daytoday functioning. I am also using prescription muscle
relaxants
This has been going on for years now, and for the past year I have
been forced to use cannabis more and more, despite the cost of the
drug, and more importantly, the risk of being sold cannabis laced with
another drug. If I were able to get it through prescription, I
wouldn't have to worry about the problem, which, given my health, is
not a small risk or fear.
It should be noted that cannabis supplements and replaces both the
painkiller and muscle relaxants. When I have steady access, my usage
of the prescription drugs drops by about 80 per cent.
I feel pushed into a corner by the system in regards to a drug that is
less harmful to me than the ones prescribed by my doctor, which she
has also noted. I will be forced to use certain medications for the
rest of my life, so I want to take the most costeffective in terms
of the damages and gains for my body medications available. I can
easily get a prescription for Valium, codeine, demerol, and the like,
but not cannabis. And cannabis is less destructive, addictive, and
disruptive than the drugs I just mentioned.
Think about it. And also think about the savings effective treatment
means to the healthcare system.
David Charles Macdonald
Beaver Bank, N.S.
Via the Internet

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What will police do?
To the editor:
I was pleased to see the folly and hypocrisy of Canada's drug laws so
thoroughly underscored in Peter March's column.
Wilson Hodder's stand on medical marijuana is courageous and
inspirational the only question is, what will the Halifax police do?
It is not for them to judge when to apply the law. So, now that they
know that the chair of the Aids Coalition is publicly flouting the
law, will they arrest him for carrying marijuana around, or will they
be forced to selectively enforce the law to avoid being in the
ridiculous situation of using police resources to harass medical
patients for possessing the medicine that doctors all over the world
are telling them to take?
Any law that must be so selectively enforced is a travesty. I hope
Chris Clay wins his constitutional challenge of these laws, so that
the millions of dollars that police spend investigating an herb can
instead be applied to real crimes. Fully two thirds of Canadians think
it's about time lawmakers end the senseless, wasteful prohibition of
cannabis.
Chris Donald
Halifax
Via the internet