VOTE FOR CANNABIS

I would like to speak to the resolution in November to make cannabis,
or marijuana, the lowest law enforcement priority.

Cannabis has been known for its beneficial use as a medicine by
ancient peoples since 2800 B.C. Nearly five thousand years later, the
State of Hawaii finally realized that they were right and began to
allow the use of this medicine for some conditions on April 25, 2005.

Many people in Hawaii are quite familiar with cannabis and already
understand its many healing benefits. Officially sanctioned or not,
cannabis is one of the safest medicines known to humankind. Unlike
both aspirin and Tylenol, cannabis has never caused a single death.
Unlike legal tobacco products, 30 years of research has shown that
smoking cannabis does not cause lung cancer.

In my capacity as a physician, I have seen first hand the difference
this medicine makes in the lives of many of my patients. Diabetic
patients experience a healthy drop in blood sugar, as well as a
reduction in the effects of neuropathy. Cannabis is quite effective at
alleviating the nausea associated with cancer and migraine headaches,
as well as many other nauseous conditions. A few of my patients have
found their nausea completely controlled by ingesting cannabis in tea
or in baked goods. Most patients report that cannabis helps them
sleep, without the side effects of "traditional" sleep aids.

Medical science has discovered an "endogenous cannabinoid system" in
the nervous systems of human beings. These cannabis receptors are
present at birth and, in humans, are found in the circulatory,
neurological, endocrine, digestive, musculoskeletal systems, and in
the cartilage. In fact, cannabis receptors have been found in every
animal on the planet with the exception of only hydra and mollusks.
What we could infer from this, is that the human body is designed to
interact with the chemicals found in the cannabis plant.

Despite the protests of the American Medical Association, and under
questionable pretense, the federal government outlawed cannabis in
1937. The states quickly followed suit, and our government has spent
an exorbitant amount of our money incarcerating relatively harmless
individuals and destroying one of our safest, cheapest forms of
alternative medicine.

If we vote "for" the lowest law enforcement priority, we will be
taking a major step towards harmony and health on our island.

Yvonne Conner

Hilo