REGULATE SUPPLY OF MEDICINAL POT

Your Oct. 28 article correctly describes Dan Harmon and his big
business cronies attacking the popular and successful medical
marijuana law. But the article missed a lot. Over 22,000 patients have
been qualified for the medical marijuana program by over 3,000
different doctors. The program is growing because patients and their
physicians are finding that marijuana is a better alternative than
many pharmaceutical medicines. For some patients, marijuana relieves
pain and suffering with fewer side effects.

Most patients in the marijuana program are too ill to work. Those who
are able to work should be subject to the same laws and rules that
patients using other potentially impairing medicines are. But that's
not what Harmon is after. He wants the law changed so businesses can
fire patients just for being in the program. The law already allows
employers to fire workers if they use marijuana at work or cause problems.

Legislators and businesses should reject Harmon's agenda. It's unfair.
It's not based on facts. Harmon and the anti-patient, anti-worker
forces he represents can't point to any actual problems caused by an
employee using medical marijuana.

Harmon is on a self-described war on "permissiveness" and won't let
details or the truth stop him. That's why Harmon excluded the patients
from his forum. Your article missed describing how they manhandled a
disabled amputee who was merely trying to get her prepaid admission
fee refunded. The legislators and the chamber of commerce ought to be
ashamed for participating in this outrage.

Instead of changing the law to discriminate against patients,
legislators should create a regulated supply system. The current law
requires patients to grow their own. That's hard for patients. A
regulated supply system would fix the problems with the medical
marijuana law.

John Sajo

Dillard