MEDICAL MARIJUANA WORKS

Regarding your Oct. 30 editorial: While there have been studies
showing that marijuana can shrink cancerous tumors, medical marijuana
is essentially a palliative drug.

If a doctor recommends marijuana to cancer patients undergoing
chemotherapy and it helps them feel better, then it's working.

In the end, medical marijuana is a quality-of-life issue best left to
patients and their doctors. Drug warriors waging war on noncorporate
drugs contend that organic marijuana is not an effective health
intervention.

Their prescribed intervention for medical marijuana patients is
handcuffs, jail cells and criminal records.

This heavy-handed approach suggests that drug warriors should not be
dictating health care decisions.

It's long past time to let doctors decide what is right for patients;
sick patients should not be jailed for daring to seek relief with
medical marijuana.

Robert Sharpe, policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy,
Arlington, Va.