IT IS TIME FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Not a single lawmaker from the Lehigh Valley had the guts or the
integrity to join him.

John Ray Wilson, 36, of Franklin Township, N.J., has multiple
sclerosis, an incurable disease. He has no medical insurance, so the
only way he could ease some of his agony was with a few marijuana
plants he grew in his yard.

Now he faces the agony of 20 years in prison, and the jury in his
trial, set to begin Dec. 14, will be prevented by a so-called judge
from knowing the truth about his reasons for having those pot plants.

(Marijuana -- less addictive than coffee or alcohol -- is widely
regarded as an effective way to lessen the horrors of MS, glaucoma,
cancer and other ailments.)

I once lived in Kendall Park, N.J., and Franklin Township was just
across Route 27 from my house. That was before Wilson was born, but
the plight of somebody in my old neighborhood struck a nerve.

I'm not the only one. Outrage over the ruling by Somerset County
Judge Robert Reed galvanized the public, and New Jersey is expected
to be the next state to decriminalize possession of small amounts of
marijuana for valid medical purposes.

According to this week's Wall Street Journal, Reed has prohibited
Wilson from explaining to a jury why he used marijuana. The jury will
be left to infer he merely wanted to party or to sell it for profit.
Motive is not relevant in Reed's court.

That appalling lack of common sense and decency helped move
legislation to let people use marijuana when it is recommended by a
physician. The bill, said the WSJ, is expected to pass the state
Assembly soon, and lame duck Gov. Jon Corzine indicated he will sign
it by next month.

That means in a few weeks, residents of the Lehigh Valley region may
be just a bridge away from a place with an enlightened attitude about
helping people who are suffering from terrible illnesses.

According to a story on the front page of The Morning Call on
Thursday, similar legislation "faces long odds in Pennsylvania,"
where the power structure is contaminated by hordes of Judge Reed
types.

A House committee, it was reported, held hearings on a bill to allow
some people to buy marijuana for medical use.

The measure was introduced by state Rep. Mark Cohen, D-Philadelphia,
with six co-sponsors. Not a single lawmaker from the Lehigh Valley
had the guts or the integrity to join him as a co-sponsor.

"More than a dozen states," Thursday's story observed, "have
legalized medical marijuana." Cohen's measure, House Bill 1393,
would establish state "compassion centers" to help ease the pain
and nausea of various diseases, including the torment of
chemotherapy for cancer victims.

"A qualifying patient shall not be subject to arrest, prosecution or
penalty in any manner," it says, "for the medical use of marijuana,
provided that the patient possesses a registry identification card
and no more than six marijuana plants and one ounce of usable
marijuana."

Control freaks immediately opposed HB 1393. "More lives stand to be
ruined [by marijuana]," state Attorney General Tom Corbett was
quoted as saying, oblivious to lives now being ruined by draconian
laws that serve only to enrich drug dealers and the government
officials they bribe.

A main force behind legalization of medical marijuana is the
Marijuana Policy Project, based in Washington. In a drive to support
such legislation in Pennsylvania, MPP cited five articles, including
my Aug. 16 column, in which I recalled how I got stuck in a traffic
jam outside the 1969 Woodstock music festival, where marijuana was
everywhere and was ignored by police.

I contemplated what a disaster that would have been if alcohol (which
triggers obnoxious and pugnacious behavior), instead of marijuana
(which triggers gentle amity), had been the drug of choice there.

I must confess I tried marijuana a couple of years after Woodstock,
but I did not care for it. I'm also not much of a boozer. I prefer to
get high in other ways, such as skiing or riding a motorcycle through
Monument Valley. Obviously, for most of us, marijuana did not lead
to other drugs.

If I ever get MS or need chemotherapy, however, I shall try it again,
legalization or no legalization -- and Reed, Corbett and all the
other control freaks can go to blazes.

Speaking of judicial depravity, Thursday's paper also had an item
about a third judge in Luzerne County being charged with corruption.
Previously, two other judges were charged in a multimillion-dollar
scheme to take bribes for putting innocent juveniles into commercial
jails.

The new charges are not what is most depraved. That county is now
down to seven judges, prompting President Judge Chester Muroski to
say, "Clearly this action deals a severe blow to our already
shorthanded Luzerne County Court."

He's worried about being shorthanded ? How about the severe blow to
thousands of lives ruined by a corrupt judiciary? Where does the
court system come up with people harboring these kinds of
perversities?