MARIJUANA STUDIED, USED FOR MILLENNIA

Re: Trapped between sickness and the law, News, Dec. 2, 2009.

Thank you for your article on Kevin Wilde. It highlighted one of the
many problems with our government's failed medical marijuana regime.
That said, I write because reading your article could leave your
readers with the impression that cannabis for medical purposes is a
scientific unknown. It is not.

Cannabis is one of the most studied plants in human history. It has
been used as a pain reliever, anti-inflammatory and anti-nauseant
since the dawn of recorded history.

It was the primary treatment for more than 50 chronic conditions in
the U.S. Pharmacopeia until 1937, when it was made illegal. A search
for cannabis or cannabinoids (the primary therapeutic agents in
cannabis) in PubMed, an online database of peer-reviewed research,
results in more than 20,000 articles.

That is why all experts, including those put on the stand by the
federal government in medical marijuana cases, agree that cannabis is
safer than most prescription drugs and as safe or safer than many
over-the-counter drugs.

The science is in. Cannabis is a beneficial and safe natural health
product that has been bringing relief to humans for millennia. It is
unconscionable that people such as Mr. Wilde face eviction and
possible criminal prosecution for using it.

Kirk Tousaw Executive director Beyond Prohibition Foundation Vancouver