MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Two self-evident truths stood out in Darcy Jensen's con essay against
legalizing medical marijuana in the April 19 Argus Leader. Yes,
synthetic medical marijuana exists under the trade name Marinol, and
it's true that relatively few Americans are imprisoned solely for pot
possession.

But each of the more than 800,000 annual marijuana arrests nationwide
are made on the grounds that cannabis and cannabinoids lawfully are
listed in Schedule I, having "no currently accepted medical use in
treatment in the United States and a lack of accepted safety for use
under medical supervision."

Here's the truth for those who can handle it:

a.. Marinol is a synthetic chemical that works like THC, a
psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. It is administered at 100
percent strength, two to five times more powerful than the strongest
available strains on the black market. Generically named Dronabinol,
warning labels specifically permit driving and using machinery when
users know how the medicine affects them.

a.. On Oct. 7, 2003, the United States Patent and Trademark Office
awarded patent #6630507* to the Department of Health and Human
Services, acknowledging an accepted medical use in treatment for
cannabinoids and detailing a variety of accepted uses under medical
supervision.

Con, indeed. If our leaders refuse to admit they understand the word
"legalization," it's high time they learn the definitions of
"restitution" and "unemployment."

Jose J. Melendez . DeLand, Fla