MARIJUANA HAS MANY HELPFUL PROPERTIES

Dear Editor,

In the next session of the Alabama legislature, the legal use of
medical marijuana will once again come before the house and senate for
their consideration.

The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act (MPCCA) would make it
legal, with a doctor's recommendation, to possess and consume
marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The time has passed for us to deny patients the medicine that they
need simply because marijuana has been demonized through U.S.
government propaganda. Study after study has shown that marijuana is
not the evil substance that we have been led to believe, and study
after study has shown that marijuana has more medical uses than nearly
any other substance on earth.

As a medication, marijuana is gentler than many other medicines, but
because it is an herb, many people can take marijuana when they cannot
take chemical pharmaceuticals. There is no other medicine that can
come close to creating appetite in those with cancer, HIV/AIDS and
stomach disease, the way that marijuana can.

Marijuana can be taken as an effective form of pain management. Unlike
the chemical medicines, with marijuana there is no fear of death due
to overdose, or any of the other life threatening side effects
attributed to narcotic pain relievers such as Oxycontin, Percocet or
Lortab.

Marijuana has been shown to reduce the number and severity of seizures
among those suffering from Epilepsy. Marijuana has been shown to
relieve the muscle rigidity and muscle tremors associated with
Parkinson's disease and these are just some of the many uses of
medical marijuana.

As Americans, we are guaranteed certain rights, and among those rights
is liberty. Should our right to liberty not include the liberty to
choose the medicine that is most effective in treating our illness?
Should our right to liberty not include the right to choose the
medicine that is in most cases is safer than their pharmaceutical
counterparts are?

The truth is that the war on marijuana is almost over; the stigma is
gone. The lies about it have been largely disproven, and there has
been so much research done on cannabis that the anti-pot establishment
is finding it hard to pass off new lies about it. For that reason, the
legalization of marijuana will happen sometime in the future.

The question is; should we deny medical marijuana to the patients that
need it now, when we know it is eventually going to be legal for all?

Ron Crumpton

Pelham