DEMOCRATS SHOULD SUPPORT MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW

To the editor:

State Sen. Steven Baddour wants his party to restore voter confidence
in our political process ("Column: Democrats must regain voters'
confidence", Jan. 24). If he means it, he will lead efforts to pass
an effective medical marijuana law before spring to replace the
18-year-old "Controlled Substance Therapeutic Research Act,"
considered a cruel joke because it requires the state contract with a
federally approved supplier. No administration, including the current
one, has approved a supply.

Sen. Baddour serves as vice-chair of the Committee on the Judiciary.
That committee refuses to bring S. 1739, a bill that for almost two
decades has languished before it, to a vote. While our legislature
ignores the suffering of patients in Massachusetts, 14 states enacted
a law that gets it to patients without the approval of the federal
government. One-third of all Americans live in a state that permits
medical use. It required a veto in New Hampshire to prevent that
state from adopting such a law. This fall we will see how those who
voted to sustain the veto fare.

Sen. Baddour, lead your party back in touch "with the concerns of the
majority of voters" expressed by over 70 percent of actual voters who
voted yes on public policy questions calling for medical marijuana
reform. Support confirmed this past September in a public opinion
poll conducted by the Political Research Center at Suffolk University
that found 81 percent support for "changing Massachusetts law to
allow terminally or seriously ill patients to use, grow and purchase
marijuana for medical purposes if they have the approval and are
under supervision of their physicians."

It is unconscionable our Democratic-dominated legislature refuses to
accept science, the known support of the people, and patient
testimony that they use it as a substitute for far more dangerous and
expensive prescription drugs. This is health care reform that lowers
prescription drug costs.

Steven S. Epstein

Georgetown