Disputes Over Legalization of Medical-Marijuana Dispensaries

UNLEASHING POTENTIAL DANGERS

Eighty percent of people who smoke marijuana to relieve their symptoms
of illness smoked it before they came down with their ailment to begin
with. For every supposed indication of marijuana use, there is another
drug that has actually been shown to work better ["Sign medical-pot
bill," Opinion, April 19].

If it really had medicinal benefits, why don't the active ingredients
when taken as a pill seem to work?

If marijuana becomes a legal substance, the human toll (especially on
the young) will be huge. Alcohol-abuse cases already fill the
emergency room at Harborview Medical Center. It is the cause behind
some domestic-violence cases and has destroyed the lives of countless
young people.

Why unleash another mind-altering drug into our society? Those with
mental illness will be at the greatest risk and their chances for
recovery will be greatly diminished.

Some of us have no idea how to get pot even if we wanted to take some.
Medical marijuana is just a ploy to legalize a dangerous, gateway drug.

Mark Burns, Seattle