MEDICAL-POT COLUMN CLOSE-MINDED

Edward Gogek has reached a conclusion based on his surmise from
favorable data ("Medical pot just a smokescreen," My Turn, Friday). He
is wrong all round. He went out to support his belief that marijuana
is not medicine. There may be recreational users in the state's
medical-marijuana program. However, there are certainly patients with
qualifying illnesses and injuries. As a non-medicating patient myself,
I know them. First, please remember these are human beings who are
finding relief from sometimes catastrophic illness and/or injury.
Gogek replays the ancient shibboleth that men and women are to be
considered and treated differently. Having made up his mind, he does
not even bother to look for or at other information and data. And it
is out there. Medical marijuana is legal and working for patients in
Arizona, across the U.S. and around the world, and has been for
centuries. Gogek is wrong.

Durrie Parks

Mesa