THE TRUTH ABOUT THC

This letter is in response to last Thursday's article featuring GW
NORML and particularly the comments of our fearless leader, President
Stephen Joel Trachtenberg ("Group pushes for GW to change marijuana
policy," Oct. 27, p. 1).

Trachtenberg, despite having written an article for a journal in 1972
as a proponent of marijuana decriminalization, stated that he changed
his stance on the matter because later studies showed that marijuana
has more harmful effects than he was aware of at the time. More
harmful? That's odd. The studies that I've read about suggest the
exact opposite.

In fact, in 1982, the California Research Advisory Panel found that
marijuana is effective in relieving nausea and vomiting in
chemotherapy patients, and that a safe dosage to minimize undesirable
side effects had been tested. They reported a 78.9 percent
effectiveness rating among chemotherapy patients. Was this study a
fluke? Maybe. But the panel reviewed their data through 1989, and
reported the same results.

Another article published in October 1988, in The New York Journal of
Medicine, reported the same success rate in chemotherapy patients,
and went on to include that no serious negative side effects were present.

There is a wealth of information on the subject available. It's up to
all of us, including you, Mr. Trachtenberg, to start making realistic
decisions about the benefits and risks of marijuana. Sure, it's a
touchy subject. But many people, including myself, have realized that
it must be exposed to protect our civil rights.

- -David Pribulka, sophomore