ANTIQUATED 'REEFER MADNESS'

The common sense expressed in the editorial "Still a wisp of hope"
(June 8) is a real breath of fresh air. It's a refreshing 21st-
century contrast to the unrelenting stance of President Bush's Office
of National Drug Control Policy.

By leaving marijuana in Schedule 1 (illegal to prescribe or possess
for any reason), the ONDCP and federal drug czar John Walters define
all patients who use it as criminals. Further, Walters and the federal
Drug Enforcement Administration believe patients who use marijuana
with a doctor's recommendation in the 11 states with such legal access
should be subject to arrest, prosecution and time in federal prison.

Please contact your state lawmakers and ask that they abandon support
for ONDCP's 1930s thinking. Tell them to join with New York, Rhode
Island and Connecticut, where serious progress is being made to
legalize medical marijuana, thus adding to the 11 states that have
already rejected the antiquated reefer madness of the federal drug
czar.

STEPHEN HEATH

Clearwater, Fla.

The writer is public relations director of the Drug Policy Forum of
Florida.