MARIJUANA FIGHT IS HYPOCRITICAL

Americans should have the right to make the choices they feel are in
their best interest. These "blessings of liberty" should be especially
important when it comes to one's health care.

Legalization of marijuana for recreational use is not the same
argument as allowing its medicinal use under a doctor's
recommendation. These are two distinct matters and should be seen as
such. However, the arguments invariably become intertwined due to the
social stigma associated with the recreational use of marijuana.

One such argument against the use of medical marijuana is that it
sends the wrong message to our children regarding drug use. Marijuana
is the most commonly used illicit drug among teens. This is a
significant societal problem, but not related to or caused by medical
marijuana use.

There are numerous drugs that are harmful when used recreationally,
but beneficial when used under a doctor's supervision. Too many of us
have had to explain to junior why we take Paxil or Xanax, or why he
needs to take his Ritalin. A seriously ill adult who smokes marijuana
to relieve symptoms is not opening a gateway for the nation's youth.

I have witnessed my share of the ravages of cancer in my lifetime. I
remember my father, during his fight with lung cancer, telling my aunt
that he wished he could eat a piece of the pie she baked for him. "I
just can't stomach anything," he said, "and nothing tastes good
anymore anyway."

I've also watched a husband suffer in excruciating agony from stomach
cancer because the pain medication he was legally allowed to take
knocked him out. He said he didn't want to spend his remaining days in
a drug-induced coma. Marijuana could not have cured my loved ones, but
it might have eased their suffering.

Currently I am helping a friend fight breast cancer. She is preparing
for her chemotherapy and we've talked about many things, including
marijuana. We've even discussed medicinal marijuana use with our young
daughters. Our dialogue hasn't planted seeds of experimentation in our
children's heads, it has made them more aware of the risks and
benefits of drugs.

If circumstances become such that my friend can benefit from smoking
pot to ease pain or nausea, I see no sin in the "crime" of growing a
plant for her in my tomato garden.

Maybe that is the real problem. Marijuana is fairly easy to cultivate
and stores well. Government regulation would be cumbersome. There
would be no need to manufacture pills, and the pharmaceutical
companies would be unable to patent the cannabis plant for profit.

I find it hypocritical that the federal government and pharmaceutical
industry seem to have no problem with testing, patenting, and
marketing drugs such as Marinol, a synthetic of THC in capsule form,
to help with nausea in cancer patients. Marinol has not proven as
effective in relieving nausea as smoking marijuana, and nauseated
people have trouble keeping the pills down.

Is this the kind of twisted thinking we want defining our personal
freedoms?

Studies have indicated definitively that marijuana is not only
beneficial in treating the nausea and pain of cancer, but also has
shown benefit to easing the symptoms of patients with AIDS wasting
syndrome, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, glaucoma, chronic
pain and arthritis.

I suppose it is time to craft federal legislation. Let's hope there
are still some people in Congress who truly have our best interests at
heart, not special interests.