LEGALIZE MARIJUANA FOR MEDICAL PURPOSES

Thank you, Marc Hansen and state Sen. Joe Bolkcom. Let the discussion about
legal access to medical marijuana begin in earnest here in Iowa.

As a nurse of 32 years, I've had many opportunities to witness the utility
of marijuana for the sick. From chemotherapy to AIDS, smoking pot worked
when Marinol and other prescription meds didn't.

There's a disconnect in Des Moines. Discussion is squelched, and discussers
are labeled. What's to be afraid of? We should fear those so concerned
about appearances or re-election efforts that they refuse to explore
possibilities.

As for the children: I'm mom to four and grandma to four. I'm concerned by
empty assertions, that they will be confused with conflicting messages. The
conflict arises when the facts don't match the rhetoric, when they know
those who benefit from smoking marijuana risk becoming criminalized because
of it.

Early in my HIV/AIDS career, my mother told me I was sending conflicting
messages to our daughters, that they would feel free to have sex because
condoms were always around. Well, Mom, you were wrong.

The girls, now adults, were informed and capable of making informed
decisions. They said I quenched their curiosity. Repeatedly they tell me
what a gift it is to have parents who talked about it all. Many of their
peers wished their parents had done the same.

The Iowa Legislature needs to listen to everyone.

Beth Wehrman, BSN, RN

LeClaire