MEDICAL MARIJUANA BAN A TRAGEDY

Dear Editor,

Bravo to Irv Rosenfeld for his continuing efforts to help other
seriously ill patients get what he has had for 22 years: the right to
use medical marijuana to relieve pain and suffering without fear of
arrest. ( "Medical marijuana user promotes 'exemption' bill," Apr. 30 ).

Eight years ago, an editorial in the prestigious New England Journal
of Medicine called the federal ban on medical use of marijuana,
"misguided, heavy-handed and inhumane ... based more on reflexive
ideology and political correctness than on compassion." Since then,
much more scientific evidence of marijuana's safety and efficacy has
been published, but our government remains stuck in 1937.

Someday, the existence of laws against medical use of marijuana will
seem bizarre, even funny. But today, for millions of Americans
battling cancer, MS, AIDS and other terrible illnesses, it's still a tragedy.

Bruce Mirken

Director of Communications

Marijuana Policy Project