GROUPS ENDORSE MARIJUANA FOR MEDICAL USES

I'm responding to an As I See It by William T. Breault of Worcester,
"Marijuana should not be reclassified" (Telegram & Gazette, Nov. 23), who
incorrectly gives the reader the impression that neither physicians nor
American health organizations that treat patients for AIDS and other
diseases support the use of medical marijuana. Nine states (Alaska,
California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and
Washington) have laws protecting medical marijuana patients and caregivers
by removing state-level criminal penalties on use, possession and
cultivation of marijuana by patients whose physician documents they may
benefit from its medical use. Seven of these states have established
confidential state-run patient registries that issue identification cards
to qualifying patients.

More than 50 American health organizations support medical marijuana.

This list includes the American Nurses Association, 11 state nurses
associations, American Medical Student Association, National Academy of
Sciences Institute of Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine, American
Public Health Association, Lymphoma Foundation of America, The Montel
Williams MS Foundation and AIDS Action Council. The American Cancer Society
and American Medical Association support medical marijuana research.

The American public also supports medical marijuana. In a Time Magazine/CNN
Poll in October 2002, 80 percent of respondents supported allowing adults
to legally use marijuana for medical purposes. This past election, five
Massachusetts initiatives instructed the state representative from the
district to vote for medical marijuana legislation. All five won with the
lowest margin of victory 69 percent to 31 percent.

Fortunately, most Americans see the issue of effective medical marijuana as
compassionate.

Francis A. Zeccon, Jr.