MEDICAL MARIJUANA BENEFICIAL TREATMENT

Montana, the time has come for our state to do something pro-active in
regards to the availability and opportunity to acquire a safe,
effective prescription medicine. I'm talking about Initiative 148 and
medicinal marijuana.

The opponents to the initiative are scrambling to try and discredit
marijuana as a medicine, but they just can't do it. Opponents contend
that Marinol, a pill that is marketed and is chemically similar to
marijuana, is just as effective as the real thing, but what logic lies
behind treating severe nausea, which can be associated with cancer and
AIDS, with a pill? If these patients cannot keep food down, how are
they expected to digest these pills? Another argument is that I-148
will increase teenage drug use. I wonder if teens started using
Viagra, Zoloft, Prozac or any of the other multitudes of prescription
medications out there just because they became available to qualified
patients.

The fact of the matter is that marijuana can be used as a safe, cheap
and effective medication. For one, it cannot be overdosed on. Second,
it is grown in the patient's own home. It can't get much cheaper or
convenient than that. Imagine not having to pay ridiculously high
pharmaceutical fees. Finally, marijuana has been shown to be effective
in treating and helping people cope with a variety of ailments, from
cancer to glaucoma.

It's time for us to vote for a smart, beneficial initiative Montana.
It's time to vote yes on I-148.

Jared Frickle

Billings