SADDENED, NOT SURPRISED

Thank you for your excellent July 8 article, "Easing the pain," on
medical marijuana and El Paso County.

I am deeply saddened by Colorado Springs Congressman Joel Hefley's
vote to allow the federal government to continue arresting seriously
ill medical marijuana patients.

Although saddened, I am not surprised by Rep. Hefley's lack of
compassion. In the time leading up to the Farr-Rohrabacher amendment
- -- which would have stopped the federal government from interfering
with state medical marijuana laws -- Congressman Hefley consistently
refused to meet with El Paso County patients to discuss his position
on the issue. This appears to be a strategic move by the congressman,
who avoided telling seriously ill patients to their faces that he
would rather see them sent to federal prison than use the only
medicine that works for them.

This leads me to wonder: Whom does Hefley truly represent? According
to a Time/CNN poll conducted in October 2002, 80 percent of Americans
support legal access to medical marijuana for the seriously ill. His
vote is a slap in the face to the majority of Colorado voters, who, in
2000, chose to protect medical marijuana patients from the threat of
arrest and prison.

Finally, his vote is dismissive to organizations that have endorsed
medical marijuana, like the 2.6 million-member American Nurses
Association, the 8 million-member United Methodist Church, and the
editorial board of The New England Journal of Medicine.

Brian Vicente

Denver