PROBLEMS WITH POT PILLS

"A Fathers Tale" (Dec. 3 ) demonstrates only one of the known problems with
the "pill form" of marijuana - that people suffering from sever nausea
can't keep a pill down. Others problems include the fact the pill contains
only one of sixty known active cannabinoids, these other cannabinoids have
been shown to be quite effective in clinical trials in Great Britain.

The dosage is extremely difficult to control, even with varying available
doses, most patients complain that they get too "high" with no relief, or
get no relief at all - evidence that natural cannabinoids work in
conjunction to provide relief.

The time the pill takes to provide relief can take up to a hour and a half
in some cases. Smoking cannabis may seem crude by today's standards, but it
is in fact the most effective means of delivering the cannabinoids directly
to the blood stream. Vaporization, another means of inhalation is as
effective as smoking while eliminating the particulate matter (smoke) from
the process.

The ultimate irony of the marijuana pill is that despite the insistence by
the government that "marijuana has no medical use", they also insist that
people who may "benefit from marijuana" take a synthetic cannabis pill instead.

Marijuana should be regulated for medical use, and government should stay
out of the business of patients and their doctors.

Jim White
Vice President, Ohio Patient Network
Oregon, Ohio