DOCS OFFER BLUNT REBUTTAL

To call smoking marijuana a form of "medical treatment" (editorial, Oct.
17) ignores the testimony of the scientists and doctors who have found
smoking marijuana is not only as ineffective in alleviating pain as a
bottle of Jack Daniels, but a danger to the public health.

While it is true some chemicals in the marijuana plant such as THC offer do
offer some potential for medical use, smoking the raw plant, which is what
advocates want medically approved, is a method of delivery supported
neither by law or scientific evidence.

The American Medical Association, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
and the American Glaucoma Society have rejected the use of smoked marijuana
as medicine.

Daniel John Sobieski,

Garfield Ridge