RX MARIJUANA SHOULD BE UP TO PATIENT, M.D.

Regarding Leo Greene's thoughtful June 18 column ("Leo's Story,
Looking for relief, more time"):

While there have been studies showing that marijuana can shrink
cancerous tumors, medical marijuana is essentially a palliative
(pain-lessening) drug.

If a doctor recommends marijuana to an ALS patient and it helps the
patient feel better, then it's working.

In the end, medical marijuana is a quality-of-life issue best left to
patients and their doctors.

Federal bureaucrats waging war on noncorporate drugs contend that
organic marijuana is not an effective health intervention. The federal
government's prescribed intervention for medical-marijuana patients is
handcuffs, jail cells and criminal records.

This heavy-handed approach suggests that drug warriors are not
well-suited to dictate health-care decisions.

It's long past time that Congress showed some leadership on the issue
and passed legislation reaffirming the Constitution's 10th Amendment
guarantee of states' rights. States that prefer to cage sick patients
for daring to feel better can continue to do so.

The more enlightened states that have passed compassionate-use
legislation should not be stymied by a federal government that really
should have better things to do.

ROBERT SHARPE, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C.