MEDICAL MARIJUANA

To the editor:

I am very disappointed that Rep. Dennis Moore voted against the
Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment to the Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations
bill. I wish he had made an effort to stop the Department of Justice raids,
arrests and prosecutions of medical marijuana patients.

This amendment would have prevented the federal government from targeting
people who use marijuana to treat serious illnesses with their doctors'
recommendations and in accordance with state laws.

By casting this vote, Rep. Moore has aligned himself with a small and
diminishing segment of society. According to a Time/CNN poll taken in October
of last year, 80 percent of the American people "think adults should be able to
use marijuana legally for medical purposes."

The vote also directly contradicts the position of the 2.6 million-member
American Nurses Assn., which recently passed a resolution supporting
"legislation to remove criminal penalties including arrest and imprisonment for
bona fide (medical marijuana) patients."

I wish Rep. Moore had voted to take patients out of the state-federal conflict
over laws regulating marijuana's medical use. Patients should not bear the
burden of this conflict.

I hope Rep. Moore will reconsider his position in the future so that patients
do not have to fear the federal government when they use a state- and
doctor-approved medicine that relieves their suffering and extends their lives.

Randal Geringer,

Lawrence