READER'S VIEW: ARGUES FOR LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA

Some days I'd like to believe that President Bush wants to do the right
thing. His recent trip to Africa was encouraging as was his promise to
"leave no child behind."

Of course countless children are being left behind. The increasing teen
violence on our subways is just one example of dumb kids trying to catch up
to a presidential promise. Now, the Ledger's weekend AP article, "Medical
marijuana debate relighted," describes how our president wants the Supreme
Court to "strip licenses from doctors who recommend marijuana to sick
patients." Has he nothing better to do? I question his priorities; this
erodes his slight credibility.

There should be no "debate" about prescribing marijuana for the sick or
the terminally ill. If smoking a weed provides relief at the end of life -
who is our president to deny such a small comfort? In point of fact: There
should be no restrictions placed on the use of this plant that has served
humanity for thousands of years. People got high and happy smoking
marijuana long before our Constitution guaranteed us the right to "life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness." I smoked and inhaled through
most of the 1970s and on into the '80s. I would guess that many of
your readers did. While it probably did us no particular good, we know
that it did us no great harm. The government should stop creating
criminals whose crime is the exercise of
an individual and personal choice. Legalize it.