THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION

Re: Reefer sadness, letter, June 8.

Letter writer Calvina Fay's attempts to discredit Robyn Blumner's
succinct commentary of June 1 ignore the fundamental question raised
by Blumner. That is, should government officials be allowed to use tax
dollars for either promoting or discouraging individual political
candidates and/or ballot initiatives? The answer, constitutionally, of
course is no. This is why four days after Blumner's column ran, the
House Government Reform Committee agreed in a simple voice vote to
drop the language allowing such nefarious actions by federal drug czar
John Walters.

Antimarijuana zealots continue to distort the discussion of allowing
legal access to medical marijuana by citing their beliefs about
marijuana's danger to children. This ignores the reality that affected
patients are not children, but adults - most with serious illnesses
like cancer, AIDS-wasting, multiple sclerosis and ALS.

The only pertinent question related to allowing legal access to
medical marijuana is this: Should medical patients who elect to use
marijuana with their doctor's recommendation be subject to arrest,
criminal prosecution and being caged behind steel bars like an animal?
It's clear that Ms. Fay, George W. Bush and U.S. Attorney General John
Ashcroft believe the answer to this question is yes.

Fortunately, almost 80 percent of Americans believe this response to
be heartless and draconian, which is why the laws have been changed in
nine different states to legalize medical pot. Additionally, the
Republican governor of Maryland just signed a bill reducing the
penalty for medical marijuana possession to a $100 fine.

Canada last year not only agreed to legalize medical use, but also is
well on the way to distributing government grown marijuana to
qualified patients. Federal officials who see these rational changes
to reefer-madness hysteria are willing to do anything, regardless of
whether it is constitutional, to stop this inevitable tide of legal
change here in America.

STEPHEN HEATH

public relations director, Drug Policy Forum of
Florida, Clearwater