PAWLENTY LET US DOWN WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA STANCE

It's very disappointing that Gov. Tim Pawlenty repeatedly threatened
to veto the medical marijuana bill.

Because he was afraid to do the right thing, hundreds of sick and
dying Minnesota patients must live in fear of arrest and jail for
another year.

Pawlenty and our lawmakers should have listened to President Bush in
the State of the Union address, when the president said, "In all we
do, we must remember that the best health care decisions are made not
by government and insurance companies, but by patients and their doctors."

I can't think of a more important health care decision than deciding
which medical treatment is best for a patient.

It's time that our lawmakers and governor put an end to the cruel,
despicable policy of arresting and incarcerating medical marijuana
patients.

It was inspiring to see a medical marijuana bill finally pass one
chamber and reach the floor of another chamber. This compassionate
legislation deserved quick passage, but unfortunately it languished,
leaving people with cancer and other serious illnesses vulnerable to
arrest and imprisonment. The medical marijuana bills will protect
seriously ill patients from being thrown in jail for using medical
marijuana on their doctors' advice.

Pawlenty should be ashamed of himself for threatening to veto the
compassionate medical marijuana legislation.

He claimed he was doing this because of law enforcement concerns. Why
does the governor side with law enforcement in wanting to keep the
right to lock up cancer and AIDS patients?

I encourage everyone to contact Pawlenty's office and urge him not to
veto the medical marijuana bill next session.

Brad Eilers, Hector