Look for Legal Alternatives Before Legalizing Marijuana

With all due respect to those who are suffering so much that they
would turn to marijuana to relieve their pain (Gazette, Dec. 20, "Pot
selling goes online"), coverage of the issue of legalizing marijuana
use has failed to address a key question: do other, legal, medical
alternatives exist that would have a similar effect of marijuana?

With the cornucopia of drugs on today's market, it is difficult to
believe that marijuana is the safest, most-effective drug available.

Implementation is yet another Pandora's box. Will hospitals have
"smoking" wards? Will recipients be permitted to operate motor
vehicles? Will they be left unsupervised with their children?

Should uppers be prescribed to those with symptoms of depression
instead of the legal prescription drug Effexor? Should cigarettes be
prescribed to treat anxiety instead of Paxil?

I have an open mind, but it seems that the road to legalizing
marijuana is a dangerous one. Alternative routes within the medical
system must certainly exist.

Kelley Harvey