DON'T FALL FOR THAT PLOY

Editor, Naples Daily News:

What nonsense are two recent letters that seek to diffuse concerns
about marijuana by citing the greater evils of cocaine and
methamphetamine. Such letters are just another ploy in the efforts of
pro-pot forces to legalize marijuana along with such state initiatives
as so-called "medical marijuana."

There are over 10,000 scientific studies on marijuana, none of which
have shown the drug to be either safe or effective for any medical
condition; in fact no other illegal drug causes such a broad range of
cellular damage as does marijuana.

The American Medical Association and the American Cancer Society have
gone on record stating that marijuana has not been scientifically
shown to be safe or effective as medicine. The U.S.

Supreme Court examined this issue in 2001 and unanimously ruled,
"There is no medical defense for smoked marijuana." The National
Institutes of Health states, "People with HIV and other diseases of
the immune system should avoid marijuana." U.S. Surgeon General
Richard Carmone recently reported that more than half of all teenagers
in drug treatment programs are there because of marijuana.

While this newspaper would agree that everyone is entitled to his own
opinion, one hopes we all understand that not everyone is entitled to
his own set of "facts."

Finally, public opinion polls consistently have shown a large majority
of the American people do not favor the legalization of marijuana.
These guys can put that in their pipe and smoke it!

PAT BARTON

Naples