MEDICAL POT DEFENDED (1 OF 3)

Editor -- Joseph Perkins' chortling column about the defeat of marijuana
reform around the country is a hard one for reformers to take ("Voters see
pot reform for what it is," Nov. 11). He accuses us of being well-funded
while we sweep against the tide of a $20 billion-plus federal budget and
the clout it brings in.

More important, he fails to explain why access to marijuana without risk of
criminal persecution for those who need it, medically or recreationally, is
an evil thing. He can't do that without mounting a pulpit.

GERALD M. SUTLIFF

Oakland