THE RIGHT TO BE FREE OF PAIN

Thank you for giving so much press and engaging in debate about the recent
events surrounding medical marijuana. As a caretaker and someone who has
watched people living and dying with cancer and AIDS, I felt I should add
my own opinions.

People who are dying or going through painful procedures are given a slew
of drugs to help deal with pain and suffering. Opium and its derivatives
are among the choice painkillers given in cases of extreme pain.

Santa Cruz resident and City Council candidate Phil Baer held up a sign at
the rally "decrying the connection he sees between marijuana use and heroin
problems in the Beach Flats." I have news for this candidate: heroin, in
its processed and controlled form of morphine, is already legal. Maybe his
time would be better spent picketing the thousands of hospitals, nursing
homes and hospice sights where morphine is used on a minute-to-minute basis
as pain control. Is this adding to the Beach Flats' heroin problem? I think
not, and these people who are suffering and using marijuana as a treatment
for diseases are not either.

Another argument I heard was that medical marijuana is a bad example for
kids. As the Sentinel already brought up Martin Luther King, I don't have
to go far for an example of people who broke the law to follow their
beliefs and increase their freedom. Few could argue that Martin Luther King
never broke the law, and yet he never broke the fundamental law of this
country that all people should be treated with dignity and respect. The
right to be free of pain and to work with a doctor to alleviate suffering
is a fundamental right. If we have to fight to uphold it, our children
should watch and be proud.

Jennifer Sparks

Santa Cruz