LETTER OF THE WEEK

O'REILLY RIGHT ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

By Mary Jane Borden

Bill O'Reilly is right. If you remove the digs on George Soros, fear
mongering, and disinformation veiled as fact, his Op-Ed, High on
Compassion, hits the mark on these important points:

. Cannabis is medicine that should be available to patients. If
marijuana can help those suffering with debilitating diseases, then
doctors should have the power to prescribe it and licensed pharmacies
should carry it.

. Cannabis distribution to patients should be regulated. Incredibly,
there is no age requirement to secure medical marijuana in California.

. Non-medical use by children should be discouraged. There is
nothing compassionate about kids being intoxicated.

. The War on Drugs is wrong. Society needs to rethink its strategy on
intoxicants in general.

Unlike California, Ohio has the opportunity to roll out medicinal
cannabis the right way. State legislators are now considering such
legislation for Ohio. All of O'Reilly's points should be taken into
consideration - availability for patients, state regulation of
distribution, and the discouraging use by children. As he wisely
points out, we do indeed need to rethink our antiquated drug war
strategies toward this medicine.

One correction is in order, however. According to the DASIS Report of
the U.S. Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration, 58 percent of admissions to treatment
for marijuana come from the criminal justice system; in other words,
from the over 700,000 arrests for cannabis each year.

Let's listen closely to the spirit of what Mr. O'Reilly says about
compassion, not his vitriol, fear mongering, or disinformation.

Mary Jane Borden

President, Ohio Patient Network

http://www.ohiopatient.net

Westerville

Pubdate - Wed, 28 Mar 2007

Source - Times Recorder (Zanesville, OH)

Referenced - http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n000/a051.html