MEDICAL POT NEEDS VARY

Re: "Group pot gardens" (May 23): After reading this fair and well-written
article about medical cannabis/marijuana, I have a question and a comment.

The question is: Please tell the rest of us patients what on Earth kind of
fertilizer that the gentlemen arrested at Five Mile House were using?
Sheriff Sgt. Steve Mason said "some of the plants in Five Mile House yielded
a half- to three-quarters of a pound of drug after agents dried them -
compared to a pound or more that an outdoor plant can produce." Just exactly
what part of each plant did they dry? Are they aware that only the top-most
buds are used by patients for medicine - never leaves and stems?

Mr. Webb is doing very well producing three to four ounces per plant
indoors, and here the sheriff is saying that Five Mile House plants are two
to three times greater yield than that? Amazing!

Also, while guidelines are important for both patients/caregivers and law
enforcement, everyone should realize that officers/agents are not doctors
and that there are many patients that require a great deal more cannabis
than the average patient to find relief. Some patients consume their
medicine through cooking methods, which takes considerably more than they
might use if they smoked it. Many combine these two methods of medicating.

Just as your doctor's prescription might say: Take two a day or as needed
for pain. "As needed" must also apply in medical cannabis patients and their
individual needs.

Laura Carden

Concord