POLL SAYS DRUGS ARE THE ANSWER

Nearly two-thirds of the nearly 800 respondents to the third annual
Arkansas Poll conducted by political science professionals at the
University of Arkansas in Fayetteville answered "yes" when asked, "Do you
favor allowing patients to use marijuana for medical purposes if supported
by their medical doctor?"

Much surprise, even disbelief, has been expressed by those supposedly
all-knowing of the conservative Arkansas psyche. In some minds the finding
has made dubious the entire survey.

I am not surprised. I believe. I accept the finding. I trust the poll.

We're a compassionate people. The marijuana issue inherently refers to
relief from terminal cancers or debilitating treatments for possibly
terminal cancers. But even beyond that, the finding makes perfect sense.

First, as with any poll, one must read the question. This phrasing
practically guides the respondent to the affirmative response.

The question had nothing to do with the recreational use of marijuana, of
course. That, no doubt, would remain a spectacularly unpopular proposition
if anyone bothered to poll it.

Favoring marijuana for medicinal purposes, as the question put it, is no
different from favoring morphine for relief from excruciating pain, usually
on the death bed. It doesn't mean anyone endorses opium for everyday use.

Second, if there's anything the people of Arkansas identify with, it's a
"patient," meaning one afflicted with illness and under a doctor's care. We
define ourselves by what ails us.

We in Arkansas lead or nearly lead all national surveys in our
unhealthiness. We eat ill-advisedly. We dine on three squares of bad
cholesterol daily. We don't take walks because we might miss Jerry
Springer, the soaps or the WWF. We lack the infrastructure for prevention.
It's not that our rural areas don't have many doctors. It's that they don't
even have sidewalks, much less bike paths, hiking trails or public health
and fitness facilities.

We compose one of the nation's older populations, and our senior culture is
one that takes literally the question, "How ya doin?"

Until the age of 45, give or take, the question is a standard greeting,
eliciting the automatic and unthinking response: "Fine. How're you?" In
time it becomes an opportunity for reciting one's personal inventory. Don't
ask unless you want to know: Oh, my sinuses are acting up, and I'm down in
my back, and my feet hurt, and I can't sleep, and my nerves are shot and
I'm still having those dizzy spells.

Third, note the question's essential phrase: "supported by their medical
doctor."

Amid our unending assertions of chronic physical suffering, the one person
we trust more than any other is not our preacher, for he might merely help
save our long-term souls. It's our doctor, for he might give us something
to stop the immediate hurtin'.

If our doctors told us to jump off the bridge to stop the pain, the splash
would drain the Arkansas River.

Our doctor is the one person we trust. And here's the one thing we trust:
It's whatever pills the doctor authorizes the guy to sell us at Wal-Mart.

Down in our lower backs? It might be that we're overweight and that our
couch-potato posture moves all our muscles over against nerves. Popping a
prescribed steroid is easier than a strict diet and daily stretches and
exercise.

Our state motto ought to be "In the antibiotic we trust." Tom Brokaw would
probably understand. We treat our bodies not as temples, but as
battlegrounds between germs and anti-germs.

The only thing that surprises me is that only 63 percent of the respondents
said yes to legalizing medicinal marijuana on a doctor's orders. What's
wrong with the other 37 percent? Does it not understand that drugs are the
answer?