Pubdate: Thu, 05 Apr 2001 Source: South Florida Sun Sentinel (FL) Copyright: 2001 Sun-Sentinel Co & South Florida Interactive, Inc Contact: http://southflorida.sun-sentinel.com/services/letters_editor.htm Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1326 Author: William Bramberg EDITORIAL OVERLOOKED LETHAL TOBACCO, ALCOHOL The March 28 editorial attacking the use of medical marijuana stressed its use as based "on anecdotal testimony of sick people." It is evident this editorial was written by an individual who is a healthy, pain-free person who needs only to reflect the Sun-Sentinel/Chicago Tribune conservative bias. In the same issue, an article pointed to the deaths of tobacco-smoking women, who now die in greater numbers than women with breast cancer. You also state little change has been found in the past 10 years in the number of women who continue to smoke, but you do mention the increase in teenage smoking. Where is your rage against the tobacco industry? Where is your response to eliminating the tobacco industry by making the production of tobacco products illegal? After all, they are the cause of deaths of more men and women than any other medical problem. You state the industry spent more than $8 billion in 1999 on tobacco advertising and their ads are cunning, enterprising and overpowering to those addicted to smoking. Where is your wrath against the tobacco industry? How can you equate medical marijuana as you did to heroin and cocaine and only mention the withdrawal problems of medical marijuana? I humbly suggest you direct your editorials to the No. 1 killer, "tobacco," and its effect on all human beings, men, women and teenagers. WILLIAM BRAMBERG, Weston - --- MAP posted-by: GD