Get Active Subscribe Support Us

SMITH CRITICIZED ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA POSITION

Rep.  Chris Smith, R-4th, is good on senior issues.

He is good on veterans' issues.

He is a congressman who stands up against abortion because he is pro-life.

These are things that I hear all of the time.

So what would happen if a senior citizen who was a military veteran who attended right-to-life rallies got cancer and wanted to use medical marijuana?

He would be a bit out of luck.

I saw Smith on television a couple of days ago saying that, "the polls clearly show that the public is pro-life."

He complained that John Kerry sides with the minority on that issue.

It appears that Smith thinks a politician should not endorse public policy that goes against the will of the majority.

Smith knows that a recent CNN/Time Warner poll showed that 80 percent of the American people think that seriously ill and dying Americans should have the right to medical marijuana.

When you put all of that together you would think that Smith would practice what he preaches and listen to the majority on a life-and-death issue such as medical marijuana, but he doesn't.

He refuses to even schedule appointments to discuss medical marijuana.

He doesn't value a person's right to life after they are born as much as he values their rights before they are born.

Smith thinks that the federal government should continue the fight against states that have medical marijuana laws.

He supports the Drug Enforcement Agency's closing of its legal state medical marijuana dispensaries, leaving seriously ill patients to die in needless discomfort.

Smith met my wife Cheryl Jan 15, 2002, when we showed up at a meet-and-greet he was having in Howell Township.

He saw that Cheryl had all but lost her battle with multiple sclerosis and that she couldn't move her arms or legs.

He saw that Cheryl was in pain and listened as she explained that eating marijuana relieved her pain, but she hadn't been able to have any for quite a while.

He saw that she didn't have much time left and he promised to schedule an appointment to discuss medical marijuana further, but never did.

Cheryl died a year ago.

Smith outlasted her.

To quote Bob Dylan, "How many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died?"

For Smith, the answer is obviously not blowing in the wind.

The answer is simply, more than Cheryl's.

JIM MILLER

Silverton