Pubdate: Fri, 09 Sep 2005 Source: Isthmus (WI) Copyright: 2005 Isthmus Contact: http://www.thedailypage.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/215 Author: Stephen Heath DRUGS, LEGAL AND ILLEGAL Letter writer Gary Storck (7/22/05) provides interesting personal insight about Ald. Zach Brandon. Whether Mr. Brandon's lack of support for a statewide law permitting legal access to medical marijuana makes him a quasi-typical Democrat or a Republican in disguise may be a matter of partisan opinion. But we can be sure of one thing from Mr. Brandon's response to medical patients who may elect to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation in preference to heavy-duty and often addictive pharmacueticals. That is, Mr. Brandon believes that arrest, criminal prosecution, time in a prison cage and lifetime criminal record are an appropriate public response to those patients who choose to medicate with anything other than government-approved narcotics. And that's a sad position for a leader of any political party to take. Stephen Heath Public relations director Drug Policy Forum of Florida Clearwater, Fla. - --- MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman