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THE TRUTH ABOUT THC

This letter is in response to last Thursday's article featuring GW NORML and particularly the comments of our fearless leader, President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg ( "Group pushes for GW to change marijuana policy," Oct.  27, p.  1 ).

Trachtenberg, despite having written an article for a journal in 1972 as a proponent of marijuana decriminalization, stated that he changed his stance on the matter because later studies showed that marijuana has more harmful effects than he was aware of at the time.  More harmful? That's odd.  The studies that I've read about suggest the exact opposite.

In fact, in 1982, the California Research Advisory Panel found that marijuana is effective in relieving nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients, and that a safe dosage to minimize undesirable side effects had been tested.  They reported a 78.9 percent effectiveness rating among chemotherapy patients.  Was this study a fluke? Maybe.  But the panel reviewed their data through 1989, and reported the same results.

Another article published in October 1988, in The New York Journal of Medicine, reported the same success rate in chemotherapy patients, and went on to include that no serious negative side effects were present.

There is a wealth of information on the subject available.  It's up to all of us, including you, Mr.  Trachtenberg, to start making realistic decisions about the benefits and risks of marijuana.  Sure, it's a touchy subject.  But many people, including myself, have realized that it must be exposed to protect our civil rights.

- -David Pribulka, sophomore