Pubdate: Sun, 12 Aug 2012 Source: Boston Globe (MA) Copyright: 2012 Globe Newspaper Company Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340 Website: http://bostonglobe.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52 Author: Gail R. Kansky FOR THOSE WHO SUFFER, THIS COULD BE VITAL SOURCE OF RELIEF Tom Keane ("The 'medical' sham," Op-ed, Aug. 5) seems unaware of medical marijuana's usefulness for many people with neurological diseases. Worse, by suggesting that the Food and Drug Administration "test and approve it," he suggests that the agency - which, according to news reports, has targeted its own scientists for expressing dissent on other matters - is more open-minded than it is. While there may be many problems with individual programs set up by various states for medical marijuana, medically approved marijuana is mainly used for patients to subdue their nausea to make it possible for them to eat. Cancer-related nausea can be subdued enough for a person to ingest food with just one or two puffs of marijuana. While Keane is looking at this as a way to get high, and writes that "feeling poorly could prove to be a lot of fun," those with severe physical problems are looking only to find some relief in order to survive. Having a neurological disease is never "fun." Gail R. Kansky Needham The writer is president of the National CFIDS Foundation, which advocates for people who have chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt