Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jun 2013
Source: Tampa Bay Times (FL)
Copyright: 2013 St. Petersburg Times
Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/letters/
Website: http://www.tampabay.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419
Note: Named the St. Petersburg Times from 1884-2011.
Author: Steven Lipson
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n292/a10.html

Re: High stakes | June23

NAYSAYERS' IGNORANCE

Thanks for your well-written article regarding the potential for 
ballot legalization of medical marijuana. As usual, the naysayers 
base their arguments on ignorance rather than fact.

A particularly egregious error: 'Legalizing medical marijuana could 
spawn a seedy black market for unscrupulous physicians.' Really? As 
opposed to the very scrupulous backstreet dealers that cancer 
patients deal with now? As Robert Jordan, who currently obtains the 
product illegally for his sick wife, said: He is buying on the street 
and 'keeping fingers crossed they don't get a contaminated batch.' 
Secondly, 'We will see a flood of people coming down from Kentucky or 
Georgia.' I call pants on fire. There is absolutely no evidence of 
that happening in any state where medical marijuana has become legal, 
largely because state-issued IDs are required of all patients.

There is no evidence supporting most of the negative (or positive) 
publicity surrounding the harmfulness of marijuana. This is primarily 
because the federal government has outlawed research regarding its 
efficacy for the past 40 years. The only reason marijuana is 
currently listed as a narcotic is because Big Pharma doesn't want the 
competition. They'll lose a lot of business when you can grow a 
nonaddictive version of Prozac, et al., in your backyard.

Steven Lipson, Valrico
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom