Pubdate: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 Source: Tampa Tribune (FL) Copyright: 2014 The Tribune Co. Contact: http://tbo.com/list/news-opinion-letters/submit/ Website: http://tbo.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/446 Author: J.D. Lynch Section: Views Page: 2 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n659/a02.html STOP DOWNHILL SLIDE Douglas MacKinnon's sober and instructive column, "Greed fuels rally for medical pot," followed by last Sunday's editorial, "Do voters want to unshackle pot?," were an outstanding one-two punch on the side of sanity. Medical professionals oppose medical marijuana. Law enforcement professionals oppose medical marijuana. The Tampa Tribune has stepped up with integrity and intellectual honesty to oppose medical marijuana. Where, one might ask, is the political class? You know, those from whom we hear so much. Those who lie to us so often. Those who cannot resist spending and wasting so much of our money. When they run for office, they talk about "leadership." Their vaunted, experienced "leadership." When the going gets tough, we don't hear anything from them. They hide under the bed. Some might call it "leading from behind." Others would rightly call it cowardice. Polls indicate that slightly more than 70 percent of the public believes that the nation is heading in the wrong direction - downhill, rapidly. They are right. A vote to legalize "medical marijuana" would serve to hasten that process. The Tampa Tribune and other non-corrupted media outlets should press the politicians - local, state and federal - for their opinions. Give them the opportunity to really lead. Give them the opportunity to tell the public whether or not they want to lead the downhill slide or the return to greatness. J.D. LYNCH, TAMPA - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom