Pubdate: Sat, 3 Apr 1999 Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) Copyright: 1999, Richmond Newspapers Inc. Contact: 804-775-8072 Website: http://www.gateway-va.com/ Author: Walter Bender Note: The author is a member of Virginians Against Drug Violence and the Drug policy forum of Virginia. DO WE FEAR POT -- OR THOSE WHO SMOKE IT? Editor, Times-Dispatch: Gary Brookins' March 19 cartoon may have given some a chuckle, but to those who are struggling with the intractable policy of medical marijuana prohibition, it was not so funny. In California, where the voters made medical marijuana use legal, federal authorities still are arresting cancer and AIDS patients who use it for relief. The Institute of Medicine was commissioned to study marijuana as a result of that vote. The report went beyond a vindication of those who claim medical benefits. The doctors provided some interesting facts that call into question much of what we are told about marijuana by authorities. The concept that marijuana leads to other drug use was debunked. It also disproved the idea that the herb causes a lack of motivation in users. Most of them have little or no trouble stopping if they want to. So why does our society spend much time and effort on this prohibition? I believe we can find a hint in your cartoon. While it depicts a clean-cut doctor, the patient has long hair. Could it be there is something other than marijuana that bothers us about its users? Walter Bender. Crewe. - --- MAP posted-by: Patrick Henry