The Bush administration and the DEA are going after patients who are legally allowed to grow and possess medical marijuana by state laws. There are now eight states that allow medical cannabis. These people suffer from a variety of conditions including cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS, glaucoma, nausea and severe pain. The Bush administration has gone so far as arresting a quadriplegic man who was growing medical marijuana! They're also closing down dispensaries where patients can obtain medical marijuana and arresting the providers. This travesty has to stop!

The therapeutic effects of marijuana are well-known and have been used for centuries. It's an effective pain reliever with none of the side effects and addictive properties of prescription painkillers. The worst that can happen from smoking too much pot is a sore throat, or maybe eating an entire large pepperoni pizza. The patient can precisely administer the proper dose by smoking enough to provide relief then stop, something that can't be done with prescription drugs. Medical marijuana also allows patients to reduce their dosages of narcotic painkillers, like codeine. It's an appetite stimulant that's effective for AIDS patients and those undergoing cancer treatments, like radiation and chemotherapy, and reduces interoccular pressure in people with glaucoma. Depression and anxiety have also been treated with medical marijuana.

I know from experience of marijuana's painkilling properties. Several years ago I suffered from degenerative disc disease (DDD). It's a painful condition where the fluid-filled disks in the spine degenerate causing the vertebrae to compress the spinal nerves. The pain can be excruciating, as anyone who's had DDD knows. With marijuana I got instant relief and was able to cut back my dosage of codeine.

The ONDCP, which produces nationwide ad campaigns using half-truths and scare tactics (with your tax dollars), claims medical marijuana is a just a front for legalization. Though the rational solution to the drug problem is to legalize and regulate recreational drugs, this isn't true. Advocates for medical marijuana are caring people who understand the therapeutic properties of medical marijuana and those who are suffering and find relief. A study found that young people don't believe the ONDCP's propaganda and creates more distrust of government.

Legalization to some brings visions of drugs being sold everywhere - at the local liquor store, K-Mart, etc. Most politicians won't touch legalization, following the party-line of supporting of the "War on Drugs." In our climate of drug-related crime and violence and government-sponsored anti-drug propaganda, legalization has acquired a bad connotation. It's Reefer Madness revisited. This is unfortunate, since legalization would virtually eliminate the black market and drug-related crime and violence (remember alcohol prohibition, racketeering and violent gangs?). Government regulation would actually make drugs less available because they would be regulated like alcohol. Of course, this wouldn't stop all sales to minors, as alcohol regulation doesn't, but would substantially reduce them.

Some European countries have adopted more rational policies and legalized marijuana and other recreational drugs. Treating recreational drug users as criminals isn't the answer and a waste of police and government resources!

People opposing legalization often claim the ubiquitous "gateway theory," i.e. young people start with marijuana then progress to harder drugs like cocaine and heroin. What trying marijuana does is introduce them to the black market; the world of drug-related crime and violence and over-inflated prices. 40 years of drug prohibition is working just like alcohol prohibition did - it isn't.

In conclusion, the Bush administration's policy of arresting and prosecuting medical marijuana patients and their providers is uncalled for and a violation of people's and states' rights!

The drug problem: a rational answer