Pubdate: Sun, 03 Jun 2001
Source: Ogdensburg Journal/Advance News (NY)
Copyright: 2001 St. Lawrence County Newspapers Corp
Contact: Accepts LTEs by mail only!
Website: http://www.ogd.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/689
Authors:  Kelli Rentsch, Lee Monnet
NOTE: Accepts LTEs by mail only! Must be signed w/phone#
Referenced: URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01.n958.a06.html

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

To the Editor,
In response to Mr. David Morgan's letter stating that thirteen pounds of 
marijuana couldn't possibly be used for medicinal purposes. I would like to 
know where Mr. Morgan received his Doctorate? How does a layman on the 
subject assume he knows how much marijuana a person could use in a day and 
how long that 13 pounds was intended to last this individual? To label 
medicinal users as criminals is biased and self serving. To deny an ill 
person a medicine that helps them is inhumane.

Alcohol isn't used medicinally yet it is a common poison in most homes in 
the North Country. It causes more social problems than marijuana. Yet do we 
monitor the amount of booze a person can have in their home..or how 
fastthey consume it?

I don't understand some peoples callousness toward someone who tries to 
alleviate their suffering if it involves unconventional methods. If this 
man chose to self medicate himself with alcohol there would not have been 
any problems legally, even though alcohol is associated with violence. But 
since he chose marijuana he is scorned by some because they don't approve 
of his choice of drug even though it is being recognized all over the world 
for having medicinal value.

Kelli Rentsch Potsdam. New York

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MARIJUANA USE

To the Editor;
It seems that Mr. David Morgan is not satisfied with the sentence a local 
man received for possession of marijuana. In his 5/21/01 letter to the 
editor "Pot Perspective" he analyzes how much of the substance a person 
should have for personal use with government statistics. Although I don't 
have a medical degree I feel that people use mind altering substances for 
different reasons and in various quantities and that the human psyche is 
far to complex to be diagnosed by government statistics.

 From what I understand the man in question is a former marine who used 
marijuana to self medicate himself to cope with post traumatic syndrome 
from his service in the Vietnam War. We don't know what horrors he may have 
witnessed in that often brutal war. Mr. Morgan should walk in that mans 
shoes a while before he passes judgment on him.

In his letter Mr. Morgan points out the large quantity of marijuana being 
possessed but, I have never heard him address the large volumes of alcohol 
possessed and consumed in this area. I have seen some local residents 
literally purchase a truck load of beer and some stock a personal bar that 
would rival any nightclub. But possession of this amount of alcohol is 
acceptable because it is the drug most prevalent in our society.

Lee Monnet Ogdensburg, New York 
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