Pubdate: Thu, 09 Jun 2005
Source: Tennessean, The (TN)
Copyright: 2005 The Tennessean
Contact:  http://www.tennessean.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/447
Author: Alan Powell
Cited: Gonzales v. Raich ( www.angeljustice.org/ )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm ( Cannabis - Medicinal )

DRUG COMPANIES ARE AFRAID OF MARIJUANA

To the Editor:

Saritha Prabhu accurately describes an overmedicated America. ("Take 
parental love and call her in the morning," oped, June 6) It's ironic that 
as a nation we think of ourselves as anti-drug, displaying sayings like 
"just say no" on cars, shirts and TV ads.

Chances are that the ads just before or after are for pharmaceuticals. Add 
the ruling from the Supreme Court upholding a ban on medical marijuana, and 
we may have reached a new level of absurdity.

Prescription drugs kill about 100,000 Americans a year, and we are all 
aware of the long lists of side effects the drug companies trivialize with 
tiny print and fast talk.

Contrast that with marijuana, used for medicine, religious rituals, food 
and fiber for rope and clothing for thousands of years without a single 
death attributed directly to it. Don't be fooled when John Walters, Bush's 
drug czar, states "science and research have not determined that smoking a 
crude plant is safe or effective."

Our government has made it illegal to do the research, preventing 
definitive information from ever surfacing. Marijuana has so many uses that 
its enemies include the paper industry, the clothing industry (both natural 
and synthetic), alcohol and tobacco industries, the energy industry and for 
today's conversation, the pharmaceutical industry.

They must be terrified of a medicine that grows like a weed and is safer 
and more effective than anything they sell. Are they acting in the best 
interest of those suffering or their cash flow?

No wonder they spend so much money to influence politics - and us.

Alan Powell, Nashville 37205
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