Pubdate: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 Source: Paradise Post (CA) Copyright: 2011 Paradise Post Contact: http://www.paradisepost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3112 Author: Joe Canzoneri OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA Editor: Mr. President, I must tell you that you made a dreadful and tragic mistake when you publicly announced that you will not prosecute so called "medical marijuana" dispensaries and grows unless both state and federal laws are broken. This was a most inappropriate and stunning statement for a president to make of an addictive drug. In effect, it gives drug dealers an out. What was the purpose of such a statement? Are you not concerned with the problems associated with drugs? There is no such thing as "medical marijuana." Marijuana is marijuana - nothing else and most certainly not a medicine. It does not cure, it just numbs the mind. The various labels peddlers attach to marijuana are potency designations, not indications of what type of ailments they relate to. For decades, uses of marijuana have been chipping away at our social structure to convince the people and, sadly to say, some elected officials that there is nothing wrong with smoking marijuana. Some refer to it as a recreational drug. Their aim, of course, is total legalization without any restrictions. They are very shrewd in referring to it as "medical marijuana. " The problems associated with this drug are immense. It leads to the harder drugs and is the beginning of the end for the victims. Countless lives have been destroyed, especially among our young. In their journey to justify its use, drug dealers and addicts claim a myriad of ailments that inflict pain, one of which I glaucoma. I had glaucoma; there was no pain. Should it come to anyone's surprise that there are all kinds of medications, bother over the counter and prescription that will cure or relieve any conceivable ailment? To simply illustrate how addiction consumes a person's life, consider the agony and torture smokers of the ordinary cigarette go through in attempting to kick the habit and how they will pay any price to continue their addiction. Mr. President, I urge you to use every conceivable authority you have to put an end to this drug menace. Remove the peddlers from our midst. Joe Canzoneri Paradise - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom