Pubdate: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 Source: Montana Standard (Butte, MT) Copyright: 2011 Montana Standard Contact: http://www.mtstandard.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/609 Author: John Amendall BEEF HAS ITS HEALTH BENEFITS I am writing to praise Jeff Essmann of the "Communist Workers Party of Billings" for the modest proposal he has made for the medicinal use of marijuana in Montana. I'm especially proud of Comrade Jeff's efforts to ban the sale of marijuana through a new act that would make it a crime for any person to sell or even give away marijuana except if it is given to a close personal family member, related by blood or marriage. I can already see the potential for a new rise of a certain fundamentalist community in this state to generate many more relatives by marriage. However, Comrade Jeff seems to have failed in his important work. Another material grown, raised, processed, and sold throughout our great state of Montana with enormous health benefits is being ignored. Everyone knows that beef is an excellent source of nutrients, but few seem to be aware of the mind altering potential for carnosine, an anti-oxidant that has the powerful ability to chelate zinc and other metals from brain tissue, thereby dramatically reducing the incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Another compound found in beef, carnitine, has been used in the treatment of encephalopathy. Obviously, the Montana House Human Services Committee should expand its current important work making it illegal to buy, sell, trade in, or process for money the medical cannabis which is so important to relieving the suffering of tens of thousands of Montanans. That essentially communist doctrine of Comrade Jeff should be applied to beef as well. You should not be able to buy and sell beef - look at all these great nutritional and medicinal properties it has. In fact, you shouldn't be able to buy or sell anything, as the communists have said all along. When Montana is ready for it, I feel confident that Comrade Jeff would provide for the care of all Montanans who still seek a free market in re-education camps, or gulags. John Amendall Bozeman - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.