Pubdate: Tue, 23 Oct 2012
Source: Times Record (Fort Smith, AR)
Copyright: 2012 Stephens Media Group
Contact: http://www.swtimes.com/site/forms/?mode=letters
Website: http://www.swtimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/529
Author: Michael L. Murr

PUB LTE: MARIJUANA VOTE ABOUT COMPASSION

Marijuana Vote About Compassion

Marijuana, the third most popular recreational drug in America behind
only alcohol and tobacco, is used by nearly 100 million Americans.
According to government surveys, 25 million Americans have smoked
marijuana in the past year, and more than 14 million do so regularly.

Marijuana is not addictive. Peer-reviewed articles on the subject
demonstrate it is not addictive, and further, not harmful. The LANCET,
a British medical journal states, "The smoking of cannabis, even long
term, is not harmful to health." Per NORML, "Marijuana is far less
dangerous than alcohol or tobacco. Around 50,000 people die each year
from alcohol poisoning. Similarly, more than 400,000 deaths each year
are attributed to tobacco smoking. By comparison, marijuana is
nontoxic and cannot cause death by overdose."

On Oct. 2, Dr. Cole claimed that legal prescription medications and
other treatments are safer and work better. This isn't true. According
to the groundbreaking 2003 medical report Death by Medicine by Dr.
Gary Null, 783,936 people in the United States die every year from
conventional medicine mistakes costing the country $282 billion.
Enforcement costs $10 billion a year with arrests of over 850,000.

There have been over 20,000 published studies, many from the
increasing testimonials from medical cannabis patients and their
physicians. February 2010 investigators at the University of
California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research announced the
findings of a series of randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials
on the medical utility of inhaled cannabis. The studies, FDA clinical
trial design, concluded that marijuana ought to be a first-line
treatment for patients with neuropathy and other serious illnesses.

If the smoke is harmless and the user receives any benefit, then why
would any thinking, compassionate person wish to take that away from
another human being, many of whom are veterans?

Michael L. Murr

Mena
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MAP posted-by: Matt