Pubdate: Thu, 05 Dec 2013
Source: Tampa Tribune (FL)
Copyright: 2013 The Tribune Co.
Contact: http://tbo.com/list/news-opinion-letters/
Website: http://www.tampatrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/446
Author: Jesse Juliano
Page: Nation/World, p.10
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n571/a04.html

THE REAL DRUG ISSUE

Regarding "Pot not medicine" (Your Views, Dec. 1):

For someone who claims to be an expert on drug problems, Calvina Fay's
letter sounds like nothing more than an advertisement for the
pharmaceutical industry.

Her first error was to state there are no other forms of marijuana
other than the street version. If Fay were truly educated on drug
research, she would learn that there are several experiments that are
altering the cannabis plant to remove all traces of THC, the chemical
that gets you "high." She then incorrectly states that marijuana
causes mental disorders. Is she a research scientist?! How can her
lack of scientific and psychological knowledge be sure that the drug
use came I first, instead of the drug use being a manifestation of a
particular disorder? If she'd actually bother to read the full study
reports and not just the sound bites from mainstream media outlets,
maybe she wouldn't make such erroneous statements.                 j

Fay then informs us that all the pesticides, fertilizers and fungi
found on and in cannabis are hardly healthy for the human body.
Really? Then why I do all the fruits and vegetables we eat also
contain the same items? What about all the poisons the tobacco
industry artificially adds to their products? Are the multitude of
lives tobacco has taken and the trillions in health care costs somehow
less important because the product is legal? How about the ruined
families and added health-care costs due to alcohol abuse? Do they not
matter?

With all due respect, the laws making marijuana illegal while I
tobacco remains legal has the same competency and legitimacy as making
oranges legal while tangerines illegal. It lacks all common sense and
scientific integrity. Maybe Fay is just naive and really doesn't
understand the true drug issue in America. It's not about lives ruined
or health care costs or effects on children. It's all about lobby
money, tax revenue and if it stimulates the economy.

Jesse Juliano, Tampa
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt