Pubdate: Sun, 5 Dec 1999 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Copyright: 1999 San Francisco Chronicle Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Forum: http://www.sfgate.com/conferences/ Author: Bob Melamede MEDICAL MARIJUANA Editor -- The latest conviction of medical marijuana users Todd McCormick and Peter McWilliams should serve as a wake-up call to all Americans. The federal government has become so insane with power that serves special-interest groups that they jail sick people who are trying to preserve what health they have left. To coerce guilty pleas, by disallowing a medical defense, in a state where citizens have voted for medical marijuana is fascism. Marijuana is a powerful immune modulator, pain and stress reliever, and appetite stimulant. We, the people, cannot let our federal government deny these scientifically proven facts while they destroy the Constitution and destroy peoples' lives. BOB MELAMEDE, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Dept. of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics University of Vermont Burlington, Vt. - --- MAP posted-by: Eric Ernst