Thank you for your article, "State residents join marijuana protest" on October 22, 1999. As one of the participants and a Waukesha native, I'd like to add some comments. While the action at Bob Barr's office added an exclamation point to our efforts in D.C., we also spent a lot of time meeting with congressional representatives trying to educate them on the realities of daily life for sick, disabled and dying Americans, and how medicinal marijuana can have significant and even lifesaving benefits for many patients. [continues 271 words]
In the July 31 "Weekly laurels and laments," the Journal Sentinel Editorial Board called the developments at Woodstock '99 a sorry commentary on our times. In reporting the problems at Woodstock, you failed to mention the role of Budweiser. The back page of the program was an ad for Bud. Three beer gardens on the grounds dispensed beer for roughly the same price as bottled water. In comparing this event with the 1969 original, there was little mention of the prominence of alcohol. In a society inundated with ads promoting beer consumption while neglecting education about the potential for abuse, what other outcome could be expected? [continues 98 words]
Senator Herb Kohl likes to trumpet his supposed tough stance on drug policy, but recently demonstrated that it all depends on the drug in question, and the strength of it's lobby. In late June, Kohl caved into the liquor industry's intense lobbying and voted against an amendment that would have included alcohol in a $1 billion, five-year advertising campaign by the Office of National Drug Control Policy Despite the fact alcohol is a "gateway" to more serious drugs and poses a greater health risk to teenagers than illegal drugs, Kohl joined the majority in a hypocritical 58-40 vote to table the measure. [continues 79 words]
As a former California resident, I enjoyed visiting Placer County and Lake Tahoe. Lately though, the treatment of medical marijuana users in full compliance with California law by Placer County authorities has sickened me, and the thought of visiting your beautiful area makes me very fearful. The treatment of Steve and Michele Kubby is particularly repugnant. The scope of human rights violations that have been committed against the Kubbys is very alarming. Now, with the district attorney refusing to release the Kubbys' computers many months after the arrest, and a local judge allowing this travesty to prevail, it is apparent Placer County authorities have no respect for California law and the concept of justice. [continues 51 words]
In recent weeks, honest appraisals of the failure of the so-called war on drugs have been appearing in some surprising places across the nation. New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, a Republican, called for honest talk about the war on drugs. Calling it a miserable failure, he suggested decriminalization of some drugs should be part of the discussion. He later said his email was running 10-1 in favor of his stance. The Salt Lake Tribune editorialized: "Even when a war is being lost and a reasonable leader decides it is time to make peace, there are others who will continue to prosecute it, either because they are too dull to know their cause is doomed or because they are too vain to admit failure. Such is America's war on drugs." Next year we must elect a president and Congress that will pursue rational drug policies that bring home the prisoners and dismantle the police state apparatus that has unjustly demonized and targeted so many peaceful citizens. [continues 9 words]
Editor -- I am writing regarding Debra Saunders' July 11 column in which she cites numerous reasons why she does not want Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah to run for president. A March 1999 article in Rolling Stone, ``The Politics of Pot -- A Government in Denial,'' noted that in the 1970s the American Medical Association, the American Bar Association and the National Council of Churches all endorsed the decriminalization of marijuana along with President Jimmy Carter. As to Hatch, the article says, ``In October 1977, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to decriminalize marijuana. But the committee reversed its decision a week later, after strenuous objections by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah.'' [continues 56 words]
Regarding your editorial, "Medical research on marijuana right" on the Clinton administration opening its supply of medical marijuana to private researchers, this action is not the capitulation it appears to be. The new regulations do not go into effect until December, then there will be additional delays as research proposals are evaluated. The current policies that criminalize patients who need medical marijuana will remain in place. There is no justification for continuing the federal prohibition on medical marijuana. The regulations should be rescheduled so physicians can prescribe it. Compassion and justice demand no less. Gary Storck, Madison, Wis [end]
The extent of Chinese spying and theft of top-secret technology as detailed in the report from Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) is truly shocking. Perhaps if our government wasn't engaged in a drug war against its own people for the last 20-plus years, locking up tens of thousands of non-violent drug offenders, destroying families, persecuting medical marijuana users and committing similar atrocities, it might have had the resources to stop the theft of our most important military secrets. It is obvious that the true threats to our national security come from our own government officials and abroad, not from our own people. Gary Storck Madison [continues 5 words]
On March 17 1999, after delaying as long as they could, the U.S. government's Institutes of Medicine finally released their report on medical marijuana, "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base," which had been commissioned by drug czar Barry McCaffrey in January 1997. The report found "substantial consensus'' to indicate that, for some people, the potential medical benefits of marijuana outweigh its risks. It also concluded marijuana was not a "gateway'' to the use of harder drugs, and that there was no evidence to indicate that approved medical use of marijuana would increase public abuse of the drug. [continues 125 words]
I am writing in reference to the March 7 article: "Alaska law allows marijuana use / State is the sixth to legalize drug to treat specified medical ailments." Hooray for Alaska! It is great that the voters of Alaska had the opportunity to cast ballots on this issue, and, like virtually every other time medical marijuana has been put to the voters, it easily passed. No doubt, Wisconsin voters would also endorse this issue, but since the state lacks the initiative process, we are held hostage by legislators who think the current policy of arresting and jailing sick and dying people who use marijuana medicinally should remain in effect. [continues 51 words]
To the editor: Your 1/11/99 article "Mainers likely to vote on medical use of marijuana" included some very questionable comments about marijuana and glaucoma by Dr. Dora Ann Mills, director of Maine’s Health Bureau, that require a response. Dr. Mills claims that the research on how much marijuana helps glaucoma is "very weak," and "There is no medical efficacy in marijuana for treating glaucoma." She also quotes the American Academy of Ophthalmology as saying that although it appears marijuana can provide possibly short-term relief of intraocular pressure from glaucoma, there are no long-term benefits. [continues 212 words]
Dear Editor: The candidacy of Madison native Peter L. Steinberg for District Attorney presents Dane County voters with an excellent opportunity to elect a district attorney who will focus on prosecuting crimes of violence against persons and property, rather than wasting tax dollars and ruining lives by enforcing marijuana prohibition. Unlike his opponents, Steinberg understands that prohibition is wrong for many reasons, costing more and accomplishing less than legalization, and posing a serious threat to personal liberty. Peter Steinberg has not built his career on the war on drugs, as many politicians have, but instead has the courage and insight to recognize prohibition is a failure, and to give us a way out of this monstrosity on a local level. [continues 63 words]
