Unfortunately, Matt Mernagh is incorrect about at least one fact (NOW, November 11-17). Sativex is not synthetic but grown in GW Pharmaceuticals' green houses under stringently controlled conditions. Sativex is herbal. Cannabis was illegitimately removed from the U.S. pharmacopeia in 1940. Neither cannabis nor human physiology has changed since then. If Canadian authorities had any common sense, they would simply restore cannabis to the formulary. Tod H. Mikuriya [end]
The excellent and in-depth article by Bobby Harris on Prop 215 (Eye, Sept. 3) focuses attention on institutional ignorance of the judiciary. The extent and scope of the institutional malfeasance within the criminal justice and health systems are far wider. www.mikuriya.com Projects contains correspondence with all 58 counties regarding implementation and compliance. The results demand nothing less than a statewide audit with remedial civil rights, taxpayers, and class action suits. Secondly, to ensure implementation and compliance, Planning and Management Systems/Outcomes Management Overview discipline be enacted. (Also on www.mikuriya.com ). Berkeley [end]
To the Editor: Re "Few States Track Prescriptions as Way to Prevent Overdoses" (front page, Dec. 21): The growing problem of misuse of and dependence on OxyContin must be directly confronted. Corporate entities must be held accountable for the problems they cause. The costs of health care and loss of productivity are currently borne by the victim, family, workplace, health facilities, police and courts. The least the drug industry and marketplace can do is to help remediate the adverse effects of their products. [continues 52 words]
