Dr. Paul Sloan and others make a strong case for the use of cannabis as a better alternative to pain management than opiates ("Clinic owner makes pot case," Sunday's Herald-Tribune). The problem is not the joint, but the "joints" from which it will be dispensed. While doctors must write the prescription, dispensaries will, in reality, be approved and licensed by politicians and bureaucrats. I don't see any potential for abuse there, do you?

The photo in Sunday's edition of the Herald-Tribune, of a California dispensary, doesn't look like any drugstore I've seen, nor does the clerk look like a pharmacist properly trained to fill a doctor's order, verify the patient's identity, and record and store the transaction's information.

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