As a chief petitioner for Measure 33 and as a medical cannabis nurse, I read "Measure 33: next step or too far?" (Commentary, Sept. 28). My friends, authors Stormy Ray and Rick Bayer, M.D., championed the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act in 1998. Six years later, thousands of patients are protected. Thousands of others are not.

The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act was written to pass muster with voters. It didn't adequately address three areas: access to a physician recommendation, a medicine supply and legal protection. Each is compounded by federal opposition.

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The media furor over one Oregon physician who has provided documentation allowing many qualified patients into the Oregon Health Division's medical marijuana program is being misrepresented by mainstream media.

The issue goes far deeper than just Phillip Leveque, D.O. He has chosen to put his medical license on the line out of compassion for patients who have been shunned by their physicians, state medical organizations and now, apparently, the Oregon Health Division.

The medical establishment in Corvallis is a case in point. There are few physicians there willing to sign the legally required form allowing access to the medical marijuana program for their patients with debilitating medical conditions. Instead, doctors and medical practices have quietly decided not to participate in the registry program, or to refer those patients to someone who will.

This abandonment of patients undermines the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act because the registry program remains the safest (though not only) option for Oregon's cannabis-using patients. Instead, most Corvallis physicians would rather prescribe dangerous and addictive pharmaceuticals.

EDWARD GLICK Registered nurse Monmouth

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