Pubdate: Sat, 25 Dec 2004 Source: Baltimore Sun (MD) Copyright: 2004 The Baltimore Sun, a Times Mirror Newspaper. Contact: http://www.baltimoresun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37 Author: Kathryn Parke Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Note: All were titled Why deny relief to people in pain? Individual titles by MAPinc SIMPLY HATEFUL AND FOOLISH To deny people suffering from pain and nausea access to a treatment that would provide relief is simply hateful and foolish. And in a society in which drugs such as alcohol and nicotine cause such suffering and, in the case of alcohol, so much antisocial behavior, to hold marijuana up as some unique danger is almost comical. When will our nation wake up to the reality of the terrible failure of the "war on drugs" and realize that the many billions of dollars spent on policing, jails and "aid" to countries such as Colombia to slow the influx of drugs to the United States could be better spent? Better spent on drug treatment to be sure, but also on education, health care, research on the mechanics of addiction and just about anything else besides prisons. Kathryn Parke, Baltimore - --- MAP posted-by: Derek