A painful story about marijuana
Re “Marijuana in the medicine chest,†column, April 26
The saddest part about Sandy Banks’ column is that she flushed the medication down the toilet and she still lives in pain. By learning to use medical marijuana properly, she would probably find a huge decrease in her arthritis symptoms.
As a registered nurse who has worked with the terminally ill and with patients facing potentially fatal diseases and therapies, I’ve seen that medical marijuana often means the difference between living and starving to death, or the difference between extreme pain and greatly reduced or no pain.
It is absurd that one would choose to live in pain, but even more absurd that our federal government would force an individual to do so.
Jeffery P. Segall
Long Beach
Banks’ column was an interesting read. However, Banks is confused about federal marijuana laws. After buying and possessing a small amount, she decides not to smoke it because, in her words, “the feds don’t recognize California’s medical marijuana law [and] I don’t want federal agents knocking on my door.â€
Her concern is misplaced. There is no federal law that prohibits using marijuana. The law prohibits possession. Therefore, Banks already violated the federal law and admits it in writing.
She would have been better off smoking her dope. It likely would have given her just enough paranoia to stop her from exposing herself to the very knock on the door she is so worried about.
Robert Constant
Cebu City, Philippines
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