INITIATIVE 685

Relieve pain for sufferers

It is time to present an alternative viewpoint on Initiative 685.

Initiative 685, if passed, would remove heroin, LSD and marijuana from the
Class I narcotic schedule.

This initiative, if passed, would allow physicians to prescribe marijuana
for a patient suffering fro conditions such as multiple sclerosis, glaucoma
and ravages of cancer secondary to chemotherapy drugs.

The decision regarding the medicinal use of marijuana should be left to the
doctor and patient not bureaucrats or legislators in Olympia or
Washington D.C.

The initiative will also release many people presently incarcerated on drug
charges. These are not violent offenders no rapists, murderers, child
molesters or people charged with assault or robbery. These are people in
jail solely on drug possession charges.

The Washington State Medical Association voted not to support the
initiative. Why? They said there haven't been enough studies done to
determine the efficacy of marijuana to relieve symptoms from the conditions
listed above.

Why haven't more studies been done? It is next to impossible to get
government approval for such a study, that's how bad the "reefer madness"
paranoia is in this country.

A recent letter to the editor, from a local police chief no less, said
among other things, that if this initiative were to pass it would make our
drug laws unenforceable! Are they enforceable now?

There are economic interests in keeping the current (unenforceable) drug
laws in effect. Prisons are a big business these days. In privatelyowned
prison systems, the more prisoners, the more money to be made.

If you are undecided on how you're going to vote on Initiative 685 (or you
think you're going to vote against it), please do yourself, the state and
the country a favor and rent the documentary video, "The Hemp Revolution,"
available at Hollywood Video. Currently in the United States of America, it
is illegal to even grow hemp, not just the plant from which marijuana comes
but also the different species from which the hemp fibers are harvested.
Hemp is an environmentally friendly, sustainable crop that could put some
of the unemployed lumber workers back to work.

JOYCE MATSON
Everett