SHOW COMPASSION FOR THE SUFFERERS

Allow Desperately Ill People to Find Relief, If They Can.

IS THERE A certain amount of hypocrisy in believing the government
should be aggressive in cracking down on illegal drugs, while allowing
some chronically sick people to smoke pot to relieve their symptoms?

Probably.

So what.

Only those who have never been desperately ill - or watched a loved
one struggle with pain or nausea - could be so sure it's wrong to
provide the option in certain extreme cases. For opponents, it's a
principle. For the sick, it's a temporary escape from their world of
pain.

A PROPOSAL IN the Wisconsin Assembly - AB 740 - would allow law
enforcement to look the other way when marijuana is being used as a
"medical necessity." It would create a loophole in the state's
criminal law which could permit patients and their caregivers to
administer pot for relief of symptoms.

The kicker, of course, is in determining just what is a "medical
necessity." Some potheads undoubtedly would try to slip in under the
radar, and use the law as an excuse for indulging their bad habit. In
such instances, authorities should make examples of those who would
abuse a privilege intended for sick people.

Likewise, there is debate within the medical community about the
efficacy of medical marijuana. Many doctors are highly skeptical.

But anecdotal evidence from patients with cancer and other serious
chronic conditions suggests many people obtain relief by smoking pot.
Maybe it's because of the drug, maybe it's all in their heads. Either
way, if it eases their suffering, who cares?

WE SIMPLY CANNOT understand why government should make criminals out
of sick people just trying to make themselves feel better. Yet even in
states which have relaxed laws on medicinal marijuana, the federal
government has worked to criminalize the practice anyway. There's
little reason to believe Wisconsin would avoid a showdown with the
feds.

Still, common sense should rule. Medical marijuana should be
restricted to only the most serious situations, where nothing else has
worked and the patient is enduring extreme suffering. We can see no
harm in allowing patients in such dire straits the opportunity to try
something else.

This isn't about legalizing pot. Drug abuse is a crime.

It is about showing compassion for suffering human beings. What's
wrong with that?