September 1, 1998
In reply to: Your letter dated August 3, 1998
Senator Kay Bailey Hutcheson
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510-4304
Dear Senator Kay Bailey Hutcheson,
I was a little confused when I read your letter. In my letter I had not advocated the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. The letter I wrote you was about marijuana for medical use only. There is credible evidence that marijuana may be useful in the treatment of some medical problems and is a safe and effective drug, maybe not entirely free of risk but no more harmful than other prescription drugs. A strong majority has supported the legal availability of medical marijuana at least since 1995, when a poll commissioned by the ACLU revealed that 79% of the public said they thought it "would be a good idea to legalize marijuana to relieve pain and for other medical uses if prescribed by a doctor." Currently the Department of Health and Human Services is studying whether marijuana should remain as a Schedule I narcotic or should be reclassified as Schedule II or even Schedule III drug.
While I realize drug abuse is a serious problem, our society sends messages to our children every day that some drugs are good. If I have a headache or a cold or even if I can't get an erection, I can take a pill and everything will be all right. Children also see the message on television every day that Budweiser or Coors will help them have a good time and they see adults that they look up to smoking cigarettes
Are we sending the wrong message to our children when we allow people in pain to take morphine but do not allow morphine to be used for recreational purposes? Of course not.
We do need to educate our children about the harm that illegal drugs can do, but we should not lie to them and tell them things that are not true to scare them. If we tell them marijuana will kill them, then what will they think about cocaine and heroin when they find out the truth? We also need to educate them about the dangers of abusing legal drugs as well as illegal drugs and about the dangers of mixing some types of drugs together.
Drug education and the legalization of marijuana were not the focus of my letter and these issues have nothing to do with medical marijuana. This is about the right of doctors to prescribe medicines as they see fit and the right of patients to be free from pain and to have access to any drug that their doctor feels would be of benefit to them. The DEA has been telling doctors what medicines they can prescribe and in what quantities for too long. Doctors are not law enforcement officers and law enforcement officers should not be practicing medicine.
Respectfully,
Tammera S. Halphen