Letter to the Editor

Marijuana can, and should, be used for medical purposes

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

To the editor:

I was blown away when I read the letter to the editor by the Bible thumper about marijuana. Times they are a changing, and if you don't agree that sick people can be helped by medical marijuana, then use your right to vote and vote against it.

It's ludicrous to tell people all they need is a good dose of Jesus when they are in pain and can't eat food because they're going through chemotherapy. They are treating vets who have P.T.S.D. with medical marijuana. Maybe you have not heard about the little girl who was having seizures -- she could not even complete a sentence -- now she's living a healthy life because of pot. Go tell her mom and dad that they are wrong and that all she needs is a good dose of Jesus. Charlotte Figi is the name of the girl. I dare you to Google her name and read her story. Her story was one of the reason that Dr. Sanjay Gupta changed his mind on medical marijuana.

People are waking up and realizing they don't live in the stone age and marijuana has medical purposes. I just can't understand people who are so blinded by religion that they cant believe the creator put these things there for them. Jesus turned water to wine. He also tells you not to be drunk from it. It has a purpose though! Genesis 1 and 29 states, "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." I take that as God put it here for a purpose. Do you really think the creator made the herb so that you can have something to complain about? Was that his purpose to put it here so you can tell people who need it they don't need it?

Obama, Bush and Clinton all have smoked it. Of course, Clinton didn't inhale, but they all have indulged. I'm not going to sit up in my ivory tower and tell people that are in pain they don't need this medicine just because I'm not in pain. I wonder what you would do if you had cancer or a sick daughter like Charlotte Figi. The deal with marijuana is educating the poor people who were brain-washed by the reefer madness of the 1960s.

I would like to add that legalizing medical marijuana is just about changing the scheduling of the drug. As it is now, it's a Schedule 1 narcotic, which means Schedule 1 drugs, substances or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule 1 drugs are the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence.

Some examples of Schedule I drugs are heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana (cannabis), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy), methaqualone and peyote. I believe that we can all agree pot does not belong in this group. I also believe the wording of the bill only allows for cancer, AIDS or HIV-positive patients to get medical marijuana in Arkansas if the law passes.

I would also like to say that the strand Charlotte Figi is being treated with will not get you high. Hundreds are on the waiting list to get Charlotte's Web strain of sativa marijuana. Please, I beg of everyone, stop judging and do your research. Google Charlotte Figi, then write Andy Weld and tell him why you're against medical marijuana.

I voted for it in November 2012, and I will vote for it again.

Grant Massey
Blytheville