The Federal Government has no place trying to tell us whether marijuana is an acceptable medicine. That is an individual decision, and the only one besides the patient who should be at all concerned is the doctor.

The question of its efficacy and safety as a medicine is not dependent upon new studies; at the time of its prohibition, it was the second most prescribed medicine in the country. It is now called "marijuana" because if they had tried to pass a law against cannabis, doctors would have protested.

When laws against marijuana were passed, it was placed in a category of drugs which not only have no medicinal value, but for which any medical research is forbidden. This has had the effect that not only are doctors afraid to look into the possibility that it may have good uses, but the people who use it are afraid to speak up and detail the benefits they derive.

However, as an herbalist, I have spoken with many people who are not afraid to talk to me about their experiments with the medical aspect of cannabis. I have learned that it can cure glaucoma or keep it under control. It can enable a person with sickle cell anemia to live a normal life. It can eliminate symptoms of PMS. It can help someone with MS to regain lost control. It allows a person with bipolar disorder to control mood swings. It can allay nausea of chemotherapy. It can help a person with AIDS to eat. It does not take away pain, but it can help the pain not matter so much. When it is NOT used with alcohol, it produces non-violent tendencies.

I have also met people who tried it and found that it did not help with their problems, so they have not continued to use it.

The people who find cannabis helps them weigh the side effects of a mild euphoria, a possible feeling of lethargy and dryness of the mouth against the benefits, and have concluded that the benefits are worth the side effects. Unfortunately, the reality is that to obtain their results, they must risk their freedom, their families and even their lives.

I realize that the medical establishment discounts the preceding as mere anecdotal evidence, but since clinical tests are against the law, the only current data comes from those who are desperate enough to break the law to gain relief.

We have a chance to change matters in Colorado and allow the legal use of medical marijuana. The side effect of passing this compassionate law will be to enable the doctors to document its use in a clinical setting, to dispel myths and dispense medicine without the interference of those who have no business meddling.

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