Letter: Doctors right to take stand against marijuana

Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2001 | 8:50 a.m.

Regarding the Sun's Aug. 10 story, "Doctors resist medical marijuana program":

All doctors take the Hippocratic Oath which states, "First, do no harm," and so it is astounding that any physician would go along with the medical marijuana scam, or acquiesce to being forced to recommending it to patients when it is illegal under federal law as well.

Nevada's medical association should be commended for taking a stand against supporting legislation that used a misleading mass media campaign to bypass the FDA and foist medical use of a noxious weed on the public. The claim that marijuana has medical properties is irrelevant. The urine of pregnant horses has medical properties -- it's what the estrogen replacement therapy, Premarin, is made from -- but nobody uses the urine straight from the horse.

Not only does the potent marijuana being grown today have so many bad side-effects that emergency rooms around the country are being inundated, but it masks symptoms that may go untreated, causing the patient to have even more serious problems.

SANDRA S. BENNETT

Editor's note: The writer, who lives in LaCenter, Wash., is director of the Northwest Center for Health & Safety. The group, in part, serves as a clearinghouse for information about drug and herbs, including their dangers.

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