Editor, Times-Union: Here in Pennsylvania, there has been an issue of serious note on the subject of “legalizing” marijuana for medical use. This has people hot under the collar on both sides of the fence. Some want it legalized because they, or a loved one, suffer from debilitating seizures due to epilepsy or some other cause, and they believe that “cannabis oil,” extricated from marijuana plants, may help relieve those who are afflicted by seizures. Former talk show host Montel Williams, who is afflicted with MS, spoke to reporters with WHPTV CBS 21 in Harrisburg on June 11, 2015, prior to attending a rally at 7 p.m. that evening hoping to gain support among state legislators here to see the need for allowing medicinal use for this otherwise illegal “controlled substance.” One thing I have yet to hear anyone mention is how another dangerous drug/controlled substance has been used for years by doctors and hospitals on patients following surgery, and that is “morphine.” My wife had to have a hysterectomy, due to cancer, over 15 years ago, and after being placed in recovery, she was hooked up to a morphine pump and told that anytime she felt a twinge of pain, just squeeze the pump and the morphine would relieve the pain. No one in their right mind wants to legalize marijuana for “recreational use,” we have enough losers who abuse alcohol, then get into a motor vehicle and cause carnage and death on the nation’s highways. If one of more chemical factors can be extracted from marijuana plants for the purpose of alleviating pain, seizures or other discomfort due to debilitating illness, the law has no business trying to interfere in such matters. It seems that given all the various acts of violence committed against large numbers of people gathered at events, work places, etc., those charged with creating or upholding our nation’s laws have become paranoid, fearful and so self-righteous that the only people who matter at all in this country are themselves and the public be hanged! That is the height of ignorance, and hypocrisy. William Gerald Smith Lancaster, Pa.
