Time to Reach 21St Century -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.Com

Time to reach 21st century -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/columnists/sfl-sgcol15sbaug15...

September 26, 2008

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Home > News > Opinion Columnists Classifieds Text size: Popular stories: Opinion Place an ad Find a job Most viewed Most e-mailed Hot topics Find a car Time to reach 21st century Autos A-Z Stephen Goldstein | Columnist Race, ethnicity and religion play too large a role Find real estate August 15, 2008 in Broward County judicial elections Find rental properties Dating Douglas C. Lyons: Now that the convention is By Stephen L. Goldstein Pets over for Democrats, eyes on GOP Jurors reach right verdict in homeless murder Weather case

Hurricane HQ In spite of the fact that Florida is on the ultra-regressive side of every social issue — Fanatics use faith as excuse abortion, same sex-marriage, adoption by gays and lesbians, for example — I won't stop What's wrong with the four-day workweek? trying to enlighten our indigenous nincompoops. More most viewed We all have a vested interest in moving into the 21st century.

That said, it's high time for our Legislature to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Traffic Twelve states have already done so. Two states have passed laws News favorable to medical marijuana, Broward County Palm Beach County though short of legalizing it. Business Entertainment The pros and cons in the medical Lifestyle marijuana debate are laid out at www.procon.org , a highly Travel Stephen Goldstein • • • • • • • • • • informative web site. Bio | E-mail | Recent columns Crime & Safety Regional/Florida Ads by Google Here are some of the facts and Cuba/Americas opinions you'll find there that, I Nation/World Retreat Center For Women Substance Abuse Rehab. Speak to Our Specialist. believe, should make any rational Help Team human being support legalization — Legislature Privacy Guaranteed. even a Floridian: Elections www.BrookhavenRetreat.com Schools How to Lose Belly Fat Health and Fitness 1. Marijuana was used as medicine Finally, a Diet That Really Works! As Seen on Green Living in the U.S. until 1937. CNN, NBC, & CBS News. Columnists www.Wu-YiSource.com Corrections 2. In the opinion of Lester Multimedia Gallery Substance Abuse Treatment Grinspoon, M.D., Emeritus Substance Abuse Treatmentinfo. Find treatment Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Sports info online. Medical School, marijuana "is www.nillisalonspa.com extraordinarily safe — safer than Miami Dolphins most medicines prescribed every California Rehab Centers Florida Marlins day. If marijuana were a new Find the Top Rated Rehab Centers in California. discovery rather than a well-known Licensed Treatment Miami Heat substance carrying cultural and RehabProgramsToday.info political baggage, it would be hailed Opinion Substance Abuse as a wonder drug." Find Substance Abuse now See our Substance Obituaries Abuse guide 3. Since 1975, more than 70 percent www.CheapRated.com of Americans have "said" that News Tips medical marijuana should be legalized. Topics Letters to the Editor

Blogs 4. Three different U.S. government-funded studies have shown that marijuana may have Tips for getting your letter published: medical value. Video • Keep your letter brief. 5. Some of the symptoms and conditions that marijuana may mitigate: Alzheimer's, Get Local Palm Beach • Include your name, address and daytime anorexia, AIDS, arthritis, cachexia, cancer, Crohn's, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV, migraine, phone number. multiple sclerosis, nausea, pain, spasticity, and wasting syndrome. Newspaper Services • Get to the point. Most letters are edited for Get home delivery clarity and length. Subscriber services 6. As reported in the journal Brain , researchers at London's Institute of Neurology • Choose your words carefully. Letters that Work at Sun-Sentinel reported that "cannabis may . . . slow down the neurodegenerative processes that contain libelous or slanderous statements will Advertise with us ultimately lead to chronic disability in multiple sclerosis and probably other diseases." be edited or rejected. Buy photos • Do not send us copies of other people's work. Buy back issue 7. In 1997, Consumer Reports magazine concluded that "for patients with advanced AIDS • Do not send your comments as an Contact us and terminal cancer, the apparent benefits some derive from smoking marijuana outweigh attachment. Sell our paper any substantiated or even suspected risks." • Do not write again immediately after a letter is Newspaper boxes published. We won't consider your next letter 8. Groups ranging from the American Cancer Society to Kaiser Permanente support

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access to or research on medical marijuana, as does the New England Journal of for 60 days. Medicine. • More tips and things you should know about 9. Perhaps, U.S. Senior District Judge John L. Kane, Jr. (Colorado) made the best case letters to the editor in a 2002 op-ed, when he wrote "that tobacco is legal and, at 430,000 deaths per year, is • Submit a letter for publication the leading cause of substance-abuse deaths; that alcohol is legal and 11,600 die from it each year; that adverse reactions to legal prescription drugs cause 32,000 fatalities a year . . . that 7,600 people die each year from taking anti-inflammatory drugs such as The Editorial Board aspirin. . . . [But] the total number of deaths caused by marijuana is zero." Howard Greenberg, Publisher After getting the dope on pot, we look like dopes for continuing to criminalize something Earl Maucker, Editor that helps sick people. Digital Edition Antonio Fins, Op-Ed Page Editor Subscribe Now! For once, can't Florida do the right thing? > Resources Recent articles Stephen L. Goldstein duels the issues with retired Editorial Page Editor Kingsley Guy on RSS feeds alternate Fridays. E-mail him at [email protected] . • Results of recent Sun-Sentinel.com news polls. Mobile services Newsletters/Alerts Florida Lottery Find a restaurant E-mail Share Print Movie times Horoscopes Calendar of events Webcam Related topic galleries: Alzheimer's Disease , Herbal Medicines , Medical Specialization , Site Map Minority Groups , Newspaper and Magazine , Eating Disorders , Viral Diseases All topics Metromix Copyright © 2008, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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