Marijuana helps cancer patients

Guy W. Farmer's article on the opinion pages Sunday, Nov. 12, gave me some consternation and surprise. He claims that the passage of Question 9, legalizing medical marijuana, with equating this overwhelming electoral support to "...the neo-hippie Burning Man crowd will be delighted that we opened the door to legalized drugs."

Apparently, Mr. Farmer believes that cancer patients who die in protracted agony and unrelenting nausea should not benefit from a proven scientifically studied palliative approach. Anyone who has observed an end stage cancer patient's suffering and the relief from that suffering after the use of medical marijuana would never question the medical benefits.

How medical use of marijuana will "open the door to legalized drugs" baffles me. Nevada already has the toughest laws in the entire nation prohibiting the use of marijuana. Hundreds of Nevadans and hapless travelers from nearby states are languishing in the state's correction gulag, serving two to six years for a crime that in California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska would lead to the equivalent of a misdemeanor traffic ticket!

Our western neighboring states do not have any worse problem with marijuana due to medical use or otherwise than we do here in Nevada. Draconian laws and long-term incarceration for casual use of marijuana in Nevada has not solved the illegal use of drugs in this state. What we need is treatment for substance abuse, not incarceration. Medical use does not lead to illegal abuse.

The wisdom of the people of Nevada in passing Question 9 speaks for itself. Too many of us have watched our friends, relatives and loved ones die in unspeakable misery. Anything that can help and has been properly researched should be used.

There is no meaningful risk of drugs used in a cancer ward spreading into the streets for illegal abuse because it is already in every community in America and Nevada and has been for decades. A terminally ill person deserves all the relief that medical science can possibly provide.