Marijuana not dangerous
Any discussion of Dr. Nicholas A. Pace’s letter, “Marijuana use is dangerous,” (Daily Star, June 30) must be prefaced by the fact that there isn’t one credible scientific study that proves marijuana is a dangerous herb _ not one.
To the contrary, in an analysis contained in a recent European Union report on cannabis published on June 26 by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, author Robin Room stated that “On every comparison of dangerousness we have considered, cannabis is at or near the bottom in comparison with other psychoactive substances.
It should also be noted that Dr. Pace is a professional associate of Dr. Gabriel Nahas, a notorious anti-marijuana zealot whose studies regarding the purported dangers of marijuana were so biased and unscientific that he was fired by the National Institute of Health in 1976 and _ under ridicule from his peers _ renounced all of his studies in 1983.
Dr. Pace claims that smoking marijuana exposes an individual to twice the number of carcinogens as tobacco, yet he failed to mention that the active ingredient in marijuana cuts tumor growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread, according to researchers at Harvard University who tested the chemical in both lab and mouse studies.
He also failed to mention that in 1999 a study by the National Institute of Medicine concluded that “Scientific data indicate the potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs, primarily THC, for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation.”
The bottom line is: any fool can claim marijuana is dangerous _ but there isn’t one who can prove it.
Walter F. Wouk
Cobleskill
Stop talking about religion
Like most actively interested voters, I have some interests that take priority. Right now, one priority matter is a wish that everyone would shut up about religion. Apparently, it was too much to hope for that, with Huckabee and Romney out of the Republican campaign race, religion would fade from sight and mind, where it belongs.
Then came Internet clips of Pastor Jeremiah Wright, followed by “news” of McCain’s evangelical supporters. Now we read of a Pew Forum poll on religious belief that states that 92 percent of Americans believe in a “God.” As a non-believer in “God” and polls, I have to wonder just what the Pew Forum agenda is and what methods are used to arrive at the percentage published from a sampling of citizens.
I am suspicious of the agenda of those behind the Pew Forum polls and of the timing of the published poll. But then I suspect the motives of any person or group that seems intent on muddying the political scene (surely muddy enough most times anyway) with irrelevant religious intrusions.
One marginal note: If the Pew Poll is anywhere near to the actual state of belief in the U.S., it means only 8 percent of citizens are grounded in reality _ and some wonder why the country is falling apart!
William F. Roberts
Otego
