Kathleen Parker’s points (10/22) to support marijuana for medicine makes it apparent that the pro-pot lobby is using the issue as a first step toward the legalization of marijuana.

What happens when marijuana is legal for medicine? Doctors can write an Rx for marijuana for anything, including anxiety, stress, moodiness, or irritability. These are human emotions people have dealt with creatively since time began, ie: music, art, literature, science, etc. — not so if a person is drugged into a lethargic state.

Marijuana for medicine gives a message that it is a benign substance and then usage increases. Sure, some have survived to talk about it, but many have slipped through the cracks.

Like many in the pro-pot lobby, Parker fails to mention the health issues associated with pot usage. For comparison, one drink of alcohol is metabolized out of the body in 24 hours. However, the main chemical in one marijuana joint takes weeks to be metabolized.

The chemicals in marijuana eat away the cells and leave holes in the brain. The moderate and frequent user has many symptoms: lack of motivation, memory loss, change in personality, addiction and other symptoms. Ultimately, the person becomes dependant on others and society as a whole.

Will we let the pro-pot lobby have their way?

Helen H. Reske

Pendleton