Not All Legit Doctors Are Afraid of Medical Marijuana
I am a local physician who provides medical-examiner services for the certification of medical marijuana, commercial driver's licenses and pilot-license physicals. I find no shame in the services I provide ("A Sticky Stigma," Medical MJ, Oct. 6). If a person qualifies under the state guidelines and has medical records to confirm their claim, then I do a physical and a record-review.
There is shame for the clinics (mostly from out of state) that will certify patients for medical marijuana based upon undocumented medical history. These people are indeed shameful if they fail to do a comprehensive evaluation before they certify a patient for medical marijuana; the law is very specific in the medical-examiner duties for qualifying a patient for medical marijuana. I personally pre-qualify every patient before an appointment at Med Mar Plus. At the appointment, the emphasis is not on obtaining certification, but upon obtaining treatment for the patient's medical condition. I am proud, not shameful, that I utilize medical marijuana as part of a comprehensive treatment plan.
The certification mills need to be shut down. Medical marijuana is a tool, not the answer. If certifying physicians would treat marijuana in this manner, then the shame associated with medical-marijuana certification would fade.
Dr. Kevin Lewis
If You Want the Truth, You Must Alienate
Rebecca Rowe is concerned that Project Censored is alienating friends on the left by discussing evidence that Sept. 11 was an inside job and that chemtrails not only exist, but are deadly to life on Earth ("Censored Stories," Oct. 13). No one interested in truth will have friends on the professional left or right; truth attracts honest and independent people.
Malone Ducklo
Correction
In Irene Messina's Oct. 20 column, we misspelled Chet Gardiner's name. We apologize for the error.
