vol2 - Page 167

 legislators and high crate offlclals was rewarding and
 encouraging. _ found compasslonate_ well meaning and dedicated
 people _n the medical professions and In elective office who
 coul_ overcome decades of antl=drug hysteria to take affirmative
 action to make ma_$Juana avallable to seriously ill patients°
 121. Unfortunately, I also learned federal agencies
 are addicted to an outdated and dlscred_Lted policy which
 classifles marijuana a_ medically usele_s and "unsafe" for use
 under medlcal supervision. And I discovered federal officials
 will go to extraord±n_ry lengths _o maintain ma_iguana's
 m_solass_fictlono _n all candor I found officlals at FDA, DEA,
 NIDA and NC_ to be far more concerned with maintaining a
 d_sc_ed_ted proh_blt_on than An meeting leg±t_mate publ_c health
 needs.
 122o _f _ had to do It all over again _ would. And _f
 became close to someone with cancer _ or developed cancer
 myself and had to undergo radiation _nd/or chemotherapy treat-
 ments _ _ould not hesitant to break the law and smoke ma_!juana
 to meet my medical needs.
 f:.,
 123. To be perfectly honest° _ _ould not give a damn
 whether the very real medlcal benefits _ received from mariju-
 ana were sanctioned b_ federal agencies or not. Mar_uana,
 Legally obtained o_ bough% off the street, works. And if the
 federal government blocks patients from gaining l_cit access to
 mar_uana, am the7 have done _n Georgia, thome patients can
 always meet the_ leg_tlmate medical needs by becoming criminalSo