Jackie Toth's recent letter to the editor opposing legalization of marijuana is premised on the mistaken notion that a person should be legally prohibited from harming themselves--a proposition rooted in the belief that people are mere vassals of the state and not autonomous individuals. This idea is inimical to the founding principles of this nation and underlies much of the control the government exercises over citizens. People should be free to choose to do what they wish with their bodies, even if it is not in their own self-interest.

Ms. Toth also discounts medicinal use of marijuana because it is only a "pain reliever." While marijuana may not yet be a cure for a specific disease, the fact that it has the potential to lessen chronic pain is enough to validate its use in medicinal settings. Many drugs, including morphine-derivatives, are not "cures" for any specific diseases and are merely mind-altering pain-relievers. But their effects allow people to continue with their activities of daily living at a level that they would be unable to achieve due without relief from their pain. Moreover, marijuana is not just used for chronic pain syndromes. Marijuana's use importantly extends to combating nausea that accompanies many illnesses and chemotherapy administration. This effect can allow doctors to continue to prescribe higher doses that otherwise would be precluded and by improving tolerance to certain medication, improves compliance. The appetite stimulant properties of marijuana also are beneficial in diseases characterized by wasting. Marijuana is clearly a therapeutic adjunct utilized in several diseases and its oral formulation, Marinol, is of reduced potency.

While Ms. Toth thinks that the continued criminalization of marijuana is saving people from an unmitigated ill, she is, in effect, exacerbating the sicknesses of the ill and supporting a dictatorial manner of government.