Letters to the Editor

Where There's Smoke, There's Ire

Don't call us, we'll call you: After watching Matt Smith's continued presence in your pages in spite of his decline over the last few months from an arrogant but apparently sincere moron to a complete, flagrant asshole, I thought I'd write to see if you have any similar positions available.

Given a forum such as Smith's in which to vent my opinions without contradiction, I can promise to equally well express inflammatory views and generate widespread reader feedback based on my simplistic understanding of current issues.

I assure you I can match Smith's apparent pleasure in receiving hate mail, and am similarly more than happy to play fast and loose with any factual complications to my views. I am renowned among my acquaintances for my ability to speak with an air of authority on subjects in which I have a clear, visible lack of any sort of in-depth understanding. And my equal measures of being strongly opinionated and totally ignorant will assure that no debate I inflame will ever rise to the level of thoughtful discourse. I consistently strive to provoke emotional responses, and I habitually confuse generating controversy with raising some sort of genuine intellectual challenge. As with Smith's column "Burning Questions" (Feb. 28), I am also willing to sink to the level of antagonism and personal insult if necessary to be provocative and boost circulation.

Please respond ASAP, as my self-esteem depends entirely on getting money and recognition for those personal deficiencies which are normally detrimental in everyday social interactions.

I can provide writing samples upon request.

Michael Koopyitz
North Beach

A black and white issue: I'm impressed with your column (Matt Smith, "Burning Questions," Feb. 28, on abuses at medical marijuana clinics). Actually, you are getting very funny. Aside from all the serious issues, it's nice to laugh once in a while, and your style is rather hilarious.

I share your concerns regarding prescription mills. You are absolutely correct that wherever there is a black market there will be folks out to make money by prostituting their profession. In those areas of the state where a secure "white" market for medical marijuana exists, we see a drop in prices and certainly a decline in the fear medical cannabis patients have. Prosecution of medical cannabis patients and caregivers only forces patients to the black market. Patients should not have to secure their medicine from people who carry guns and also deal heroin and crack.

You are also absolutely correct that it is indeed a burn to have recreational marijuana users try to co-opt the medical cannabis movement. They are entitled to lobby for marijuana decriminalization, which many conservatives now support, but that movement should have nothing to do with the medical needs of truly ill patients.

Perhaps one of these days we will all get a huge dose of common sense and follow your suggestion to tax and regulate drugs while providing quality drug treatment on demand. All the billions of dollars and government intrusions on liberties associated with the war on drugs hasn't ensured one bit of public safety. Until then, can we drug test my pilot before my next flight to Sacramento?

Jay R. Cavanaugh, Ph.D.
Medical Advisory Board, American Medical Marijuana Association
West Hills

A marijuana success story: I was gratified to read the sentiments expressed in your column this week regarding the increasing abuse of Prop. 215. In 1996, after having been HIV positive for several years, I became ill and wasted down to 160 pounds by September. Although I had been a recreational cannabis user for a long time, I took full advantage of the offerings from the old Cannabis Buyers' Club and Flower Therapy club, and had regained 20 pounds by the end of that year. (Now I'm over 200, even using New York weed.) Even then, there were concerns about fraudulent prescriptions and hyper-inflated prices. But I was more concerned with not dying.

Here in Giuliani land, the local medical marijuana cooperative has been busted and hassled in a million ways, and the directors of the co-op have spent time in jail due to their dedication to the needs of folks like me. Medical pot helped save my life, and I bristle at the thought of abuses of statutes in California and other states. If that abuse continues, our cause will be lost for good. Thanks for having the guts to bring this stuff to light.

Animal J. Smith
New York, NY

The rights of the "doobied class": Talk about smears! Matt Smith wouldn't dare denigrate gays, blacks, or other minorities the way he vilifies marijuana users, dismissing them as "lame losers" and openly proclaiming his prejudice against the "doobied classes" ("Smoke and Smearers," Feb 14).

Smith blatantly slanders the medical marijuana movement as a front for "drug profiteers," ignoring the countless patients who find medical value in marijuana but continue to be persecuted by small-minded cops and DAs in spite of Prop. 215. Had Smith done his homework, he would have known better than to rank [Marin District Attorney Paula] Kamena among the "most reasonable" officials on medical marijuana. While one may legitimately question whether her derelictions merit a recall, Kamena has a reputation for petty-minded inflexibility, partiality, wrongheaded views, and intemperate remarks, and her policy has been a bust.