Since the Globe’s editorial earlier this week asking for input on the question of whether marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes only, we’ve received correspondence via letters, comments and Facebook comments.

Some were not surprising. I know that groups advocating making marijuana legal asked their members to join in on the debate. We’ve received letters from all over the United States.

But I got one — handwritten on a yellow legal pad — from an 85-year-old Neosho woman. She signed her name, but asked me to identify her as “a faithful reader.” Her message: “Marijuana should be legalized — period.” Her reasoning was that if the substance can relieve someone’s pain or nausea, then people should be able to use it without worrying about criminal consequences. That, coming from a woman of her generation, did surprise me.

Our editorial board took up discussion of the subject last week following the Cannabis Revival held at Landreth Park. Nearly 6,000 people attended the event that serves as a rally and information resource for local advocates of reforming marijuana laws. This year’s revival solicited donations to help support a medical marijuana initiative in Missouri.

Editorially, we’ve been careful to stay out of the debate — until now. We want to know if marijuana can really help sick people feel better. We have several stories assigned hoping to find out what our medical community thinks.

Advocates of the reform often use testimonials from cancer patients. They say it either relieves nausea, pain or helps appetite. When I was undergoing chemotherapy, I had several who offered to “hook me up” with a marijuana source. My thought was that I had enough trouble on my hands dealing with the cancer. I didn’t need problems with the law, as well.

But, some of the anti-nausea medication I took was very, very expensive. And sometimes it just didn’t work. A shot of Benedryl straight into my IV became my best friend. What I learned through the experience is that what works for one person, doesn’t for another, and there are days when you would give most anything for just a little relief.

Dave Woods, our new media editor, and I have combined our columns this week to provide you with a look at some of the correspondence we have received.

Here are excerpts from a couple of the letters I received:

A criminal?

The five years I lived in California, I used medical marijuana for the treatment of epilepsy. During that time the seizures were nearly nonexistent.

When I moved back to the less medical marijuana state of Missouri, my seizures started as they were before. Heavily medicated with anti-epileptic drugs, I still have 20 (seizures) a day. I have been arrested for possession of cannabis because I was attempting to self medicate. Physicians are legally permitted to prescribe drugs that are much more risky than marijuana. Where is the logic? In my struggle with epilepsy I have found the miracle drug that stops my seizures. I have been turned into a criminal trying to get this medicine and have a record for being an illegal drug user.

Michael Carroll

Lee’s Summit

Research

For the last few years, I have traveled this country, interviewing the chronically and terminally ill. My goal is to provide a means of communicating the plight of those most vulnerable, in their own words and to educate the general public concerning the holistic value of cannabis.

The consensus of this research? That cannabis is not only highly effective in relieving the symptoms of most auto-immune disease, but in many cases, it can actually stop the progression of disease and even reverse its progression in many patients.

You don’t have to take my word for it or even the volumes of science that our lawmakers insist on ignoring. Just listen to those whose illnesses are documented. In most cases, the proof is in their words and their medical records.

Mark Pedersen

Cannabis Patient Network

St. Louis

Reefer madness

Thousands of Joplin-area residents attended the recent celebration in Landreth Park. The pro-pot crowd listened to music and perked their ears when speakers advocating the decriminalization of possession of small amounts marijuana hit the stage.

Several of the speakers, many nationally known for their views, are calling for a statewide initiative aimed at legalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes in the Show-Me State. Others were just looking for a good party.

Joplin’s drug-law reform advocates have staged the event in various forms since 1997, and some, as you can see from the comments below, don’t like it at all.

“So, was there a police presence at this ‘gathering’? If not, they missed another opportunity to bust (festival organizer) Kelly Maddy and his stoned friends. Why don’t the police just arrest this troublemaker and his stoned friends at one of his gatherings and be done with them?”

— Anonymous

“‘Why don’t the police just arrest this troublemaker and his stoned friends at one of his gatherings and be done with them?’ Maybe because it is against the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable search and seizure. They could arrest someone for smoking marijuana, but they cannot arrest someone for talking about it (there’s also that pesky First Amendment). You’d better hope you never get your wish, or next they might decide to arrest people for their political speech.”

— Local Boy

“Go ahead and kill the last two remaining brain cells off you losers. That just leaves more job opportunities open for me because the last applicant couldn’t pass his or her drug test for employment.”

— Chuck

Personal experience

The Globe covered the Cannabis Revival on Saturday and reported back Sunday morning. Soon after posting the coverage online, dozens of comments from those who use pot for medical purposes — or have friends or family who have — started sharing their stories.

“I use cannabis as an adjunct to the pain medication that I am prescribed. The great thing about cannabis is that you can use as much as you need, unlike prescription medicines where you must keep to the proper dosage interval. As incredible as it seems, there has never, ever been reported an overdose from cannabis, and it has been used as medicine for thousands of years.”

— Richard Hode

“Yes, I am a STRONG supporter of the legalization of medicinal marijuana. I have a daughter that at age 26 had a level three spinal fusion and her spine is deteriorating rapidly. She is constantly in major pain and I’d like for her to be able to at least try medicinal marijuana to relieve some of her pain. I know there are many people out there with similar problems, and their quality of life could be greatly improved.”

— Terri

“I returned recently from California where I was with much of my family gathered at the bedside of my 32-year-old cousin with ovarian cancer. She was able to pass peacefully and painfully and with dignity, with the help of the medically prescribed marijuana, unlike her mom who died writhing and sweating and in such pain that she could not speak, from the same cancer, here in Missouri.

— Bethany

‘Ain’t gonna happen’

Apparently some readers have already made up their minds and don’t think the subject merits coverage at all in our newspaper. We disagree. As the health care debate rages around the country, we believe there is no better time to explore the issue than now.

“The Globe, in effect, is condoning the legalization of marijuana by their incessant use of their radio program, the editorials, and the news articles. Federal studies indicate marijuana use as being detrimental to brain cells and linked to aggressive testicular cancer and the growth of man-boobs. There is no good in marijuana. Medical? The medical use of marijuana is abused because it is given the status of a panacea where no evidence supports such a status. The Globe has done nothing but promote marijuana to appeal to their anarchist readership.”

— Duh!

“Cannabis is already being used as a pain management drug. I have a good friend with cancer that is on it. It is called Marinol. Look it up.”

— Why lie?

“I have this to say, there sure are a bunch of wrong-minded fools out here trying to sell dope on The Joplin Globe. Folks, anything that will alter the mind and body to the point that it loses its normal functions is not good for anyone. Drugs, alcohol and all the other ‘stupid,’ mind-altering crap has no value whatsoever.”

— oldman

Maddy ‘friends’ fire back on facebook

The Globe launched our Facebook page last week. Kelly Maddy, Joplin NORML president, the Cannabis Festival’s organizer and longtime marijuana law reform advocate, appealed to his Facebook “friends” to chime in on the debate after we posted our Cannabis Festival coverage online. The number of comments posted to his appeal is impressive. Maddy’s call-out led to more than 40 comments in a very short time.

“No surprise coming from me, but of course! There is abundant scientific evidence that marijuana is a safe, effective medicine for some people. In 1999, the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported, ‘Nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting, and all can be mitigated by marijuana.’ Furthermore, doctors are allowed to prescribe cocaine, morphine and methamphetamine. Can anyone say with a straight face that marijuana is more dangerous than these substances?”

— Kelly Maddy

“I agree with Kelly. Absolutely. The fact that this question even needs to be asked baffles me.”

— Amy Skewes

“It’s just an excuse for druggies to get away with their habits. It’s terrible for the economy and doesn’t cure anything. There is no such thing as responsible marijuana use.”

— Vance Russell

“I have lived with a chronic, debilitating pain condition for almost 20 years. I couldn’t believe it when I went to see a pain specialist today who made me sign a contract ‘promising’ not to use cannabis. Instead, he gave me prescriptions for a muscle relaxer and a codeine-derived pain medication. How exactly does this make sense?”

— Lorinda Lori Vogel Justus

Carol Stark is the editor of The Joplin Globe and Dave Woods is the new media editor.