Letters on cannabis, Tillman, Clinton

Cannabis is not like heroin, LSD

Incredibly, the Drug Enforcement Administration has yet again chosen to ignore the science, patient testimonies, public opinion and common sense and ruled that cannabis is to remain as a Schedule 1 drug, along with heroin and LSD (Aug. 12 Eagle).

While 25 states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for medical and/or recreational use, the fact remains that too many powerful people are making too much money from prohibition to even consider changing the status quo.

Meanwhile, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, truly dangerous – but legal – prescription drugs, such as opiates and benzodiazepines, are killing tens of thousands of U.S. residents every year, and the numbers continue to escalate. In all of recorded history, cannabis use has never been known to kill or seriously harm anyone.

It is widely known that cannabis has been shown to help children with epilepsy and other seizure disorders live much-improved lives.

Veterans suffering from PTSD obtain relief with cannabis, yet this life-altering medicine is withheld from them.

What is wrong with this picture?

Tillman robbed

I think 4th Congressional District candidate Robert Tillman was absolutely correct in saying that Dan Giroux got free advertising from the Kansas Democratic Party and that it may have cost him the election (Aug. 6 Eagle).

And what is the gibberish from Kerry Gooch, executive director of the Kansas Democratic Party, about extending an offer to both of them but that only Giroux took the offer? So if both of them had accepted the offer, the party would have sent out mailers endorsing both candidates (and, yes, contrary to what Gooch said, the mailer was an obvious endorsement of Giroux)?

I had the most recent fund-raising letter from the Kansas Democratic Party sitting on my desk, with every intention of sending a check, when I received the Giroux mailer. I promptly pitched both of them.

I am 61 years old and have been a registered Democrat since I was 18. I have voted in every general election (and in every primary that occurred) since that time. I am now going to be an unaffiliated voter – not only because of this issue but because the state party endorsed the candidate who doesn’t believe in one of the basic tenets of the party: that women should have the right to choose what to do with their own bodies.

Although the state party may or may not have cost Tillman the election, it definitely cost itself a member.

Clinton’s record

With only a loyalty to themselves and the status quo, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton each make the case for becoming president based on their experience exercising power through domination of others.

With Trump, we have a disquieting feeling for what we will get, yet it cannot be known for certain until he serves. With Clinton, however, the uneasiness is notorious and real.

In the 1990s, the Bill Clinton administration showed its close relations with Wall Street when it pushed financial deregulation for those campaign supporters. This let loose the worst of financial manipulation, toxic assets and financial fraud. It eventually led to the collapse of Lehman Brothers and, but for taxpayer bailouts, the certain collapse of others. The Clintons became wealthy in the recovery that to date has primarily benefited only Wall Street and other crony capitalists.

Hillary Clinton’s connection with the military-industrial complex has long been evident as well. It is said that Republicans are the belligerents and Democrats the ones who put restraints on foreign interventionism. The fact is both parties are divided between hawks and cautious realists who don’t want the United States in unending war.

Clinton is a staunch militarist whose record of favoring American interventionism under the guise of regime change explains much of our current security danger.

Clinton is better

“Requires respect” was right on (Aug. 10 Letters to the Editor). As the letter said, Hillary Clinton is the “smartest person in the room and knows her way around Washington, D.C.” She is much better than the “bombastic novice.”

I also agree with “Show tax returns” (Aug. 10 Letters). The networks and cable news programs should demand Donald Trump’s tax returns.

I’m with her.

This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 5:03 AM with the headline "Letters on cannabis, Tillman, Clinton."