Medical Pot
To the Editor:
I have fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis. I also suffer from severe, recurring depression as well as high-level anxiety. I have painful muscle spasms that last for days. I’m currently taking oramorph (morphine) and valium as needed to help get to sleep.
I used marijuana recreationally and then medically (“High Time?” January 27th issue) after I was diagnosed with fibro in 1992. I grew my own supply until the penalties became too stringent. I am a 48-year-old male and at one time served as a state commissioner of Indian Affairs.
Marijuana is the only medication that has relieved my pain to any extent. With only a few hits of smoked marijuana, my spasms stopped and I realized that I had been in constant pain. I was also able to sleep like I hadn’t in many years. To me, the health benefits of marijuana far outweigh the health risks, even compared to my current prescribed medications.
Because of the severe criminal penalties, I have not used marijuana in many years and have to take VA-prescribed addictive opiates to find little relief. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help with passage of the medical marijuana bill.
John Hedgecoth
Crossville, Tennessee
Easy’s Over
To the Editor:
Mike Ginsburg, general manager of radio station WTTQ, says his station received hate mail due to the liberal tone of the station’s new programming (“The Fly-by,” February 3rd issue). I don’t hate the station, but I do hate that a beautiful easy-listening station, WJCE, had to be closed down to make way for WTTQ. No longer can Memphians hear Ol’ Blue Eyes, Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, etc. No longer can we get a CNN news update every 30 minutes. Turning to WJCE in the morning made my day.
R.I.P. WJCE!
Barbara Z. Blair
Memphis
A Funeral “Home”
To the Editor:
You have to give state senator John Ford a lot of credit. He has to be the busiest and hardest-working man in Memphis (“The Fly-by,” February 3rd issue). Just think how much time he must spend earning $357,000 from consulting. He would have to be working 12-hour days to justify being paid that kind of money. Where can he possibly find the time to be a state senator, manage two expensive homes, father (at least) six children, run a funeral home, and be such a shining example to the youth of Memphis?
Obviously, Ford took the funeral “home” literally, since it’s the only thing he actually owns in his district.
Bruce Carlock
Nashville
A Finger in the Dike?
To the Editor:
You people need to chain Tim Sampson to his computer and feed him only if he produces a weekly column (“We Recommend,” January 27th issue). Our civilization is crumbling after decades of neglecting education, health care, and the infrastructure. The flag-waving, massive budget deficits, and vulgar materialism behind all of Bush’s policies to make the rich richer only hasten our decline.
Maybe our country can’t be saved, but whatever happens, villains need to be recognized for what they are. Sampson does that delightfully well. What if the little Dutch boy had kept his finger in the dike only every other week?
Greg Williams
Memphis
Editor’s note: Tim says he can only write every other issue, and we believe him. We have no idea (nor do we want to know) where Tim keeps his finger on off-weeks.
HIDDEN TREASURE
To the Editor:
Last week a dead body was discovered in Overton Park. A few days later, a policeman was shot while trying to arrest someone there. If the city would clean out the brush and make the park more open, it would be more attractive for joggers, bicyclists, and walkers. Police on bikes or horses could patrol the area, as they do in Central Park in New York. We have a beautiful park in the middle of the city that’s being underutilized. If we don’t do something with this treasure, the problems will only get worse.
John Gary
Memphis
