Gordon Clay here.

Have you ever had back or neck pain that made it almost impossible to move or sleep without a sharp or continuous pain. Imagine living every day with that pain.

Finally, this administration has put a stop to the harassment of honest citizens who legitimately need medical marijuana to help with pain management where prescription drugs and their side-effects fail. Anyone who has ever known anyone in this situation will sigh a sigh of relief. However, some, including some in the health professions, will bemoan this action claiming that even more kids and those without a license will be using marijuana.

The 2007 Oregon Healthy Teens survey reported 31% of 8th graders had consumed alcohol in the last 30 days compared to 9% who had used marijuana.

There are laws in Oregon and 13 other states saying who can grow and use marijuana. Maybe violators aren't being prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Maybe those laws aren't strong enough. A possible solution: change the law and enforce it. If a doctor prescribes medical marijuana for someone who doesn't have a legitimate need of it, remove his license to practice. If someone makes a false claim to the doctor to get a license, make it a felony. If some grows marijuana and provides it to someone without a license, charge them with drug trafficking and jail them. If someone with a medical marijuana license provides marijuana to anyone else, remove their license and see to it that they are never able to get a license again in any state. If they make it available to a child, charge them with child maltreatment and consider removing the child from the household.

Taking these steps in Oregon will insure that those who really need the medicine can get and use it without worrying about going to jail.