Busting medical-pot study myth
Regarding a Nov. 23 column about medical marijuana readers deserve truth about medical-pot program,” Viewpoints):
Dr. Gina Mecagni repeated an urban myth in the debate over marijuana — that the National Institute on Drug Abuse won’t release marijuana “for research that does not specifically address drug abuse.”
A visit to NIDA’s website, drug abuse.gov/marijuana-research-nida, should put this myth to bed forever.
NIDA funds a wide range of research on marijuana, including “potential therapeutic uses of THC and other cannabinoids in treatment of pain, HIV and addiction.”
NIDA contracts with the University of Mississippi to grow marijuana for use in research studies at no cost.
Researchers do not need to be funded by the National Institutes of Health to obtain research-grade marijuana.
For example, the National Cancer Institute is funding a preclinical study on the potential benefits of cannabinoids for the treatment of breast-cancerinduced bone pain.
Readers should also take note that the American Medical Association voted last month to retain their long-standing position that “cannabis is a dangerous drug and as such is a public health concern.”
— Sheila Polk,
Religious, gay rights can coexist
uals and organizations the right to impose their own religious beliefs onto others. Actually, just the opposite is true. The gay-rights cause is winning now because most Americans, including Christians who are driven by the Golden Rule, are coming to understand this.
— Doug Metzger,
Fitzgerald embodies humility
Larry Fitzgerald is a special man. And it has nothing to do with football.
Larry volunteered in our St. Vincent de Paul Family Dining Room on Thanksgiving evening.
He could have been at home watching football and relaxing after the Arizona Cardinals practiced earlier in the day.
Instead, he chose to be with the homeless and working-poor families who come to St. Vincent de Paul for dinner.
But that alone isn’t what makes him so special.
Nor is it his enormous generosity — although he did donate more than 300 turkeys to St. Vincent de Paul for Turkey Tuesday, making it the nation’s largest one-day turkey collection ever.
What makes Larry Fitzgerald special is how he conducts himself: Graceful. Dignified. Kind. Respectful. Elegant. Patient.
He signed autograph after autograph. More than a hundred people posed for their picture with him. He made everyone feel important. He made everyone feel special. His beautiful smile conveyed his love. He thanked our staff. And the volunteers.
And every person who was with us that evening was touched by his presence.
That is the gift — the man who is blessed who treats others as equals. The man who makes his living running from defenders who embraces those whom society forgets.
— Steve Zabilski, Phoenix The writer is executive director of St. Vincent de Paul.