Concern about marijuana ruling

Re “Patient loses appeal on medical marijuana,” March 15

I was sickened to hear of the appeals court ruling that refuses to reconsider our draconian drug laws even to save the life of a suffering woman. There is something wrong with a government that would rather spend billions of dollars keeping marijuana illegal and wasting countless law enforcement hours hunting down the ill and the dying, instead of simply acknowledging that marijuana is a useful medicinal herb (and even as a recreational drug is no more dangerous than alcohol) and decriminalizing it.

AMITAI ADLER

Los Angeles

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Let me see if I’ve got this figured out. This week we learned that meth heads are stealing copper from schools and construction sites, and cocaine traffickers have found a new and virtually unregulated pipeline for their product through the impoverished west coast of Africa. We also learned that our federal government is courageously fighting the marijuana war by protecting us from raging gangs of dying women who smoke pot to survive another day. Wow, I sure feel a lot safer.

SUSAN BUCKNER

Seal Beach

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Someone can drink himself to death without risking prosecution, but Angel Raich can’t smoke marijuana to relieve pain and preserve her desire to eat. This is a civilized society?

JOHANNA RUBBA

Grover Beach