Let the people decide

Let the people decide
EDITOR:
This letter is prompted by the article "Medical battle goes back to court" in the March 27 Vindicator. I'm baffled by the fact that a woman has the legal right to choose the means by which she will terminate a life growing inside of her and carry it through. Yet a person who's facing or experiencing severe pain, possibly death, doesn't have the right to choose the type of controlled or uncontrolled substance to alleviate his or her pain.
For a human race that is so advanced in so many areas, we're so behind the times in this one. Cannabis is on this earth for a reason. Everything and everyone has a purpose. Our government has deemed it an illegal controlled substance and as "having no medical value. & quot; If the government feels that cannabis has no medical value, then why is it so hell-bent on keeping it out of use? The government appears to be trying to control it to the point of keeping it away from the folks who benefit the most from its use.
As far as pain management, government needs to take a laissez-faire approach. My dad used to say that our government is getting too big when it starts dictating what we can and can't do for ourselves. Government should protect us from other governments and those who want to harm us. What choices we make for our bodies are between our maker and each of us. If we continue to allow government to make our choices, someday they'll be dictating what we can eat, when we can eat and so on.
The doctor mentioned in the article has 3,000 patients alone who have successfully used cannabis for pain management. That tells me that folks will seek out others who will help them get what they want and need for themselves and that folks know what works best for them.
There are a lot worse drugs out there than cannabis. Yet last year, while our Drug Task Force kept making big news for all the big marijuana busts, you didn't hear anything about any cocaine or heroin busts. What about alcohol? Tobacco? They're controlled substances, aren't they? They're available for sale in stores on every street corner. All you have to do is prove you're over 21 (sometimes less than that). Why not cannabis?
Dad use to say, "Put legalizing cannabis on the ballot, instead of in the hands of our legislators, and it would be legalized by a landslide. & quot;
LYNN ZAJAC
Struthers
Reader skeptical of claim that Americans won't work
EDITOR:
This letter is in response to an article on Simon Roofing bringing men over from Romania to work, claiming they can find no workers here. With the unemployment rate as high as it is in the Mahoning Valley, it is an assault on the intelligence of every person here to believe this is the case.
Simon Roofing has brought Romanians here, is housing them at the Holiday Inn Metroplex, feeding them, and is training them in the industry. What is the cost of all this?
Why then can't this money be used to train our own youth? This cost has to be cheaper.
Simon Roofing and other businesses must get involved with local high schools; put together workshops to let students know, first that you exist. Second, show videos on the type of work your company does, have students go through the process of properly filling out an application, also give mock interviews. One of the things our youth need is direction.
We keep on stepping over and ignoring our youth. So when one of our youths takes the notion to put a gun in your face and says stick 'em up, remember: Frankenstein wasn't the monster, Frankenstein was the doctor who created that monster.
CHARLES PENNY
Youngstown