It breaks my heart that teens are taking drugs (and drinking alcohol; which is, of course, a drug - a killer one). Teens who smoke tobacco concern me terribly too.

I'm confused about this story though. Though I believe the teen years is a bit young to experiment with cannabis (or any herb that might have drug-like effects), the use of drugs scares me much more.

As science has taught us recently, cannabis has many health-enhancing alkaloids, and thc is just one of them.

In fact I wish I'd known about CBD in high school (as an athlete I would have excelled greatly).

After college, the use of alcohol and cannabis was not of interest to me anymore.

Then at age 50, I encountered health problems. I developed 4 of the qualifiers (very painful ones) to become a cannabis patient. But cannabis was not yet legal in my state so I was put on opiates (could have killed me).

Recently medical cannabis became legal in my state and I am now a patient. It has turned my life around completely. It is very different than the cannabis I used in college. It is an indica, which is known for it's higher cbd and less thc (or close to equal amount of thc/cbd).

If someone is looking for a high, medical cannabis is really not going to be what they seek.

You may wonder why I call it cannabis and not marijuana. In the scientific/and medical community it is called "cannabis". The term "marijuana" is a racist term not even used in America until Sen Joseph McCarthy named it so (to frighten people before the release of Reefer Madness). McCarthy was already addicted to opiates and they were being ushered into America as the "newer safer DRUG than MARIJUANA (the Hispanic term for cannabis). It worked and in around 1933 cannabis, once the safest and most prescribed medicine in America was banned, and opiates took over. Harry Anslinger, McCarthy's best friend and America's first drug czar facilitated that for his buddy.

Before you write about the evils of cannabis, consider this. If you live long enough, chances are extremely high (no pun intended) that it will save your life.

Thank you.

Richard Atkinson
Little Rock, Ar