O'ahu bus drivers go the extra mile

On behalf of all senior citizens, I would like to thank all O'ahu bus drivers for their patience and consideration.

When seniors enter the bus, the drivers make certain that they are all seated before driving off. They patiently answer any questions we ask.

It is a pleasure to ride TheBus.

May the drivers have a blessed Christmas and a joyful 2005.

What's big deal about medical marijuana?

The lead story on "Doctor's concerns over marijuana" was put in the wrong section, right? More appropriate would be the comics.

With the recent FDA warnings about two highly prescribed (and profitable) drugs, Vioxx and Celebrex, isn't it amazing Hawai'i doctors are worried that a patient smokes an herb grown at home?

Personally, I haven't seen a "joint" since college and only know these designer drugs by their glossy ads and catchy TV jingles.

I'd rather use nature to ease my physical problems than costly chemist lab pills.

And side effects from marijuana may include playing "Cheech & Chong" one too many times, uncontrollable giggling and quarts of Haagen Daz, which is far better than nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and suicide.

State windfall is part of the new bottle law

This is in response to Russell Gust's commentary "Bottle redemption system set up to fail." Of course it is!

If the state makes money on those cans and bottles not redeemed, why would it want us to redeem them? If it makes it as difficult as possible to redeem those items, it just means more money that it gets to keep and use for heaven only knows what.

I'm sure it won't be fighting crime or fixing potholes or doing anything about getting a subway system to provide an alternative to our current traffic gridlock.

New police guidelines needed on accidents

Monday's horrendous delays in traffic were caused by police investigating a traffic accident on the freeway. We all know they need to investigate accidents, but we also know that they need to quickly remove disabled vehicles to allow traffic to move.

I call upon the police chief to establish a time frame within which accidents should be investigated and the highway cleared — perhaps one hour maximum.

This time frame should be made public, and the police department should explore ways to make it possible.

The police need better, faster ways of investigating traffic accidents, and of clearing the highway so that traffic may flow. Our police chief needs to make a public commitment that he personally will guarantee the new guidelines and that he will enforce those guidelines.

Hannemann, council must act on taxes

Recent substantial increases in property tax assessments of 25 percent or more will significantly impact all of us: property owners, renters, lessees, business owners and consumers. This adverse impact will especially be felt by individuals on fixed incomes and by lower-income families.

Mayor-elect Mufi Hannemann and the City Council members must promptly address this issue and take immediate action. The following are some suggested actions:

• Immediately reduce property tax rates.

• Increase exemptions to property owners.

• Limit property tax increases to no more than the annual consumer price index (which is pegged to the inflation rate); or limit property tax increases to no more the 5 percent of the average prior three years of property tax assessments.

Youth academy is not for 'dead-end kids'

I attended the graduation ceremony for the Hawai'i National Guard Youth Challenge Academy on Saturday. I am a very proud grandmother of one of the graduating cadets. Thank-you for giving the ceremony the attention it deserved in your Sunday paper.

I'm writing to object to the language in the article regarding the cadets who succeeded in this rigorous program. Calling them "dead-end kids" who are "destined to hard lives and almost no hope ... " does not do them proper justice. These are young people for whom, for a variety of reasons, normal high school was not working.

The most important point missed by the article is that the academy is a completely voluntary program, so each of these students made a decision and commitment to the program and were able to leave at any time. In fact, some did leave: 147 began the course and 102 completed it. Out of those, 51 percent received their high school diplomas.

A large salute is due to all who completed the course. Many of us adults who managed to obtain our high school diplomas in the normal route would not be able to complete such a difficult program. These students are anything but "dead-end" or "without hope" as shown by their good choice to attend, their commitment and staying power in the face of great challenges, and their accomplishments while in the course.

They deserve to be given full credit and do not deserve to be portrayed as they were in the article.

'Common-sensical' views of Iraq, North Korea wrong

In the Dec. 16 Advertiser, professor Tom Plate recommended withdrawal of U.S. troops from the "hopeless disaster" in Iraq in order to marshal "moderate" Muslim and other international support and to better focus on preventing al-Qaida nuclear terrorism in the United States. He goes on to cite Graham Allison's prescription for preventing nuclear proliferation as a "common-sensical" approach.

In the February 2004 issue of Foreign Affairs Quarterly, Mr. Allison summarized his "common-sensical" approach toward handling the threat of nuclear proliferation by North Korea by stating the following: "If, however, North Korea refuses to verifiably relinquish nuclear weapons and persists in its current efforts, the United States should threaten to use all means, including military force, to stop it."

This sort of thinking by prominent academics never ceases to amaze me. What would professor Plate imagine to be the outcome of a premature withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq? Why not civil war among Iraqis leading to the creation of a terrorist semi-state where our worst enemies could have access to the nuclear and biological warfare expertise developed under Saddam Hussein? Things are bad in Iraq, but not yet bad enough to risk such an outcome.

Equally amazing is Mr. Allison's approach to containing North Korea's nuclear ambitions: The United States simply needs to threaten to "use all means, including military force, to stop it." There is no excuse for Allison not knowing or acknowledging the threat to Seoul posed by North Korean military forces. The use of pre-emptive U.S. military force against North Korea could result in the death of tens of thousands of South Korean civilians.

This is not a rational policy option, and the North Koreans know it. The only rational option remains the six-party talks pushed by the Bush administration and, within those talks, the inevitable need to use Chinese leverage to back North Korea away from its nuclear ambitions.

Clearing up medical marijuana

Robbie Dingeman's Dec. 20 front-page article "Doctors wary of sanctioning medical marijuana" unfortunately perpetuated some misconceptions about the status of Hawai'i's law, its relationship to the Raich case recently heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the First Amendment rights of physicians.

Her statement that "the U.S. Supreme Court is weighing whether laws such as Hawai'i's are valid" is inaccurate. The case that was argued in late November and will be decided by next June is Ashcroft v. Raich. The question the court is considering is not the validity of California's statute permitting the medical use of marijuana, but whether a person can be arrested by the federal government even if no money changed hands and all activities took place within the borders of the state. California's medical marijuana law, similar to the laws of Hawai'i and eight other states, is not being questioned in the Raich case. The main issue is states' rights.

The case was brought by the federal government against two seriously ill patients, Angel Raich and Diane Monson, who have asserted their right to use medical marijuana under California law even though federal law does not recognize any circumstances under which the use of marijuana is legal.

Right now, medical use of marijuana is legal under state law in Hawai'i and those other states, and patients are not subject to arrest by state or local authorities. Medical use remains illegal under federal law, and patients can in theory be arrested by federal agents. This rarely happens in part due to lack of resources — and to avoid likely backlash from the public about arresting sick people.

If the Supreme Court decides against patients Raich and Monson, the situation remains unchanged. If the court sides with the patients, then the feds will have to respect state laws on this issue and will not be able to arrest patients under federal law.

Hawaii Medical Association President Dr. Inam Rahman's comments that the "federal government can always come after the doctors" is also inaccurate. More than a year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a federal court of appeals ruling that allows doctors to discuss and recommend medical marijuana to patients. The ruling (in Walters v. Conant) came out of the Ninth Circuit, which includes Hawai'i. The lead judge in the case stated that the government's attempt to bar doctors from recommending medical marijuana strikes at "core First Amendment interests of doctors and patients" to speak frankly and openly.

While it is true that doctors in Hawai'i are wary of recommending medical use of marijuana to their patients, that is largely due to their lack of understanding of their rights and those of their patients. The certification system itself is simple and not time consuming.

Some of the reluctance of both physicians and patients to access the law stems from its placement in the state's Narcotics Enforcement Division, which is particularly intimidating to patients.

The Drug Policy Forum is drafting legislation this session to move the program to the Department of Health and make other changes to improve patients' access to this compassionate program.