Letters to the editor for Monday, April 21

Thanks for drawing attention to the problem of speeders on rural residential roads ("Message from the neighbors: Slow down on our street," April 14).

Minnesota law appears to focus on drivers, but what are the rights of pedestrians on these roads? Northwest Northfield has a two-lane road without shoulders where speeders have long terrorized homeowners going to their mailboxes. Yet MnDOT recently raised the limit there to 40 miles per hour because that is the average vehicle speed.

Do pedestrians outside of the city core have any rights? My hope is not to create more problems for the police, but rather to make their presence unnecessary.

GLORIA J. KIESTER, NORTHFIELD, MINN.

Minnesota's law-enforcement leaders strongly oppose the adoption of a law legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.

Marijuana is not an accepted medicine. The use of smoked marijuana has been rejected by the American Medical Association and by the organizations representing the patients said to need it the most, such as the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Cancer Society.

There are many medical substitutes that have gone through the necessary and rigorous testing procedures of the Food and Drug Administration to insure safety for patients. In fact, there already exists a legalized form of "medical marijuana" in America: It's called Marinol.

Testimony last year by the bill's authors and supporters referred to it as a "tightly crafted" proposal that would affect only 150 to 200 sick and dying people in Minnesota.

On the contrary, this proposal would allow "registered organizations" to grow 12 marijuana plants for an unlimited number of "patients." These organizations (which will have no obligation to destroy unneeded marijuana) will be producing large quantities of "medical" marijuana, which will make them easy and likely targets for theft.

As to the number of "patients" likely to use marijuana under this proposal, one need only check the statistics of the state of Oregon, which has enacted a virtually identical law. As of April 1, 16,635 persons have been issued medical marijuana cards in Oregon.

JAMES C. BACKSTROM, DAKOTA COUNTY ATTORNEY AND PRESIDENT, MINNESOTA COUNTY ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION

You would think a president confessing to war crimes would be on the front pages of all the nation's newspapers, and all over their editorial pages -- not just on "Countdown" and "The Daily Show."

JOHN L. WEHLER, CRYSTAL

Where is the Congress? We learned earlier this month that President Bush had approved the outcome of a meeting his top aides held regarding the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques." Bush had previously defended these tactics. Now we hear he personally approved the techniques before they were used.

The national security team that discussed the use of harsh interrogation techniques included Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Condi Rice, Alberto Gonzales and John Ashcroft. These meetings included detailed descriptions of techniques such as waterboarding.

The United States has become a country that tortures. We need Congress to start an independent investigation of possible violations of the War Crimes Act and other laws against torture.

PAUL ABELN, BLOOMINGTON

I want to know precisely how much time riding an electric train on rails is going to save over riding an express bus (50 and 50S) that serves the same exact route. Presumably, if both have approximately the same number of station stops, and have to negotiate the same number of traffic lights, what exactly is to be gained by throwing down millions of dollars on tracks, stations, gates and power poles?

If potential passengers need something prettier to pry them out of their personal vehicles and into public transportation, then spend a million or so on dressing up the buses and adding coffee and tea service, if you have to. But let's save our rail and station dollars for routes that are likelier to have meaningful impact on traffic congestion.

C.I. MANNHEIM, APPLE VALLEY

Regarding his April 14 column "We must not leave the Iraqis vulnerable": I wonder if Michael Honneycutt is aware that Sunnis and Shiites intermarried before the United States invaded Iraq. The warring factions may hate each other, but they hate the U.S. more.

I'd wager that 60 days after the United States leaves, the various factions will no longer be killing and maiming each other.