Welcome 2007! It sounds so futuristic, so tomorrow. You'd think that we would be flying to and fro in carplanes through clean, gleaming skyscraper cities. In the future, thought is progressive and illness is rare. Surely, in such a time cannabis has been accepted as a therapy that helps to keep illness rare.

In order to reach this "shining city on a hill", a plan is needed, and this time, it shouldn't involve prohibition. OPN is considering such a plan for 2007.

We, of course, want the arrest and prosecution of patients like Randy Brush to end, for him to be the very last person to ever be incarcerated for a conviction that contains the word marijuana. But it can't end there.

The widening number of maladies for which this plant has been found useful represents another important issue for OPN. Each week we hear of a new condition that benefits from cannabinoid-based medicines. Parkinsons, Alzheimers, cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, depression, and glaucoma, just to name a few.

Then there is the bigotry directed toward cannabis that prevents it from becoming an accepted medicine. Government and business institutions routinely discriminate against cannabis patients who are simply trying to better their lives by using a medicine that works for them.

For all of these reasons, OPN is generating its vision for 2007 and beyond. There two other articles in this newsletter that concern planning, one to help us define our values and one to help us determine the threats and opportunities we face. We'd like for you to join in this discussion.

If you're not already on our e-mail discussion list, you can visit http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/content/view/177/97/ to join and participate by e-mail. Otherwise please send your comments to me at mjborden@ohiopatient.net or to P.O. Box 26353, Columbus, OH 43226.

We can become the future we envision. But we must put in place the structures that build it now. Please help us create our tomorrow today.

Mary Jane Borden
President, OPN