November 16.

I note with interest Mr William McKelvey's call for the

decriminalisation of cannabis, but I fear that it will do nothing more

than generate entrenched positions (November 16).

On the other hand the recent acquittal at Liverpool of Dr Anne

Biezanek on a charge of supplying cannabis to her daughter for

''medical'' purposes reveals a situation on which there has been no

debate at all.

Cannabis was a legal remedy in the hands of the medical profession for

several thousand years. In 1971, when the Government set up a committee

to advise on drugs, it was actually advised to leave it legal for

medical purposes.

Thus it is only for 22 years, since the Government chose to ignore

this advice, that we have been deprived of an extremely valuable

medication.

During that time cancer sufferers, victims of multiple sclerosis,

Aids, and glaucoma have all learned to disregard the law for the sake of

relief, but their dosages have not been recorded, measured or

controlled.

It is time to correct this anomaly at once before we advance on the

general debate.

Leslie von Goetz,

Chesterhill House,

Newport-on-Tay.