U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte recently sent a mass mailer to select New Hampshire voters declaring that "doctors and patients should be making decisions on health care, not bureaucrats." Perhaps this means she has changed her position on HB 648, the medical marijuana bill which she opposed so strenuously earlier this year when she was attorney general?

The bill, which faces its final vote Oct. 28, would have faced few hurdles if Ayotte and her office had not opposed it so vociferously.

As a police officer, I have sworn an oath to enforce the laws of our state, but I do not think it is wise or appropriate for police officers or bureaucrats to interfere in health care decisions. I agree with the sentiment expressed in Ayotte's mailer, and I believe the medical marijuana issue provides a perfect test for whether Ayotte believes her own rhetoric. Unless she has changed her position on medical marijuana, the inconsistency is obvious.

I encourage all members of the Legislature to set aside their fears and vote to override Gov. John Lynch's veto.

If you or somebody you love was able to find relief from using marijuana to treat a horrible illness, wouldn't you want them to be protected from arrest?

BRADLEY JARDIS

Hooksett

(The writer is a police officer in Epping and a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.)