Hi!  I just wanted to clarify a few things:
 
Legal to smoke marijuana in California:
 
Uh, not quite.  The proposition was passed to legalize the purchase of
marijuana for *medical reasons*.  You can't just hop down to the local
dealer and say, "Gimme some." You have to present a written prescription for
an existing medical condition.  It is my understanding that pharmacies will
be filling prescriptions.  Since the local Cannabis Buyer's Club was raided
and shut down prior to the passing of this proposition, I'm not sure if it
will be able to reopen.  I've heard that this proposition will also enable
folks to grow their own for the same medicinal purposes.  Don't know how
that's supposed to work, though.
 
Too bad we can't get a written prescription for the purchase of ferrets.
You know, pet a fuzzy, lower your blood pressure.  :D I mean, it is
medically proven that people with pets live longer, adjust to stress better
and are less prone to commit suicide.  If we can't legalize them, maybe we
could prescribe them!
 
Robin Cook's Contagion:
 
Actually, the testing was not done on ferrets.  The ME had a particular
virulent strain of influenza virus that he wanted tested.  The lab tech told
him that if the titer wasn't high enough, that she would have go grow the
virus in ferrets and then harvest it.  It turned out the titer was high
enough and the ferrets were saved.  WHEW!
 
Thanks for letting me rant.
 
Irinia
[Posted in FML issue 1748]