Last week's Question of the Week asked whether ailing parolees should be allowed to use medically prescribed marijuana. About 55 percent of those responding said no.

Among 816 responses to this unscientific poll, 449 thought not, while 367 said yes.

The state Department of Corrections already is imposing a rule prohibiting people on parole or probation from using medical marijuana.

Some readers' comments:

- Yes. If a doctor gives the ailing parolee the OK to use marijuana for his medical condition, then so be it. Let the doctor make the decision like he would for any other patient under his care. If the parolee abuses his privilege or does not adhere to the rules, then his parole office should make the decision.

- Of course not. Using marijuana still is a federal crime, and you can't let somebody on parole break the law.

- People on probation who suffer from cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and other diseases should be allowed to use any lawful medication prescribed or recommended by their physicians. The Department of Corrections has neither the authority nor the expertise to supersede the judgments of licensed doctors, and automatically banning one medicine that a patient needs will require total reconfiguring of that patient's treatment regimen. When an AIDS patient can save taxpayers as much as $30,000 per year by using marijuana instead of riskier, addicting alternatives, why would the department choose to assume responsibility for these avoidable costs? It would be much cheaper and more humane for the department to supervise these few probationers more closely rather than unlawfully break Montana's medical marijuana law.

- Doing drugs is often exactly what causes a criminal to get into trouble with the law in the first place. Hanging around with others who do drugs is another way to get in trouble. How is a parolee going to take "going straight" seriously if his parole officer doesn't care if he takes marijuana?