IGNORING A NATURAL DRUG

Americans expect the Food and Drug Administration to vouch for the safety
of prescription drugs, but the recall of Baycol, a cholesterol-lowering
drug made by Bayer, after the deaths of 31 people, shows the FDA is more of
a tool of the pharmaceutical industry than a protector of Americans' health.

Like Lotronex, Rezulin and fen-phen before it, Americans who put their
faith in the FDA drug-approval process jeopardized their health and even
lost their lives taking drugs that ultimately had to be recalled.

Meanwhile, bureaucrats in the FDA and other federal agencies continue to
balk at allowing Americans to use marijuana for medical purposes despite
more than 5,000 years of recorded medical use.

The prohibition of marijuana extends to its non-psychoactive cousin, hemp.
Hempseed is a source of complete protein that lowers cholesterol levels and
builds the immune system. Yet the bureaucrats who tell us what we can or
cannot put in our bodies prefer that we take dangerous synthetic
pharmaceuticals instead of safe and natural products derived from a plant
that could give struggling family farmers a fighting chance if only the
Drug Enforcement Administration would let them.

The harm caused by cannabis prohibition has seeped into nearly every facet
of American life. It's time to allow our citizens to reap the many benefits
offered by this God-given herb.

Gary Storck, Madison, Wis.