LETHAL DOSES

In the letter "Cheap pot ahead?," John Flynn wrote, "I believe we should
depend on the Food and Drug Administration to determine which drugs are
safe for the treatment of various illnesses and conditions."

According to a 1998 article in the Journal of the American Medical
Association, more than 100,000 Americans die every year from bad reactions
to FDA-approved drugs. Researchers from the Toronto study said: "Serious
adverse drug reactions are frequent ... more so than generally recognized.
Fatal adverse drug reactions appear to be between the fourth and sixth
leading cause of death."

Marijuana, on the contrary, has no known lethal dose. No data are collected
by the federal government about "deaths from marijuana toxicity," because
... well, there are none.

Although many of these potentially lethal FDA-approved drugs still maintain
an indispensable place in American medicine, marijuana - an invaluable
therapeutic drug for many patients - has a safety record that is unmatched
in the history of medicine.

Kevin Nelson
Bow, Wash.