THE MARIJUANA SMOKE SCREEN

Your April 16 editorial "Marijuana: Leave room for relief for patients"
ignored the real issues behind the effort to legalize marijuana for
so-called medical purposes.

In 1999, the Institute of Medicine, having reviewed all the scientific
evidence concerning the medical use of marijuana, concluded that there is
little future in smoked marijuana as a medicine. That shouldn't come as a
surprise. The typical puff of marijuana contains roughly 400 different
chemicals.

Marinol, a medicine in the form of a tablet, produces many of the same
benefits as marijuana without all of the damaging side effects. And unlike
marijuana, it has been approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration.

State-by-state referendum campaigns, staged by drug advocates and
bankrolled by billionaires, are no substitute for serious medical research.

Of course, nothing about this campaign represents a serious effort to
alleviate pain and suffering. In fact, the campaign is simply a tactical
maneuver in an overall strategy to legalize all drugs.

Rich Isaacson

Demand Reduction Coordinator

U.S. Drug Enforcement AdministrationDetroit Division Office