ROLE FOR FDA

Re: Dr. Michael T. Jamison's April 27 commentary, "Medicinal
marijuana at what cost?":

Dr. Jamison makes an important point: Medical marijuana is a
medicine, not a toy, and should be treated with appropriate respect.
No one should drive when reactions or decision-making abilities are
impaired by anything, be it marijuana, alcohol, drowsiness-inducing
over-the-counter antihistamines or prescription narcotics.

Doctors who hand out medical marijuana recommendations without
following appropriate standards of care should be disciplined by the
state medical board. Indeed, many have been.

But it's important to remember why medical marijuana is not presently
regulated by the Food and Drug Administration: The federal
government, obsessed with maintaining its unscientific position that
marijuana has no medical use, has consistently blocked the types of
research needed to bring medical marijuana under the FDA system. As a
result, states seeking a humane way to avoid arresting and jailing
those truly in need have been forced to improvise.

The day our federal government abandons 1937 and joins the rest of us
in 2008 is the day the sort of system Dr. Jamison envisions can be implemented.

- -- Bruce Mirken, San Francisco

(The writer is director of communications for the Marijuana Policy
Project based in Washington, D.C. -- Editor)