EQUAL TIME: Medical marijuana not worth the risks

So-called "medical" marijuana is in fact a medical breakthrough straight
from the 19th century.

Back then, Americans were exposed to a host of patent medicine "cure-alls."
Most "cures" were alcohol, which explains why they made people "feel
better." Marijuana was also available as an elixir for everything from
migraines to gonorrhea.

Passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1907 exposed those claims, and
today Americans enjoy the world's safest, most effective medical system,
built on an unequaled process of scientific research and testing.

Marijuana advocates point to a thick study by the National Academy of
Science as justifying the drug's medical use.

But the verdict of that 1999 report was that "marijuana is not a modern
medicine." The authors described smoking marijuana as a "harmful drug
delivery system."

Nor has the Food and Drug Administration approved smoking marijuana for any
medical use.

It noted, "While there are no proven benefits to marijuana use, there are
many short- and long-term risks associated with marijuana use."

By the standards of modern medicine, medical marijuana simply does not pass
the test.

John P. Walters is director of the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy.