EFFECTIVE DRUG BLOCKED

Charles Levendosky states (Register-Guard Commentary section, Aug. 20)
that Congress needs to debate the medical marijuana issue.

That's not likely. Congress is part of the reason doctors are
threatened with arrest for recommending marijuana. During the Reagan
administration, a study by "drug czar" Bill Bennett and Congress on the
effects of cannabis was not deemed critical enough of the plant, so it
was redone until the results were satisfactorily negative.

The Democrats tout themselves as the party of the average person, so
why do they continue to ignore laws passed in so many states by average
people? There is no reason for the federal government to deny people
use of an effective drug. The use of marijuana does not cause death,
yet the Food and Drug Administration continues to put drugs on the
market that do.

It's time for this administration to stop interfering with a doctor's
right to prescribe and a patient's right to seek amelioration of his or
her problem.