Every marijuana "legalizer" isn't some anti-government anti-
establishment anarchist! I love my country, but that doesn't mean I
have to agree with every single law on the books. Some laws are
ridiculous and some are unjust. Some were implemented in an effort to
protect citizens, some successful, some not. The laws regarding
marijuana are highly unsuccessful, locking up fine, otherwise law-
abiding citizens; especially laws regarding the medical use of the
drug.

Why does Bayer have to clump every marijuana "legalizer" into a little
group of immature, ill-educated, confused teenagers with their heads
in the clouds about the 1960s?

I completely agree that marijuana should be thoroughly tested before
attempting to legalize it for medical purposes. But the U.S Drug
Enforcement Administration doesn't want it to be, nor do law
enforcement offices across the country - they make too much money
busting marijuana users.

It is extremely hard for research institutes to obtain marijuana for
federal medical research because of the DEA. Something has to be done.
Researchers are capable of doing something good and right, and doing
it through the established governmental agencies too!

Also, the FDA's process of approving drugs doesn't fit well with
marijuana. Case in point, the "double-blind" test. This is where a
drug is administered to a patient and the patient isn't told if it is
the real thing or a "control" drug (one that has no effect on the
patient). This test is meant to take away the mental bias of the
patients, so they can't make a decision based on what they think they
"like" and a true physical analysis can be performed.

With marijuana, though, the patients obviously can tell if they are
smoking it or if it is in a pill form. And since the "smoking" of
marijuana is what actually gives the medicinal benefits, it's hard for
researchers to come up with a procedure for testing marijuana that the
FDA will approve of.

Bayer's talk of Marinol as a medical marijuana alternative is simply
false. Marinol isn't nearly as effective to AIDS patients and
chemotherapy patients who suffer from extensive nausea and pain as is
the smoked form of marijuana. Some patients can't take the pills
because they cough them back up due to their nausea. Marinol also
hasn't been very effective at treating spasms as a result of
spasticity either.

Bayer's article was vague and uninformative, but was a fine piece of
propaganda. That is what the Office of National Drug Control Policy
{where Bayer works} is for, I imagine.

Jason Rudisill
Raleigh