BALLOT-BOX PRESCRIPTIONS RISKY

On Election Day, five states and the District of Columbia will vote on
referenda that would legalize marijuana cultivation, distribution,
possession and consumption, ostensibly for medical purposes. We should all
seek safe and effective medicine to treat disease, but our collective
interest is better served when proved, scientific processes -- not the
ballot box -- minister to illness.

Any purported medicine smoked in unmeasured amounts and unknown purity is
suspect. Crude marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals, and we know the
effect of few.

The active ingredient in the cannabis leaf, THC, is synthesized in measured
dosages as Marinol, a prescription drug that has been available for 15 years.

The Food and Drug Administration has encouraged the pharmaceutical industry
to develop other methods for administering THC -- by patch, suppository or
inhaler. Such developments may help more individuals realize the
therapeutic benefits of THC under controlled, prescribed conditions.

If components of marijuana other than THC are found to be medically
valuable, the current scientific process will approve them for safe use. In
fact, the Office of National Drug Control Policy is supporting a major
study of marijuana by the National Academy of Science's Institute of
Medicine. The study should be completed in January.

These referenda come at a time when we can't afford to send the wrong
message to children about marijuana or other illegal drugs. Juvenile
marijuana usage has skyrocketed in the past six years. Some kids now begin
smoking pot in the sixth and seventh grades. Half of today's teens do so
before completing high school. Many will suffer from decisions made while
their judgment was impaired by the psychoactive effects of this drug.

Indeed, marijuana is now the second-leading cause of car crashes among
young people. If we lower societal barriers further, marijuana use among
youth surely will escalate along with the negative consequences of drug
abuse.

Now is the time for concerned voters to say "yes" to their communities,
their children and themselves by voting against these initiatives. Far
better to be safe than sorry.

Checked-by: Richard Lake