WE SHOULD USE SCIENCE, NOT THE BALLOT BOX, TO MINISTER TO DISEASE

Editor, The Times:

On Election Day, residents of Washington state will be asked to vote
on a referendum that would legalize cultivation, distribution,
possession and consumption of marijuana ostensibly for medical
purposes. We should all seek safe and effective medicine to treat
medical ills, but our collective interest is better served when
proven, scientific processes - not the ballot box - minister to disease.

Crude marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals, and we know the
effect of only a 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 FDA has encouraged the pharmaceutical industry to develop other
methods for administering THC - for example, by patch, suppository or
inhaler.

Such developments may make it easier for more individuals to realize
the possible therapeutic benefits of THC under controlled, prescribed
conditions.

This marijuana referendum comes at a time we can't afford to send the
wrong message to our children about marijuana or other illegal drugs.
Juvenile marijuana usage rates have skyrocketed in the past six years.
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 is impaired
by the psychoactive effects of this drug. Indeed, marijuana is now the
second leading cause of car crashes among young people (after
alcohol). If we lower the societal barriers further, then marijuana
use among youth surely will escalate along with the negative
consequences of drug abuse.

Now is the time for concerned Washingtonians to say "yes" to their
communities, their children, and themselves by voting "no" on this
initiative.

Barry R. McCaffrey and Donald R. Vereen Jr., Office of National Drug
Control Policy Washington, D.C.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady