MADNESS, ALL RIGHT

Apparently the Obama administration is hinting at a change in policy
on marijuana ("Medical pot policy in limbo," Feb. 8). The time is
long overdue to civilize the personal use of this substance for
medical purposes or recreation.

I am unaware of any death connected only to marijuana use. And if it
cannot be demonstrated to have caused even one death, then I see no
health and safety basis for making it a controlled substance.
Marijuana is in Schedule I at the federal level along with heroin and
mescaline. This is nonsensical.

A historical review does include the distribution of the film "Reefer
Madness," which is a series of hallucinatory scenes used by drug
control advocates to foster a general panic in our population without
any evidence of harm.

David R. Work

Chapel Hill

The writer is the retired executive director of the N.C. Board of
Pharmacy.