MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOULD BE LEGALIZED

Columnist Clarence Page, in his March 16 column, has it exactly right:
The decision by the Obama administration to end Drug Enforcement
Administration raids aimed at undermining state medical marijuana laws
is a good start, but it's only a first step.

Federal policy on medical marijuana simply ignores the growing mass of
scientific evidence that it can safely and effectively treat certain
types of pain, nausea, vomiting, appetite loss and other symptoms that
cause great suffering to patients battling cancer and other illnesses.

At the bare minimum, the administration should reconsider marijuana's
classification as a Schedule I drug under federal law--a bizarre
categorization that treats marijuana as more dangerous than cocaine or
methamphetamine. And it should reopen the long-closed "compassionate
use" program that continues to provide medical marijuana to three
federally approved patients, but was closed to new applicants in 1992.

President Obama says he wants to base decisions on science instead of
ideology. Medical marijuana is an obvious place to start.

Bruce Mirken

Director of Communications

Marijuana Policy Project