THE RISING TRADE IN MEDICAL MARIJUANA

To the Editor:

Re "When Capitalism Meets Cannabis" (June 27), about the medical
marijuana business:

While components of the cannabis plant can have useful medical
effects, its recreational use still produces problems, including
addiction and impaired driving. Adolescents are especially at risk.
Compassion for the very sick shouldn't blind us to the risks of
cannabis abuse. If marijuana were legalized and taxed, the increased
revenue would pale in comparison to the increases in health care and
other social costs.

The federal government, with the help of the pharmaceutical industry,
should embark on a crash program to develop medically useful compounds
from cannabis. As for recreational use of marijuana, national
referendums should decide whether we want an alcohol model -- with
strict enforcement on under-age use, potency controls and all the
potential risks.

What is not desirable is the "Wild West" situation in California and
Colorado.

Herbert D. Kleber, M.D.

Manhattan, June 28

The writer is a professor of psychiatry and director of the Division
on Substance Abuse at Columbia University.