FDA'S MARIJUANA STANCE IGNORES ACTUAL SCIENCE

Agency Position Should Have Been Based On Facts, Not A Predetermined
Political Conclusion

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced last week that "no
sound scientific studies" found any benefit from the medicinal use of
marijuana.

Only those who have not been paying attention to the Bush
administration's disdain and disregard for science the last five
years will be stunned to learn that the FDA's pronouncement was more
wish-fulfillment than science.

In fact, a 1999 review by the Institute of Medicine found that
marijuana was "moderately well suited" for treating or comforting
those suffering from several medical conditions, including nausea
caused by chemotherapy and AIDS.

"Unfortunately, this is yet another example of the FDA making
pronouncements that seem to be driven more by ideology than science,"
Dr. Jerry Avorn, a professor at Harvard Medical School, told The New
York Times.

Not only is the FDA prematurely and inaccurately proclaiming
medicinal marijuana's worthlessness, the agency has labored with the
Drug Enforcement Agency to discourage any research that might prove
differently.

Researchers have had trouble getting approval to grow marijuana for
use in studies. They've had trouble getting financing for studies.
And they've had trouble getting studies published.

Eleven states have legalized marijuana for medicinal use, but a
widely criticized Supreme Court decision last year said federal drug
laws trump such state initiatives.

It's a divisive political issue, and many have wanted the FDA to take
a position.

But that position should have been based on facts, not a blatantly
predetermined conclusion.

Ignoring the Institute of Medicine's study -- and general scientific
and medical consensus --about the efficacy of marijuana may make a
certain segment of the Republican political base happy.

But it further erodes the FDA's credibility -- already in tatters
from the Plan B emergency contraception fiasco.

It would be unfair to say it erodes the credibility of the Bush
administration. When it comes to matters scientific, the Bush
administration has no credibility left to erode -- though it was only
a rumor that, until recently, NASA scientists were not allowed to
note that the Earth is round.