FDA'S THREAT WAS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED

Your April 24 editorial aptly describes the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration's statement on medical marijuana as "patently
political," as the Bush administration continues its misplaced
campaign of fear and intimidation against chronically ill patients and
their physicians.

Fortunately, federal prosecution of individuals using marijuana as
medicine is almost nonexistent; most marijuana cases are handled by
state and local authorities, and Hawaii's pioneering medical marijuana
law protects sick patients from prosecution at those levels.

But for the 3,300 seriously ill patients in Hawaii relying on
doctor-recommended marijuana to alleviate chronic pain and suffering,
the FDA statement can only be seen as the latest heavy-handed threat
to access to a treatment scientists repeatedly have found safe and
effective.

Politically motivated threats such as this seem to be a primary tactic
in the administration's misguided war on drugs, which consistently
ignores science and fact for pandering and fear. It's time to bring
sanity to drug policy and compassion to sick patients in Hawaii and
our nation.

Jeanne Y. Ohta

Executive director

Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii