FDA's CREDIBILITY GOES UP IN SMOKE BY AGAIN MIXING POT AND POLITICS

The credibility of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is
dead.

Accusations of political influence to sway science and medicine have
dogged agencies during the Bush administration.

On Thursday, when the FDA declared that smoked marijuana "has no
accepted or proven medical use," it undercut its own authority because
the conclusion came from a combined review with federal drug
enforcement, regulatory and science agencies. Advertisement

Marijuana is, of course, illegal except in 11 states that allow its
medical use despite the threat of federal arrest.

The medical question put to the FDA was distinctly separate from law
and policing, though. By folding them all together, the FDA failed to
answer what was asked, but it did uphold the government's objection.

The FDA also contradicted a 1999 national Institute of Medicine review
that said marijuana could help ease nausea from chemotherapy and AIDS
wasting. This surely heightens difficulties for researchers pursuing
medical efficacy.

However, the opinion was in line with Republican Congressman Mark
Souder of Indiana, who sponsored legislation two years ago requiring
the FDA to rule on pot. Mr. Souder objects to marijuana legalization
for any reason.

It looks like a foregone conclusion. And it recalls the FDA's
indefinite delay of Plan B, the morning-after contraceptive pill
banned from over-the-counter sales. The FDA's own staff and experts
approved Plan B, but its sale was stopped at the top, contrary to the
usual science standards.

Evidence of meddling is piling up. The National Cancer Institute got
called out for a Web site posting suggesting that abortion increased
the risk of breast cancer before reversing itself on expert advice.

But the official taboo isn't just sex and politics. Environmental
scientists venturing anywhere near global warming have reported
objections to publishing results.

The reliability of the government to give a straight answer drawn from
its huge resources is an embarrassment.

The list of in-house repairs gets longer.