FDA SAYS MARIJUANA HAS NO MEDICINAL VALUE

Statement Contradicts 1999 Report By Panel That Found Benefits For
Some Patients

WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration declared Thursday that
"no sound scientific studies" support the medical use of smoked marijuana.

The statement, which contradicts a 1999 review by top government
scientists, inserts the health agency into yet another fierce political fight.

Susan Bro, an agency spokeswoman, said the statement results from a
combined review by federal drug enforcement, regulatory and research
agencies that concluded that "smoked marijuana has no currently
accepted or proven medical use in the United States and is not an
approved medical treatment."

"Any enforcement based on this finding would need to be by DEA, since
this falls outside of FDA's regulatory authority," she said.

Eleven states have legalized medicinal uses of marijuana, but the
Drug Enforcement Administration and the nation's drug czar, John
Walters, have opposed those efforts. A Supreme Court decision last
year allowed the federal government to arrest anyone using marijuana,
even in states that have legalized its use.

Tom Riley, a spokesman for Walters, hailed the FDA statement, saying
it would put to rest "the bizarre public discussion" that has led 11
states to legalize the drug's use.

The FDA statement directly contradicts a 1999 review by the Institute
of Medicine, a part of the National Academy of Sciences.That review
found marijuana to be "moderately well suited for particular
conditions, such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and AIDS wasting."

Dr. John Benson, co-chair of the Institute of Medicine committee that
examined the research into marijuana's effects, said the FDA
statement and the combined review by other agencies were wrong.

The federal government "loves to ignore our report," said Benson, a
professor of internal medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Some scientists and legislators said the agency's statement about
marijuana demonstrates politics is trumping science.

"Unfortunately, this is yet another example of the FDA making
pronouncements that seem to be driven more by ideology than by
science," said Harvard Medical School Professor Dr. Jerry Avorn.

[Sidebar]

AN INDIANA CONGRESSMAN'S VIEW

Congressional opponents and supporters of medical marijuana have
tried to enlist the FDA to support their views. U.S. Rep. Mark
Souder, R-Ind., a fierce opponent of medical marijuana
initiatives, proposed legislation two years ago that would have
required the FDA to issue an opinion on the medicinal properties of the drug.

Souder thinks efforts to legalize medicinal uses of marijuana are "a
front" for efforts to legalize all uses of marijuana, said Martin
Green, a spokesman for Souder.

- The New York Times