MARIJUANA HAS NO MEDICAL USE, FDA SAYS

WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it does not
support the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The FDA said it and other agencies with the Health and Human Services
Department had "concluded that no sound scientific studies supported
medical use of marijuana for treatment in the United States, and no
animal or human data supported the safety or efficacy of marijuana
for general medical use."

Eleven states, including Washington, have passed legislation allowing
marijuana use for medical purposes, but the FDA said Thursday, "These
measures are inconsistent with efforts to ensure that medications
undergo the rigorous scientific scrutiny of the FDA approval process
and are proven safe and effective."

The statement contradicts a 1999 finding from the Institute of
Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, which reported
that "marijuana's active components are potentially effective in
treating pain, nausea, the anorexia of AIDS wasting and other
symptoms, and should be tested rigorously in clinical trials."

In 1998, Washington voters authorized the use of marijuana for
specified medical purposes, including cancer, HIV and intractable
pain. However, marijuana cannot be legally purchased and there is no
identified legal way to distribute marijuana in this state.

Dr. Greg Carter, a rehabilitation-medicine specialist at the
University of Washington, said there have been good studies that
support the medical use of marijuana for neuropathic pain, muscle
spasms, chemotherapy-associated nausea and loss of appetite, glaucoma
and several other conditions.

He noted that current federal rules allow doctors to write
prescriptions for Marinol, a 100-percent concentration of the most
active ingredient in marijuana.

The government classifies Marinol in the same category as Motrin, a
prescription-strength anti-inflammatory, while placing marijuana,
which is far less powerful than Marinol, among the most dangerous
drugs for which there is no medical use.

"So there is clearly no scientific logic to their decision," Carter
said. "I think this is politically driven."

Bruce Mirken -- director of communications for the Marijuana Policy
Project, which supports medical marijuana -- said the FDA issued the
statement at the behest of Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., who opposes
medical marijuana.

Souder, chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Drug
Policy, has said the promotion of medical marijuana "is simply a red
herring for the legalization of marijuana for recreational use."

The FDA statement noted "there is currently sound evidence that
smoked marijuana is harmful. ... There are alternative FDA-approved
medications in existence for treatment of many of the proposed uses
of smoked marijuana."