DEA BLOWS SMOKE AT MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Bill Weinman of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration calls medical
marijuana "a scam" because "you don't smoke your medicine" ("High
Court to examine medical marijuana," May 29). He'll be relieved to
know that medical marijuana need not be smoked.

Medical marijuana can be eaten or made into various sorts of teas and
tinctures, and some patients prefer to use it that way.

For those who need the fast action and precise dose control of
inhalation, simple devices called vaporizers make this possible
without the noxious contaminants in smoke.

Smoking is not the issue, and it never has been.

Bruce Mirken
Washington

The writer is director of communications for the Marijuana Policy
Project.