MEDICAL MARIJUANA IS A TERRIBLE IDEA

Former Attorney General Bob Stephan recently ventured outside his area
of expertise and endorsed a new push for medical-excuse marijuana in
Kansas ("Former AG supports medicinal marijuana," Aug. 17 Local &
State). He has joined ranks with advocates of drug legalization to
advance their cause under the guise of "compassionate" marijuana.

It is most important to understand that legislative actions giving
access to marijuana seriously jeopardize consumer protection. Our
processes for bringing medicine to the public have been established so
that science, not emotion, prevails. The Food and Drug Administration
opposes medical-excuse marijuana and such legislative actions.

What other drug would even be considered appropriate to deliver by
smoking? Marijuana is not a safe drug, and is far from clearly
effective. The active ingredients of marijuana already are available
to the public by medical prescription. There is no advantage to
smoking marijuana over available medications.

Some of the most consistently identified problems with marijuana are
the effect on memory, concentration and coordination. Studies have
found that not only does marijuana have this effect acutely, but some
effects have been identified even after two years of abstinence. The
effects on driving skills and coordination are extremely serious, and
marijuana is regularly implicated in trauma.

Supporting medical-excuse marijuana either reflects ignorance of the
medical literature or malignant misrepresentation of it.

Eric A. Voth,

Chairman Institute on Global Drug Policy Topeka