DEAN ON POT

Howard Dean, who as Vermont governor killed a medical marijuana bill
modeled on the successful laws of eight states, continues to put out
misleading spin on the issue ("Candidate Howard Dean Campaigns at
Sidetrack," Dec. 10).

Dean said he wants the FDA and NIH to "review the studies that have
already been done" to "make sure [marijuana] works." But just such a
review was commissioned by the White House six years ago and published
by the Institute of Medicine in 1999. The IOM's report concluded,
"Nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety ... all can be mitigated by
marijuana."

Medical marijuana laws don't confer FDA approval or licensing as a
prescription drug; they simply keep seriously ill people from being
jailed for trying to relieve there suffering. The question that Dean
keeps dodging is a simple one: Should patients who use marijuana to
relieve the nausea, appetite loss and pain caused by AIDS, cancer and
other serious illness face arrest and jail? Though asked repeatedly,
Dean has yet to give a straight answer.

A detailed guide to the candidates' positions on medical marijuana is
available at www.granitestaters.com

Bruce Mirken, Director of Communications, Marijuana Policy Project,
P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013, www.mpp.org