LEGALIZING DRUGS IS NOT THE PEOPLE'S DECISION

Friday's article about the District of Columbia's "medical pot" initiative
missed a critical detail ("Appellate court knocks medicinal marijuana off
ballot," Metro). It did not mention that the Food and Drug Administration,
not voters, approves drugs as being safe and effective after careful review
and study. The marijuana ballot initiative was crafted slyly to bypass that
long-standing public health safety check. Why? Because after countless
federal studies, marijuana cigarettes, laced with carcinogens, have never
met the FDA's standards for efficacy and safety. The medical marijuana
ballot initiative is a sham designed to con voters by appealing to their
natural compassion for the sick while actually making this illegal and
highly addictive narcotic widely available without a doctor's prescription.
With more than a few juvenile arrestees in the District high on pot, D.C.
voters should think again about legalizing marijuana by pretending it's
medicine.

Margaret Hemenway, Alexandria