cannabisnews.com: The FDA's Reefer Madness 





The FDA's Reefer Madness 
Posted by CN Staff on April 25, 2006 at 08:26:11 PT
By Barbara Quirk 
Source: Capital Times
Wisconsin -- Ah, marijuana. The "wicked weed" of the '60s is in the news again. This time, despite previous studies showing otherwise, the Food and Drug Administration said this past week that it does not support the use of marijuana for medical purposes.The FDA stated it 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."
Meanwhile, a number of states have passed legislation allowing marijuana use for medical purposes. The FDA reiterates that "these measures are inconsistent with efforts to ensure that medications undergo the rigorous scientific scrutiny of the FDA approval process." According to an AOL News source, this latest proclamation contradicts a 1999 finding from the Institute of Medicine, which reported "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."Well, like other "discussions" about marijuana, this most recent statement is not without its critics. Bruce Mirken, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, retaliated with a statement: "If anybody needed proof that the FDA has become totally politicized, this is it. This isn't a scientific statement; it's a political statement." Mirken charges that Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., asked the FDA to make this latest statement saying that Souder is a "rabid congressional opponent of medical marijuana."Souder, who is the 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." Souder states, "Studies have continually rejected the notion that marijuana is suitable for medical use because it adversely impacts concentration and memory, the lungs, motor coordination and the immune system."The FDA notes: There is currently sound evidence that smoked marijuana is harmful and that there are FDA-approved therapeutic alternatives for many of the proposed uses of smoked marijuana.Mirken responded, "There is abundant evidence that marijuana can help cancer patients, multiple sclerosis patients and AIDS patients. There is no scientific doubt that marijuana relieves nausea, vomiting, certain kinds of pain and other symptoms that don't respond well to conventional drugs, and does it more safely than other drugs."Mirken concludes by saying, "For the FDA to ignore all that evidence is embarrassing. They should be red-faced."Well, I don't have any personal dogs in this race, but if I did, my money would be on Mr. Mirken. There is more than anecdotal evidence that marijuana is therapeutic in many instances where FDA-approved drugs have either failed to bring the relief or where the side effects are so serious as to render the drug ineffective.My pharmaceutical reference books are full of FDA-approved drugs whose side effects are far more noxious than marijuana. Many of those are also habit forming. I have been in the field enough to recognize addictions to seemingly safe drugs such as Darvon, to say nothing of the highly prized OxyContin.It is not a question about a substance being potentially addictive. That can be said about almost any drug. Then, what is it about?I've become a bit cynical these past few years and I question the motives of large government agencies bullying everybody to please the opinions of a few. Now, I don't know Rep. Mark Souder, even if he is from my home state of Indiana. But I would want to know for sure that he is not, or his colleagues are not, in the pocket of either the pharmaceutical companies, or is beholden to a group whose self-righteous attitudes would see sin in the smoke of a therapeutic cigarette.I have seen people suffer unnecessarily and denying them comfort, at whatever level, because of a technicality had better not be a political call.Barbara Quirk is a geriatric nurse practitioner.Source: Capital Times, The (WI)Author: Barbara Quirk Published: April 25, 2006Copyright: 2006 The Capital TimesContact: tctvoice madison.comWebsite: http://www.madison.com/tct/Related Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/IOM Reporthttp://newton.nap.edu/html/marimed/Follow The Drug War Moneyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21778.shtmlAll Smoke - Slatehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21776.shtmlMMJ Advocates Slam ‘Politicized’ FDA Reporthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21774.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #37 posted by Hope on April 26, 2006 at 09:53:40 PT
In my heart...
I feel that Jerry is getting out soon. I hope to God he is walking.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #36 posted by Hope on April 26, 2006 at 09:52:00 PT
Mumbling
Just mumbling. Sorry.Can a claim a little touch of Tourette's here?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #35 posted by Hope on April 26, 2006 at 09:50:57 PT
I would like to say,
"Wretched, cruel, vicious Bitch". But, I won't.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #34 posted by Hope on April 26, 2006 at 09:49:03 PT
That cruel judge
gave us all a deep, deep cut.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #33 posted by Hope on April 26, 2006 at 09:47:48 PT
Aye, FoM.
"It's wrong that Jerry is sitting in a prison and other inmates wonder why he is even there."She was cruel judge, his judge. A cruel judge.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #32 posted by Hope on April 26, 2006 at 09:42:49 PT
Comment 13
Thank you, thank you, Sukoi.Excellent video.Most totally excellent video.Great music. Cool. Gives me hope.Thank you.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #31 posted by FoM on April 26, 2006 at 09:39:26 PT
Whig
The best thing to do is post a link not the whole article. Copyright laws come into effect. I must snip the SFC but am not allowed to post the whole article. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #30 posted by whig on April 26, 2006 at 09:23:25 PT
FoM
I don't think you should get in trouble because the article was already posted here, it's just another copy of it. But I'm sorry, I'll try to be more careful."So far no news again. I hope the cannabis reform organizations stay focussed and does't get tangled up with drug legalizers. I'll have to find a new cause because we won't get anywhere like CommonSense said in another post."I'm not too sure I understand what you're saying here, a fair number of us certainly think that the broader issue of legalization is correct. Certainly I think almost everyone here favors legal cannabis irrespective of the medical marijuana issue.I understand that the organizations that are more targeted and specific to MMJ need to stay focused on that issue so as not to lose their coalitions. Within CNews we have a much different set of opinions than are generally held by the public at large, and on a policy reform level we don't want to scare off all of our allies who might not go as far as we would, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to hold our own opinions and speak about them in the proper contexts.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #29 posted by FoM on April 26, 2006 at 08:52:09 PT
Audio: Ed Rosenthal from The NORML Conference
Ed Rosenthal is a legendary Marijuana activist. Here he speaks on the Reefer, Rhetoric and Retorts Panel at NORML 2006.http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=17813
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #28 posted by FoM on April 26, 2006 at 08:41:12 PT
Hope
Cannabis seems to be in every country in the world. It is universal. It bridges religions, cultures and different ages of people. It's wrong that this plant is illegal. It's wrong that Jerry is sitting in a prison and other inmates wonder why he is even there. Jerry is only one person and we know and love him but what about all the other people we don't know rotting in a prison over this wonderful, God given medicinal plant?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #27 posted by Hope on April 26, 2006 at 08:36:49 PT
It's good medicine.
A peace offering, if you will, from the Earth or from your Creator God.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #26 posted by Hope on April 26, 2006 at 08:35:39 PT
"...how can we win?"
I believe we have a lot of power in the DIN number business that Marc Paquette reminded us of in another thread. The right person, perhaps Bruce Mirken, has got to grab that and run straight to the goal line with it. Go....Go....Go! Whoever you are....Go!We are going to win...it may take three lifetimes...but we are. I have absolutely no doubt what-so-ever.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #25 posted by FoM on April 26, 2006 at 08:27:49 PT
Hope
I hope that the organization are fired up and work really hard to change the laws on Cannabis. I will keep posting news and commenting but unless the organizations do something how can we win? I think we have many very important issues out there. I believe in winning. I believe in tackling issues that can be won. That way little by little we can fix the problems that plague our country. There is a time for every season under the sun.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #24 posted by Hope on April 26, 2006 at 08:20:50 PT
As long as there is even one person
fighting for it...there is a "cause". "I hope the cannabis reform organizations stay focussed and does't get tangled up with drug legalizers. I'll have to find a new cause because we won't get anywhere like CommonSense said in another post."
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #23 posted by Hope on April 26, 2006 at 08:18:51 PT
Barbara
"Well, I don't have any personal dogs in this race, but if I did, my money would be on Mr. Mirken. There is more than anecdotal evidence that marijuana is therapeutic in many instances where FDA-approved drugs have either failed to bring the relief or where the side effects are so serious as to render the drug ineffective."Allies of Mr. Mirken thank you. But you actually do "have a dog in this race." Everyone does.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #22 posted by Hope on April 26, 2006 at 08:16:22 PT
"...their quixotic bid to legalize marijuana."
I resent that, Debra.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #21 posted by FoM on April 26, 2006 at 07:28:50 PT
Whig
I just hope no one sees that it isn't snipped from Mapinc. I don't want to get in trouble.So far no news again. I hope the cannabis reform organizations stay focussed and does't get tangled up with drug legalizers. I'll have to find a new cause because we won't get anywhere like CommonSense said in another post.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #20 posted by Toker00 on April 26, 2006 at 07:19:18 PT
Mass suicide.
The DEA, the FDA, the ONDCP and Rush Limbaugh have all committed political and professional suicide by condoning this Cannabis/hemp prohibition statement. Their Lies have finally killed them. Their hypocrisy has Choked them to death. Their bodies may still be flopping around, but their souls are gone. And when their jobs are gone, some may actually commit the ACT. It won't be our fault. We reached out to them every way we knew how. They refused the Truth, to their peril.Attacking the weak and vulnerable, (sick and young) will be their downfall. Why? Because Christ said, and don't hold me to exactness on this, but: "What you do to the least of my brethren, you do to ME!" Who here could raise a hand to Christ? Who here would through a sick or naive person in a cage with REAL animals? What they have done is attack something that can NEVER be defeated. TRUTH.Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW! 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #19 posted by whig on April 25, 2006 at 23:42:37 PT
FoM
Sorry, you already posted it. I'm not much of a newshawk, I guess.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #18 posted by whig on April 25, 2006 at 23:40:59 PT
Marijuana prohibition doesn't work
http://tinyurl.com/emrkfMarijuana prohibition doesn't work
- Debra J. Saunders
Sunday, April 23, 2006IN AN AGE when so many politicians pander to popular opinion, why is it impossible to imagine Washington restoring so much as an ounce of sanity to the so-called war on drugs?A Zogby poll in 2002 found that 61 percent of Americans oppose arresting and jailing nonviolent marijuana smokers. Yet there isn't a major politician in America who would support decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana. Many may have used it -- some even inhaled -- and still they want marijuana to be illegal.The folks from NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), which commissioned the Zogby poll, met at the Holiday Inn on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco last week in their quixotic bid to legalize marijuana. There were the expected male pony tails and counterculture clothing, but no contraband wafted through the lobby.Marijuana activists can't smoke even cigarettes in California hotels. NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre archly noted, "You (Californians) are great at ostracizing the tobacco user." Implicit is his message: Let social sanction, not the heavy arm of the law, deal with marijuana abuse. Not that St. Pierre equates marijuana use with abuse.St. Pierre is a 40-year-old Republican who readily acknowledges the "bipolar" nature of his constituency -- Green Party members and Libertarians who think "drug reform is a big deal." Alas, they are up against heavyweight Democrats and Republicans -- "people who couldn't be in a room together" on other issues, says St. Pierre -- who are united in the cause of outlawing a substance tried by 40 percent of Americans.As St. Pierre sees it, few pols talk about legalizing marijuana because they don't want to cross parents who naturally want to protect their children from marijuana -- who don't want to see the kids' education suffer or for them to fall in with the wrong crowd. Legalize marijuana, many fear, and its use will increase."Use will go up," St. Pierre says. At the same time, the government won't be turning hundreds of thousands of users into criminals. (In 2004, 684,319 people were arrested in America for marijuana possession alone, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.) Legalize pot and there will be economic savings in the criminal-justice sector, as well as less wasted human potential.How do you protect your children from marijuana? To answer, St. Pierre asks, "How do you protect your children from tobacco?" Teen smoking in America has seen a big decline, even though tobacco is legal, thanks to high taxes, nonsmoking rules and social ostracism. And yet not one person has gone to jail for smoking a cigarette.So what will it take to change Washington? As St. Pierre sees it, politicians won't reassess the drug war until law enforcement challenges drug laws. That's where Norm Stamper, former Seattle police chief and NORML's new advisory board member, and LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) come in.In his book, "Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Expose of the Dark Side of American Policing," Stamper lays out a case for decriminalizing drugs. That's the wrong choice of words, he told me Thursday: America should legalize, tax and regulate marijuana and other drugs.In sum: "Prohibition doesn't work," he says. Legalize drugs and there will be fewer overdoses, as government regulations would make dosages uniform and safer, said Stamper. Users would be less marginalized, and hence more likely to find productive jobs. Most important, police would be able to focus on violent crime, not petty crimes that hurt the abuser more than society.Stamper recognizes there are addicts leading miserable, chaotic lives. He believes -- although he can't prove it -- that addicts might seek help sooner if there were no legal sanction. While I would not jump on to the legalize-everything-now bandwagon, decriminalizing marijuana and not incarcerating users -- unless they break other laws -- seems like a sensible start in reassessing what works. It's time for Washington leaders to admit that if prohibition isn't reducing abuse significantly, then drug laws are not compassionate.LEAP argues that after spending more than a trillion dollars, and arresting millions of users, "drugs are cheaper, easier to get and far more potent than they were when we started this war (on drugs) in 1970." Or as Stamper said of prohibition, "It's not working because it can't." 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #17 posted by Hope on April 25, 2006 at 21:22:50 PT
As people used to say occasionally....
He's on my list. Rush Limbaugh is.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #16 posted by FoM on April 25, 2006 at 20:41:31 PT
NORML Release
DPFCA: Rush Limbaugh Calls MMJ Patients "Maggot-Infested, Dope Smoking Crowd" From the mouth of the blubbering junkie fathead --- - DG --- NORML Release -Rush Limbaugh Calls Medical Marijuana Patients "Maggot-Infested, Dope Smoking Crowd"Check out Rush Limbaugh's quote (see below) about the recent FDA "report" claiming that there is no medicinal value in marijuana!Pretty harsh words about patients who are suffering in pain and need their medicine, especially from a guy who is lucky not to be in jail for sending his maid out to get him his huge amounts of Oxycontin!Rush Limbaugh on the recent FDA "report" claming there that is no medicinal value in marijuana:"The FDA says there's no -- zilch, zero, nada -- shred of medicinal value to the evil weed marijuana. This is going to be a setback to the long-haired, maggot-infested, dope-smoking crowd." April 21, 2006http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_042106/content/quotes.guest. htmlDrug Policy Alliance Flash Animation: Should Rush be Jailed or Left Alonehttp://www.DrugPolicy.org/Rush/-Allen NORML
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #15 posted by mayan on April 25, 2006 at 18:23:56 PT
Gettin' Spanked
Man, I bet the FDA wishes they had never released their little statement! We are dealing with folks who rose in this system not because of what they knew, but who they knew. It's no wonder that the entire government is collapsing under it's own weight. This fascist system that rewards failure and incomptence can only operate through coercion and bribery. If we had true leaders we could lead the entire world through example.The drug war has always been a sham but it has finally become obvious to even the staunchest of government loyalists. The emperor truly wears no clothes and it's not a pretty sight.On an unrelated note, Vermont makes THREE...Vermont lawmakers to call for Bush impeachment:
http://www.vermontguardian.com/local/042006/VTSaysImpeach.shtmlTHE WAY OUT...A Cornered Administration: Dangerous Times Ahead:
http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff04242006.html911 & The WTC South Tower: 
http://rense.com/general70/southt.htmWhen An Irresistible Force Meets An Immovable Object:
http://rense.com/general70/irr.htmWatch Loose Change 2nd Edition: 
http://www.tvnewslies.org/html/watch_loose_change_2_on_line.htmlScholars for 9/11 Truth: 
http://www.scholarsfor911truth.org/index.html
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #14 posted by Had Enough on April 25, 2006 at 16:53:26 PT
Ricky Williams suspended for 2006 season
http://www.suntimes.com/output/sports/williams25.htmlhttp://www.wral.com/apsportsnews/8996368/detail.htmlhttp://news.google.com/news?q=Ricky+Williams,+of+the+Miami+Dolphins,+suspended+for+2006+season.+Failed+drug+test.+4th+time.+&hl=en&lr=&sa=X&oi=news&ct=title
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #13 posted by Sukoi on April 25, 2006 at 16:49:58 PT
We WILL Prevail...
http://www.pot.tv/archive/shows/pottvshowse-4228.html
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #12 posted by Had Enough on April 25, 2006 at 16:39:49 PT
Boob Tube News Alert
Rickey Williams, of the Miami Dolphins, suspended for 2006 season. Failed drug test. 4th time.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #11 posted by Had Enough on April 25, 2006 at 16:05:24 PT
Re: Another Story comment #6
Another fine waste of taxpayer money.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #10 posted by global_warming on April 25, 2006 at 15:48:04 PT
tobacco
" Daniell conducted his study with part of a $1 million NIH grant and a $2 million U.S. Department of Agriculture grant that cover research related to genetic engineering in plants as a way to produce therapies for several diseases. Daniell's work holds promise for treating other diseases, including diabetes and hepatitis, and improving vaccines for plague, cholera and other bioterrorism agents."Maybe there is a "smokless thc in the future"??
Effective, Safe Anthrax Vaccine Can Be Grown In Tobacco Plants
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #9 posted by OverwhelmSam on April 25, 2006 at 15:42:29 PT
In Retrospect
This is a case where the anti-marijuana lobby used their power to keep pot illegal, and it backfired right in their faces. Talk about incompetence. If we continue to consolidated our intellegence, we can beat them at their own little games. Should be easy based on the genius of their FDA proclaimation. What total idiots! Everybody knows they're playing cold and dirty now. Big Mistake.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by global_warming on April 25, 2006 at 15:37:08 PT
May God Bless Barbara Q
"My pharmaceutical reference books are full of FDA-approved drugs whose side effects are far more noxious than marijuana. Many of those are also habit forming. I have been in the field enough to recognize addictions to seemingly safe drugs such as Darvon, to say nothing of the highly prized OxyContin."I would rather, have a field nurse attend my illness, than Rep. Markie, who was not only beaten by his drunken father, but also raped.Poor old Markie, as in Souder, he does stand up in a good old righteous crowd and say his piss, yet his mind is clouded, and he has lost his way, for now he is a leader, that leads thousands of young people, away from education, away from the fruits of Life, poor old Souder, he was a troubled human being, may 'we pray for his wretched soul, for when his inevitable fruits are born and clear before his tired eyes, all we can do is pray for old Mark Souder.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by dongenero on April 25, 2006 at 14:12:57 PT
addiction
therapist: Here, take this money, go do some shopping and see a movie rather than smoke a joint.addict: Okay, thanks.God! What a terrible, gripping addiction marijuana must be!!!!!Ummmm, I don't think the prohibitionists will go for paying people to not use cannabis. They would rather pay people to jail, them, feed them etc.My real fear is that they will create a whole new generation of shopping addicts.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by FoM on April 25, 2006 at 13:56:12 PT
Another Study
Study: Incentives and Therapy Help Users Kick Marijuana HabitBy Jill Zeman, Associated Press Writer April 25, 2006LITTLE ROCK --A combination of therapy and incentives -- such as clothing and movie tickets -- can be successful in helping someone kick a marijuana addiction, according to a new study.The study conducted by a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences professor and researchers at the University of Vermont followed 90 men and women who had been diagnosed as being dependent on marijuana.One group received vouchers, redeemable for pre-approved uses such as meals, clothing or movie tickets. Another group received cognitive therapy and a third group received both vouchers and therapy. The group that received both had the highest success rate, with 43 percent of subjects no longer smoking marijuana at the end of the 14-week study."We found that vouchers generated greater rates of marijuana abstinence compared with therapy alone, but that therapy enhanced the voucher effect following treatment," said Alan Budney, professor in the department of psychiatry in the UAMS College of Medicine. "Together, the combination of vouchers and therapy resulted in higher abstinence rates during the year following treatment than vouchers alone.""This suggests that therapy helps maintain the initial positive effect of using vouchers to initiate abstinence during treatment."Participants in the study, which was conducted in Vermont, had the potential to earn a total of $570 to be used for "almost anything pro-social" such as restaurant meals, movie tickets, exercise equipment, children's games or work clothes, said Andrea Peel, a UAMS spokeswoman.Twice a week, participants could receive their vouchers if they passed drug tests. The average amount earned by participants was $400, Budney said.In therapy, participants were taught to recognize destructive thinking patterns and to replace them with more realistic perspectives, according to UAMS.At the end of the 14-week study, 43 percent of the group that received therapy and vouchers had stopped using marijuana, compared with 40 percent of the voucher group and 30 percent of the therapy group.And, at a 12-month follow-up, researchers found that 37 percent of the group that received both therapy and vouchers was not using marijuana, compared with 17 percent of the voucher group and 23 percent of the therapy group.Budney, senior scientist at UAMS' Center for Addictions Research, said that the voucher or incentive system could also be useful in treating cocaine, alcohol and opiate dependence.The research was paid for by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health. The study is published in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology.Copyright: 2006 Associated Presshttp://tinyurl.com/etn3d
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by whig on April 25, 2006 at 13:06:08 PT
billos
"Maybe the dad even smoked pot. That would make sense. The smoking, coupled with the beatings, would develop a stigma in young Mark's psyche."Nah, can't picture it. Pot smoking and violence don't exactly go hand-in-hand. I bet his daddy drank, though.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by FoM on April 25, 2006 at 11:45:42 PT
Press Release from The Drug Policy Alliance
Politics Trumps Science in FDA's Medical Marijuana Statement***Tuesday, April 25, 2006The Food and Drug Administration released an advisory last week claiming that marijuana has no medicinal value, ignoring a substantial body of scientific evidence to the contrary.
 This announcement contradicts a 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine, the scientific arm of the National Academy of Science, which said that marijuana has medical potential and should be tested in clinical trials. This report was issued by a panel of independent scientists and doctors who reviewed the body of scientific knowledge on the subject. The FDA statement, on the other hand, did not refer to any new science to support its claim.
 The announcement is the latest example of an ongoing, politically-driven effort to block marijuana from medical use. In its advisory, FDA claimed that "no sound scientific studies supported medical use of marijuana for treatment in the United States." However, private research efforts around marijuana have been chilled by a Drug Enforcement Administration policy that keeps production of marijuana for research under government monopoly. Adequate competition in the manufacture of Schedule I drugs - such as marijuana - to be used for research purposes is actually required by law, and clinical trials would be necessary for an evaluation for possible FDA approval. The current DEA restrictions on research marijuana do not exist for any other drug.
 DPA executive director Ethan Nadelmann said, "It is shameful to see the FDA talking out of both sides of its mouth on this issue by declaring there is no sound research on the medical benefits of medical marijuana but at the same time, denying researchers the opportunity to study the efficacy of cannabis."
 Shortly before last week's FDA announcement, the Department of Health and Human Services postponed for the third time its response to an appeal from Americans for Safe Access, which is seeking corrections to erroneous claims the department has made about medical marijuana. These claims include the assertion that marijuana "has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United states." HHS has said it needs more time to review the issue - a position contradicted in the unqualified condemnation by FDA, which is part of HHS. The FDA advisory does not address this discrepancy at all
 This inconsistency and the blocking of research on the part of the federal government make clear that this anti-medical marijuana stance is driven by ideology, not science. "It is a real problem when our system for evaluating drug safety is dictated by politics rather than facts," said Bill Piper, DPA's director of national affairs. "Public health is too important to be at the mercy of politicians who overlook or discourage research just because it might yield results they don't agree with." 
http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/042506fda.cfm
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by billos on April 25, 2006 at 11:20:25 PT
................Mark Souder...................
is a miserable, right-winged, spoiled little dweeb; whose job depends on how much he can convince the American public how much "pot sux".
When his hatred of this benign plant started is a mystery to all; though he has no problem demonstrating all the symptoms of being a long, long time fanatic about it. 
He is obsessed, by the man-made virtue, that pot is a gateway drug. He probably tried it at a young age, had a bad experience with it, and developed the obsession to speak out against it once he acquired any political power.
His father was probably an alcoholic who beat the poor young Markie every chance he got. Maybe the dad even smoked pot. That would make sense. The smoking, coupled with the beatings, would develop a stigma in young Mark's psyche. The problem would later manifest itself as we see it today.
A middle aged man who transfers his misery into what he "thinks" is a good cause, and uses his position to ably usurp the peoples' power to do what he thinks is all good, is NOT good for the American people.
This guy is out of control. He needs to find another job, though anything more than cleaning a bar urinal would be too good for him.
I PAY tax dollars for this performance???
Look alive folks…the reckoning is right around the corner, and Mark Souder, come November, is just one of many who has to go away somewhere else.   
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by FoM on April 25, 2006 at 09:36:32 PT
DankHank
I don't know. I think it is one at a time.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by Dankhank on April 25, 2006 at 09:26:51 PT
emailing ...
from here .....May we only send to one receipient at a time?Peace to all this fine day ...
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment