cannabisnews.com: F.D.A. Dismisses Medical Benefit From Marijuana 










  F.D.A. Dismisses Medical Benefit From Marijuana 

Posted by CN Staff on April 20, 2006 at 19:48:26 PT
By Gardiner Harris 
Source: New York Times 

Washington, DC -- The Food and Drug Administration declared Thursday that "no sound scientific studies" supported the medical use of marijuana, contradicting a 1999 review by top government scientists.Susan Bro, an agency spokeswoman, said Thursday's statement resulted from a combined review by federal drug enforcement, regulatory and research agencies that concluded "smoked marijuana has no currently accepted or proven medical use in the United States and is not an approved medical treatment."
Ms. Bro said the F.D.A. issued the statement in response to numerous inquiries from Capitol Hill but would probably do nothing to enforce it."Any enforcement based on this finding would need to be by D.E.A. since this falls outside of F.D.A.'s regulatory authority," she said.Eleven states have legalized medicinal use of marijuana, but the Drug Enforcement Administration and the nation's drug czar, John P. Walters, have opposed those laws.A Supreme Court decision last year allowed the federal government to arrest anyone using marijuana, even for medical purposes and even in states that have legalized its use. Congressional opponents and supporters of medical marijuana use have each tried to enlist the F.D.A. to support their views. Representative Mark Souder, Republican of Indiana and a fierce opponent of medical marijuana initiatives, proposed legislation two years ago that would have required the food and drug agency to issue an opinion on the medicinal properties of marijuana.Mr. Souder believes that efforts to legalize medicinal uses of marijuana are a front for efforts to legalize all uses of it, said Martin Green, a spokesman for Mr. Souder. Tom Riley, a spokesman for Mr. Walters, hailed the food and drug agency's statement, saying it would put to rest what he called "the bizarre public discussion" that has led to some legalization of medical marijuana.The F.D.A. statement directly contradicts a 1999 review by the Institute of Medicine, a part of the National Academy of Sciences, the nation's most prestigious scientific advisory agency. That review found marijuana to be "moderately well suited for particular conditions, such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and AIDS wasting." Dr. John Benson, co-chairman of the Institute of Medicine committee that examined the research into marijuana's effects, said in an interview that the F.D.A. statement on Thursday and the combined review by other agencies were wrong.The federal government "loves to ignore our report," said Dr. Benson, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. "They would rather it never happened."Some scientists and legislators said the agency's statement about marijuana demonstrated that politics had trumped science. "Unfortunately, this is yet another example of the F.D.A. making pronouncements that seem to be driven more by ideology than by science," said Dr. Jerry Avorn, a medical professor at Harvard Medical School.Representative Maurice D. Hinchey, a New York Democrat who has sponsored legislation to allow medicinal uses of marijuana, said the statement reflected the influence of the Drug Enforcement Administration, which he said had long pressured the F.D.A. to help in its fight against marijuana.A spokeswoman for the D.E.A. referred questions to Mr. Walters's office.The F.D.A. statement said state initiatives that legalize marijuana use "are inconsistent with efforts to ensure that medications undergo the rigorous scientific scrutiny of the F.D.A. approval process."But scientists who study the medical use of marijuana said in interviews that the federal government had actively discouraged research. Lyle E. Craker, a professor in the division of plant and soil sciences at the University of Massachusetts, said that he submitted an application in 2001 to the D.E.A. to grow a small patch of marijuana to be used for research because government-approved marijuana, grown in Mississippi, was of poor quality.In 2004, the drug enforcement agency turned Dr. Craker down. He appealed and is awaiting a judge's ruling. "The reason there's no good evidence is that they don't want an honest trial," Dr. Craker said.Dr. Donald Abrams, a professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said he has studied marijuana's medicinal effects for years but has been frustrated because the National Institutes of Health, the leading government medical research agency, has refused to fund such work. With funding from the State of California, Dr. Abrams undertook what he said was a rigorous, placebo-controlled trial of marijuana smoking in H.I.V. patients who suffered from nerve pain. Smoking marijuana proved effective in ameliorating pain, Dr. Abrams said, but he said he is having trouble getting the study published. "One wonders how anyone" could fulfill the F.D.A. request for well-controlled trials to prove marijuana's benefits, he said.Marinol, a synthetic version of a marijuana component, is approved to treat anorexia associated with AIDS and the nausea and vomiting associated with cancer drug therapy.GW Pharmaceutical, a British company, has received F.D.A. approval to test a sprayed extract of marijuana in humans. Called Sativex, the drug is made from marijuana and is presently approved for sale in Canada. Opponents of efforts to legalize marijuana for medicinal uses suggest that marijuana is a so-called gateway drug that often leads users to try more dangerous drugs and to addiction. But the Institute of Medicine report concluded there was no evidence that marijuana acts as a gateway to harder drugs. And it said there was no evidence that medical use of marijuana would increase its use among the general population.Dr. Daniele Piomelli, a professor of pharmacology at the University of California Irvine, said he had "never met a scientist who would say that marijuana is either dangerous or useless."He said studies clearly show that marijuana has some benefits for some patients. "We all agree on that," he said.Source: New York Times (NY)Author: Gardiner HarrisPublished: April 21, 2006Copyright: 2006 The New York Times Co.Contact: letters nytimes.com Website: http://www.nytimes.com/IOM Reporthttp://newton.nap.edu/html/marimed/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml

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Comment #58 posted by FoM on April 21, 2006 at 20:59:42 PT
Video from TurnTo10.com
State Reacts To FDA Medical Marijuana StatementHealth Department Still Instituting ProgramApril 21, 2006PROVIDENCE -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration published a statement this week criticizing state measures to legalize the medical use of marijuana.NBC 10's Michelle Brown reported that Rhode Island's Department of Health said no decisions, if any, will be made regarding the state's medical marijuana program until more details from the FDA announcement are obtained.http://www.turnto10.com/news/8895306/detail.html
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Comment #57 posted by John Tyler on April 21, 2006 at 19:07:04 PT
more lies
The FDA’s action is certainly objectionable and shows the extent of Rep Souder ability to twist arms for political purposes. One hopeful thing though is that articles reporting this news give a strong voice to the opposing views. I don’t think this would have been done a few years ago.  The FDA’s objectivity has been in question for some time. This episode doesn’t help their reputation. 
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Comment #56 posted by FoM on April 21, 2006 at 16:30:52 PT
Just a Note
For those who notice a number missing here and on one other thread I made a mistake and the other one was a double post. There I feel better.
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Comment #55 posted by FoM on April 21, 2006 at 16:28:26 PT

FDA on Medical Marijuana: Science or Politics? 

NPR Radio: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5356029&ft=1&f=1007By Joanne Silberner Things Considered, April 21, 2006 · The Food and Drug Administration has issued a statement saying there are no scientific studies to support the use of marijuana for medical purposes. But critics say the FDA is bowing to powerful political pressure. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Office of National Drug Control Policy have long held that marijuana should not be legalized for any reason. And last year the Supreme Court ruled that federal authorities could prosecute patients taking medical marijuana in the dozen states that have approved its use.FDA spokesperson Susan Bro said the agency issued its statement in response to inquiries from the public and Congress. "For the FDA, there has not been enough clinical data demonstrating that either the drug is effective or safe in treating chronic, painful conditions," Bro said.Marc White works for a member of Congress who has requested more information from the FDA, Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN). Souder opposes the medical use of marijuana."We've been asking them to look at the science of whether marijuana is really medicine for about three years, and asking them to weigh-in on it repeatedly," says White.The Institute of Medicine, a division of the National Academy of Sciences, is already on record with its verdict. The IOM report was not exactly what White was looking for. One of the authors of the IOM's 1999 study is John Benson, a professor of medicine at the University of Nebraska. "We thought there was sufficient evidence at that time to justify the statement that it had benefits in patients for pain, for the relief of nausea and vomiting from, for example, chemotherapy for cancer, or AIDS," Benson says. He adds that he's seen nothing since to contradict the panel's 1999 conclusion, though he is disappointed there haven't been more studies since then.The IOM report was carefully worded. It focused on possibilities and noted that benefits had to be weighed against potential harm from inhaled smoke.Opponents of medical marijuana, including Robert DuPont, drug czar in the Nixon and Ford administrations, point to the potential harm and say that without more solid proof of effectiveness, medical marijuana is a bad solution.To Bruce Merkin of the Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-medical marijuana group, the FDA's decision had everything to do with pressure from Capitol Hill. "This is not a scientific statement, this is a political statement. Nakedly, baldly political," he says.Dr. Jerome Kassirer, a former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, says it's motivated by a concern that smoking marijuana might lead to drug addiction."I think it's ridiculous. The fact is there are circumstances where smoked marijuana may be helpful to patients who are desperately ill," says Kassirer.Whether it was politics or science that pushed the FDA, what happens next is not in the agency's hands, says FDA spokeswoman Susan Bro. "That is the beginning and the end of what the FDA does," Bro said. "The enforcement of a product such as this is done by other agencies, such as the DEA." Meanwhile, Souder will continue to ask the FDA to post more information on harmful effects of marijuana on its Web site. And U.S. Rep Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), who supports the use of medical marijuana, will send a letter to the FDA next week to find out why the agency apparently disregarded the Institute of Medicine study.Copyright 2006 NPR 
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Comment #53 posted by OverwhelmSam on April 21, 2006 at 15:21:26 PT

Theres A Solution
Let's start a campaign to encourage our representatives to schedule and hold four townhall meetings a year in different locations within his district. It makes a big difference if you can get face to face with your representative and tell him what you want him to do.
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Comment #52 posted by museman on April 21, 2006 at 15:16:34 PT

whig
"...more and more of us all the time are withdrawing from the state, not supporting it, not voting, not participating, and what happens to the state itself?"There is a phrase; "Be in the world, but not of it." I believe it applies. Also "Render to Caesar that which is Caesar's...etc." I vote. I participate in anything locally that seems to have even the slightest inclination towards truth and sanity. BUT I DO NOT SUPPORT LIES AND B.S. I don't feel like my vote is worth much, for obvious reasons, but still I make my mark reasoning that my vote for or against the issues is the only political power currently available to me. I often write in candidates, because the incumbants and or choices are always part of that club I want no part of.I don't pay taxes because I don't have enough income. Since I never had the opportunity to make enough money to have to pay, I actually never have given the IRS 1 cent. I do feel good about that. I also feel good about choosing to sacrifice the convenience of the plug-in-aplliance-for everything mentality, and used alternative solar power for over a decade before the local proponents of propriety cost me my 40 acres, the house we built out of recycled materials, and my chosen lifestyle.So here I am in a trailer park infested with meth users, now disabled, with fewer options than I ever had. I now pay PG&E for power, the city for water and garbage. I'm just the person who gets the money from the Gov. (VA) then turns around and gives it to the rich, the only difference is that now I don't have to physically work so hard to be poor, the government is seeing to that. Some have pointed out to me that I 'condemn the hand that 'feeds' me.' However having 'served' this damned government in the military, I look at it as back pay for services rendered, because they just don't have enough money in the world to compensate me for that horror.Still even I have some choices. I do not need to drive everywhere, I can ride a bike. I do not have to spend half my day in front of a device that sucks up electricity, life did not begin with TV, or electric dishwashers.I do not have to concern myself with wardrobes, jeans T-shirts, and cheap shoes do me fine.All in all, I've tried to do no harm to my Mother Earth, and I know from my own experience that everyone has many many better choices than they are making. Do you think that because we lived without the 'conveniences and trappings' of modern Americana that our lives were any less full or happy? Quite the contrary. This thing called 'civilization' is the most miserable thing to ever happen to mankind. I know I can find little agreement, but if I hadn't lived it I wouldn't state it as so. I want it back, my earth, and no amount of posturing, juggling of truth, and compromising is going to change my attitude towards that EVER.I am well aware of the arguments that can be made conerning the so called benefits of modern medicine science etc. and I agree that it would be good if we could save some of the better aspects of 'civilization' but the paving of paradise and all it's attending technologies of polution and destruction is the mortal enemy of life. It's not just about the taxes, it's also about time and energy given to a beast that consumes and destroys. Lifetimes given for nothing but support for the top of the pyramid. When you stand looking down the corridors of your life, and where you have been is obviously a longer road, I hope you can look back and see a significant amount of life lived, not bartered to the usurpers for a piece of your own natural inheritance. I cannot change the past, but I can change the future. So can you/we.
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Comment #51 posted by whig on April 21, 2006 at 15:13:37 PT

FoM
That HuffPo article was awesome, you should post it!
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Comment #50 posted by FoM on April 21, 2006 at 14:54:43 PT

Two More Related Articles
http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0421-07.htmhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/davis-sweet/medical-marijuana-slippe_b_19558.html
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Comment #49 posted by FoM on April 21, 2006 at 14:43:01 PT

Another Related Article from Forbes
FDA Opposition to Medical Marijuana Fuels Controversyhttp://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/04/21/hscout532297.html
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Comment #48 posted by FoM on April 21, 2006 at 14:30:01 PT

Whig
That very well might help. What I do is wet a washcloth and add a couple drops of eucalyptus essential oil and lemon essential oil and inhale it thru the washcloth. 
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Comment #47 posted by global_warming on April 21, 2006 at 14:28:11 PT

sounds bad
much like those cannabis userswho suffer in rotten prisonscages in our modernism
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Comment #46 posted by whig on April 21, 2006 at 14:23:21 PT

OT: Sinuses
Just got a pulsatile sinus irrigator. I really think this in combination with the Sinus Buster stuff is the way to clear up a lot of problems and I hope some of you who have headaches and other things wrong might get some benefit from trying this. I almost never have headaches except when I lie down to sleep now (which is still really bad, but at least that's a big improvement on before when I had them constantly). I just used the irrigator a few minutes ago for the first time, so I'll give a better report in a few days when I see how much difference it makes. I can tell you right now all kinds of stuff is clearing, though.http://www.hydromedonline.com/hp.html
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Comment #45 posted by FoM on April 21, 2006 at 14:11:16 PT

Whig
Yes a person can survive that way. Back in the 70s we wanted to live in the country far away from big cities. We live in an area where we can basically do what we want without a lot of trouble with zoning ( no mobile homes, pig farms and 5 acres per house ) or things that try to box you in. It's a matter of what makes each one of us feel free in my opinion.
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Comment #44 posted by whig on April 21, 2006 at 14:02:11 PT

Max
Paul Mitchell really screwed a good friend of mine. I don't think he's a good source of information on how to go about things.
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Comment #43 posted by global_warming on April 21, 2006 at 14:01:14 PT

and
May God Forgive Us All,Yet he has, forgiven us all,My next breath is an affirmation,That TestifiesAs WitnessThe Glory that is our giftWhat gift do we have to bring?
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Comment #42 posted by whig on April 21, 2006 at 13:59:09 PT

FoM
It's not impossible to work things out so you are out of the system but still able to function, but it requires some effort. You cannot put property in your own name. You cannot own things exclusive of others who will hold them for your benefit. So you have to have a great deal of trust that you will be taken care of and not disadvantaged by those who you rely upon.There is surely no avoiding the tax being paid at some level by someone, not when real estate is bought and sold, not when things are purchased which carry a sales tax. You can avoid a wage, by not accepting employment. It is not a thing to do when your objective is to make the most profitable choices, it is not the way to make and keep the greatest amount of money and other material things. It is a way to survive, however, and yet be free of attachment to the state in your person.
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Comment #41 posted by global_warming on April 21, 2006 at 13:54:48 PT

re:taxes
sounds like you are getting the picture
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Comment #40 posted by FoM on April 21, 2006 at 13:42:48 PT

BGreen
We have a friend who hasn't paid taxes in many years. He is afraid and worried all the time. He has some land that he has owned since the 70s and if he could sell it his money problems would be solved. He is so afraid that he doesn't do anything because he is afraid of getting back in the system. You can't buy your own home without paying taxes. You can't do much of anything if you don't pay taxes. That's the way the system is. Excerpt: Caesar Augustus decreed that the whole world should be taxed. This tax enrollment was made when Quirinius (Cyrenius) was governor of Syria in 1 B.C. Cyrenius ruled from 4 B.C. through 1 B.C.Joseph and Mary lived and worked in Nazareth of Galilee. Joseph had to return to his own city of Bethlehem for the census and enrollment to pay his taxes because he was of the house and lineage of David. http://www.hebroots.org/hebrootsarchive/9807/980721_h.html
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Comment #39 posted by whig on April 21, 2006 at 13:37:49 PT

museman
The thing is, more and more of us all the time are withdrawing from the state, not supporting it, not voting, not participating, and what happens to the state itself? It becomes even worse! But of course, because those that remain adhering to the state are proportionately more of those that have driven it in the way that has forced us out from its cover. And as the thing continues to go on and deteriorate and become more vicious by the day, more still are pushed out and more and more and it weakens and it gets worse. It is the perfect vicious cycle, ending in death for the state, but the death throes will be angry and you can expect nothing less.
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Comment #38 posted by BGreen on April 21, 2006 at 13:28:13 PT

Tax Day, April 17, 2006
I, too, became a financial supporter of united states sponsored terrorism and murder, in order to prevent jail time for Mrs. Green and myself.All of this was disguised as a "voluntary" tax.May God forgive us all.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #37 posted by global_warming on April 21, 2006 at 13:17:02 PT

it seems that
The the global press is not buying into the FDA's latest pronouncement..FDA Allows Politics to Trump Science by Denying Medical Benefits of MarijuanaFDA Sides with Law Enforcement over Medical and Scientific CommunitiesBush Administration’s Fantasies Continue: Human Activity Doesn’t Cause Global Warming, Iraq Was Involved in 9-11, and Now Marijuana Has No Medical Benefits...They may be Right against the Left, but it is little old me, caught up in the middle of all this expensive bs.http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0421-06.htm

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Comment #36 posted by global_warming on April 21, 2006 at 12:53:59 PT

repeal the 16th Amendment
Take the tit away, and see how quickly the behemoth shrinks.
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Comment #35 posted by museman on April 21, 2006 at 11:43:52 PT

L.R.C.
Logic Reason Common sense. Simple. Nowhere in this government for the rich by the rich can you find it. Why bother to look? Solutions are not to be found in the corrupted format and framework of the current system. Why do people consistently try to uphold this corruption? Why does compromise with evil seem like a solution to so many?This system is doomed, and all who cling to the multitudinous errors are doomed with it. Wrong in the beginning, wrong with every move it makes. The U.S. Government is a monster of biblical proportion, and all the psuedo-intellectual vocabulary of the masters of misdirection, all their re-writing of the meaning and intent of language, all their attempts at disguise; lies and misdirection, won't change the fact of their evil, their error, and their ultimate nasty end.The solution is literally in the hands of the people, but as long as the people continue to abdicate their rights and responsibilities to the rich politic, and the false representaion, no effective action is possible.Every community has the power to secure their own resources, peace, and solidarity, but they are not going that direction, because too many in every community, are spiritually, and humanisticly lazy-(and fearful) expecting their 'betters' to take care of business for them. Voices are not being heard because of the lines drawn by the social/religious/economic/political elite. If you aren't part fo the club, you will not be heard.It is true that there is more awareness of the errors than ever before, but it is obviously not enough, because even though we as a people are shouting loud and clear that we don't want criminals to be our 'elected representatives,' only criminals need apply.As a newborn Aquarian, I am trying real hard to see that the glass is actually half full, but it seems to me that the NAKED EMPIRE needs to be dealt with, and dealt with soon, or the glass ain't even going to be half empty, it's gonna shatter.
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Comment #34 posted by FoM on April 21, 2006 at 10:54:48 PT

Money That's What They Want
Anything we do or care about doesn't matter. The only thing that seems to matter is how much money they can take from us. They have fines for so many things. If they break us financially then more young people will enlist in the armed services. So we will have the prison industrial complex ( slave labor ) or armed services ( kill for corporate america ) If I had a teenager under my guidance right now I wouldn't have any idea what to tell them to do to make a good future for themselves. College is a simplistic answer and only a temperary solution to a dismal future in my opinion.
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Comment #33 posted by kaptinemo on April 21, 2006 at 10:53:58 PT:

"Doonesbury" has the White House's view on 
science pegged perfectly, though Gary Trudeau doesn't mention this recent insanity regarding cannabis:http://www.smashingpress.com/index.php?showtopic=301
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Comment #32 posted by FoM on April 21, 2006 at 10:35:59 PT

Max Flowers 
I understand when people don't pay taxes and we didn't for a few years and it scares the heck out of you when someone from the Internal Revenue knocks on your door. I can't deal with that fear so we do our taxes on time and pay what he are told we have to pay. 
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Comment #31 posted by kaptinemo on April 21, 2006 at 10:20:17 PT:

"Smoked marijuana"
This has all been done before. It started with "Dr." Andrea Barthwell. Recall how she said, while shilling for the ONDCP, that cannabis had NO medicinal benefits? Then as soon as she leaves Gub'mint 'service' (that's why your backside feels so sore; you've been 'serviced') and takes a position with GW Pharmaceuticals - the makers of the liquid marijuana tincture called Sativex - she changes her tune to only 'smoked marijuana' as having no medical benefit. And now the Party Line from the medical Politburo has been given...echoing hers. At least the article puts the oppositon into a respectable light by offering those who know the truth to speak it.
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Comment #30 posted by Max Flowers on April 21, 2006 at 10:11:09 PT

Sam
I cannot believe I just wrote a big check to these bastards. How can people take it? How can people just sit there & give huge amounts of money to these scoundrels?I don't---that's how I live with myself. Risky, yes I guess. A little scary? Yes. Does it feel great? Absolutely. Knowing it's not even legal for them to demand it (talking about personal pay, not corporate income here) makes it all the easier. Read the law, do some research on it (maybe you already have).Check this out for starters: http://www.supremelaw.org/sls/31answers.htm
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Comment #29 posted by Sam Adams on April 21, 2006 at 10:10:34 PT

Gold
Anyone check gold prices lately? It's gone from 450 US dollars per ounce to almost 650 in about a year. Just as our Libertarian friends have been warning us that it would for years.What's happening? Simple. People with a lot of money are starting to move their US dollars into gold en masse. Why? They can see the writing on the wall. How much is a Soviet ruble worth today? Nil. It was doing fine right up until the time their entire socio-economic system collapsed. Why? Huge, corrupt central government that controlled too much resources. Too much money paid into the military.And look what happened during the collapse. A handful of rich, government-connected oligarchs literally stole the money and resources of the entire country. The vastly reduced economy could no longer afford to pay the bloated masses of government and law enforcement officials. Most of them simply became criminals in the Russian mafia that now plagues legitimate businessmen and citizens. Or maybe that's what there were before; now they just don't have the titles and uniforms to legitimize it. 
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Comment #28 posted by Max Flowers on April 21, 2006 at 10:02:33 PT

You don't get it, FDA
Efforts are underway in several other states, including Minnesota and Illinois, to legalize marijuana use.The FDA expressed concern about this."These measures are inconsistent with efforts to ensure that medications undergo the rigorous scientific scrutiny of the FDA approval process and are proven safe and effective," it says in the statement, made available to Reuters.You work for US, not the other way around.I think I just found a theme ("talking point"?) for the people to reclaim the power that is rightfully ours. YOU WORK FOR US, REMEMBER?
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Comment #27 posted by MikeEEEEE on April 21, 2006 at 09:32:43 PT

economic collapse
Christen-Mitchell, the matrix has you...Presently, oil is above $74 a barrel, on its way to $80, and the oil companies are raking it in. In the past, after each popular energy source has been depleted, there has been global conflict.The military-industrial-congressional complex knows that whoever controls the energy resources controls the economic machine. 
 Iraq = 2nd. largest oil reserve.Iran = 3rd. largest oil reserve.
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Comment #26 posted by whig on April 21, 2006 at 09:24:08 PT

Way Off Topic
But a funny read...http://tinyurl.com/zyw87
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Comment #25 posted by whig on April 21, 2006 at 09:09:35 PT

Christen-Mitchell
You rock.
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Comment #24 posted by FoM on April 21, 2006 at 08:56:37 PT

Whig
I saw about the bomb on Lou Dobbs last week. I am so upset with what they are doing to us.Pentagon to Test a Huge Conventional BombA huge mushroom cloud of dust is expected to rise over Nevada's desert in June when the Pentagon plans to detonate a gigantic 700-ton explosive -- the biggest open-air chemical blast ever at the Nevada Test Site -- as part of the research into developing weapons that can destroy deeply buried military targets, officials said yesterday.The test, code-named "Divine Strake," will occur on June 2 about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas in a high desert valley bounded by mountains, according to Pentagon and Energy Department officials.Complete Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/30/AR2006033001735.html
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Comment #23 posted by Christen-Mitchell on April 21, 2006 at 08:44:28 PT:

Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex
Many of us grew up hearing of the Military-Industrial Complex. President Eisenhauser's warning to this country of the growing power conspiracy included Congress, but the complete message was shortened, he had to work with them.Call it what you will, but the Corporate New World Order or even Pharafascism has us and the world in it's grip.Unfortunately for them, and still us, the reality of petroleum addiction will still end in economic collapse.Between China's growing habit, expected to increase their use 150% in the next decade, and our continued meddling with oil rich nations (nukeing Iran) our habit will be the undoing of our economy.Hempenol, hempenol, and hempenol. Our greener future.Celestial physics has nothing to do with the spinning of this globe around the sun, denial seems to propel us through the cosmos.I thank mail carriers often, for being the one part of our federal government that still works for its people and works well.If we could ask for one quality from our leaders that they lack, It would be Integrity. Time and time again they show an attitude of "Democracy welike, not Democracy we don't like. They put a k in the D word. It's as bad as the motto of the media,"All the New, We Choose."
Hemptopia: Towards Our Greener Future - Go To "Don't Go Here"
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Comment #22 posted by whig on April 21, 2006 at 08:42:54 PT

FoM
I think I understand the support for Bush better today than I did yesterday. 4/20 was a very enlightening holyday for me. The irony is that he's locked himself to this base now that is seeping away from him, and he cannot regain the support of those he has lost, so he has nothing to do but cling all the more tightly to the most extreme of the extreme to keep them on the reservation. He is slipping and sliding and digging himself in ever deeper, and there is no way out for him but resignation or war war war. Do you know they are doing 700 ton bunker buster tests to prepare for nuclear strikes on Iran? Nuclear war.Armageddon it?
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on April 21, 2006 at 08:40:12 PT

Sam
We just wrote a big check to them too. We need to do something to stop this insanity. I feel a revolution is about ready to break loose. Not where I live but in DC. I pity young people.
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on April 21, 2006 at 08:14:51 PT

Looking For A Leader Lyrics
I have been having a little satellite trouble today but I think I have it fixed now. These lyrics from Neil Young's new album says a lot to me. They are running out of gas in some places. My husband saw a price on the news of $4.19 a gallon. Why don't they do something about the profits from the high oil prices? How will people do anything? To fill up my husband's truck it is around $600 that takes him about a 1000 miles. Something must change? How can anyone like Bush anymore at all? Only people associated with the oil business must still love Bush.Lookin’ for a Leader - NYTo bring our country homeRe-unite the red white and blueBefore it turns to stoneLookin’ for somebodyYoung enough to take it onClean up the corruptionAnd make our country strongWalkin’ among our peopleThere’s someone who’s straight and strongTo lead us from desolationAnd a broken world gone wrongComplete Lyrics: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/rust/message/157753
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Comment #19 posted by Sam Adams on April 21, 2006 at 07:25:16 PT

Collapse is accelerating
It's more obvious every day that we now live under the oppressive yoke of tyranny. We are hurtling down a path of moral, financial, and environmental bankruptcy. Cheating liars have taken over the country.The federal government took away our ability to take care of our own bodies with the CSA. Now, they forcibly extort money from us (April 15th) and use it to deprive of us of safe, traditional herbal medicine, and force us to use deadly synthetic poisons like Vioxx.But again, isn't the problem that no one even cares? All these abuses are possible because they've broken our will. It was right there in plain newsprint - the FDA worked to hide the danger of Vioxx from an ignorant public, and thousands died. Why wasn't the FDA disbanded at that point? Where was the outrage? Not only have they failed their basic mission - incompetency - they are actively working to sicken and kill us!  The corporate elite and political class saw that this was tolerated, and now they're going even further. The latest development makes me furious, I cannot believe I just wrote a big check to these bastards. How can people take it? How can people just sit there & give huge amounts of money to these scoundrels?I guess because they'll throw you in jail if you don't! I think that's what the overall climate of fear is all about.  It's all subconscious, but at some level people see all the police & army on TV and know they don't dare speak up. Better to keep the paying the soaring property taxes, health care and education costs, and federal tax bills.Better to buy another boat or ATV and burn some more gas than to think about what kind of society we're handing off to our children.
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Comment #18 posted by dongenero on April 21, 2006 at 06:54:16 PT

follow the party line
"In response to inquiries, including from Congress, we are clarifying our position on the science," said FDA spokeswoman Susan Bro in an interview.Un huh, read between the lines on this statement. Souder and the drug warriors have obviously pushed the FDA to make a political statement. If the FDA has not already proved to be obsolete, this should push it over the edge.Furthermore, state ballot initiatives are not attempts to circumvent science but rather attempts to circumvent the stonewalling of science by the federal government.
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Comment #17 posted by mayan on April 21, 2006 at 06:38:55 PT

Bush Still Sinking
Oh, my God. The latest Fox News poll has Bush at his all time low...  Bush Approval: Raw Poll Data:
http://www.pollkatz.homestead.com/files/pollkatzmainGRAPHICS_8911_image001.gifHe's dragging the whole world down with him!
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Comment #16 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on April 21, 2006 at 06:30:20 PT

FDA
Isn't it the FDA which distributes those tins of NIDA schwag to the Investigative New Drugs program patients?
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Comment #15 posted by whig on April 21, 2006 at 06:26:12 PT

Waiting to Inhale
  The Marijuana Policy Project invites you to attend a screening of Waiting to Inhale, a feature-length documentary that provides a compelling and detailed look at medical marijuana.  Waiting to Inhale will be screened in Boston on Saturday, April 22, at 12:00 p.m. at the Brattle Theatre, and on Sunday, April 23, at 3:30 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre.  A panel discussion with film director Jed Riffe, noted scholar and author Dr. Lester Grinspoon, and Whitney Taylor, executive director of the Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts, will follow both screenings.  Funded in part by a grant from MPP, Waiting to Inhale features experts on both sides of the medical marijuana issue and intimate stories from critically ill patients seeking relief from their pain.  Waiting to Inhale has already played to critical acclaim, having won the 2005 CINE Golden Eagle Award, the Gold Special Jury "Remi" Award at the 38th Annual WorldFest-Houston, and the 2005 Best Documentary Film/Video at the New Jersey International Film Festival. Please visit www.WaitingToInhale.org for more information.  Please visit www.iffboston.org for more details about the screenings. Tickets can be purchased for $8.
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Comment #14 posted by OverwhelmSam on April 21, 2006 at 06:21:24 PT

Now Why Doesn't This Suprise Me?
The corruption from the FDA is glaring. FDA, IRS, DEA, CIA, FBI, ATF all corrupt tools of the administration. The only way to win, is to campaign against prohibitionists in Congress. Doesn't matter if they win or lose, at least it will make them think twice when they vote against marijuana regulation. 
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Comment #13 posted by unkat27 on April 21, 2006 at 05:42:59 PT

FDA= Fat Drunk Alcoholics
Hell, we all know that the FDA works for Big Pharma and Big Pharma lobbies against cannabis legalization to PREVENT PROFIT LOSS in the pharmaceutical industry.
Fat Drunk Alcoholics
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Comment #12 posted by mayan on April 21, 2006 at 04:52:39 PT

DEA Doctors
Susan Bro, an agency spokeswoman, said Thursday's statement resulted from a combined review by federal drug enforcement, regulatory and research agencies that concluded "smoked marijuana has no currently accepted or proven medical use in the United States and is not an approved medical treatment."What in the hell does federal drug enforcement know about medical treatment? Why in the hell is the FDA even listening to them? How much money did the pharmaceutical lobby shell out to buy this outcome? The stink is becoming unbearable! The FDA has now been exposed for all to see. They are clearly as corrupted as any agency in the history of this once great country. I think I'm going to vomit.
 
Below is a link to a very alarming, but not so surprising article which helps explain the so-called experts who claim cannabis causes mental disorders...Experts Defining Mental Disorders Are Linked to Drug Firms:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/19/AR2006041902560_pf.htmlTHE WAY OUT...Former German Minister Says Building 7 Used To Run 9/11 Attack:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/april2006/210406runattack.htmCome gather in NYC April 29th, 2006 for the East Coast 9/11 Truth Summit:
http://www.ny911truth.org/events/northeast_9-11_truth_summit.htmInternational 9/11 Education & Strategy Conference - June 2nd - 4th - Chicago, Illinois:
http://www.911truth.org/ChicagoConference.htm The New World Order Story:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12195.htm911podcasts.com presents Aftermath, Unanswered Questions of 9/11: 
http://www.911podcasts.com/display.php?vid=68911podcasts.com presents Professor Abolhassan AstanenAsl: 
http://www.911podcasts.com/display.php?vid=69911podcasts.com presents Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime: 
http://www.911podcasts.com/display.php?vid=67 
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Comment #11 posted by billos on April 21, 2006 at 04:48:13 PT

                  When they say
"no sound scientific studies" supported the medical use of marijuana....it's true.But it's because the FDA and the DEA will not allow any scientific studies.
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Comment #10 posted by BGreen on April 21, 2006 at 04:26:48 PT

Something dawned on me after the initial anger
The FDA commissioner is the brother of Scott McClellan, the white house spokes liar (and really bad liar at that) who resigned this past week.Another thing was the use of the prohibitionist sound bite "smoked marijuana," when in fact it is the mere possession of cannabis, NOT the manner of consumption, that is illegal.The McClellan brothers are disgusting LYING WHORES and aren't to be trusted.The Reverend Bud GreenNOTICE THE PREOCCUPATION OF MARK MCCLELLAN WITH ECONOMICSMONEY TALKS AND BUYS LOTS OF LIES FROM THIS FAMILY!Biography of Mark McClellan, M.D., PH.D.
Commissioner
Food and Drug Administrationhttp://www.hhs.gov/about/bios/fda.htmlMark McClellan was sworn in as Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 14, 2002, following Senate confirmation by unanimous consent.The FDA is a critical consumer protection agency, which assures the safety of foods and cosmetics, and the safety and efficacy of pharmaceuticals, biological products and medical devices - products representing roughly 25 cents out of every dollar in U.S. consumer spending.Prior to joining FDA, Dr. McClellan was Associate Professor of Economics at Stanford University, Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford Medical School, a practicing internist, and Director of the Program on Health Outcomes Research at Stanford University. He was also a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Additionally, he was a Member of the National Cancer Policy Board of the National Academy of Sciences, Associate Editor of the Journal of Health Economics, and co-Principal Investigator of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a longitudinal study of the health and economic well-being of older Americans. From 1998-99, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy, where he supervised economic analysis and policy development on a wide range of domestic policy issues.During 2001 and 2002, Dr. McClellan served in the White House. He was a Member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, where he advised on domestic economic issues. He also served during this time as a senior policy director for health care and related economic issues for the White House.Dr. McClellan's research studies have addressed measuring and improving the quality of health care, the economic and policy factors influencing medical treatment decisions and health outcomes, estimating the effects of medical treatments, technological change in health care and its consequences for health and medical expenditures, and the relationship between health and economic well-being. He has twice received the Arrow Award for Outstanding Research in Health Economics. He earned his M.D. degree from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology and his Ph.D. in economics from MIT. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and he is board-certified in Internal Medicine.Dr. McClellan is married and has two four-year old daughters.AND HERE IS HIS LYING EQUALLY SCUMMY BROTHERWalking the White House plankBY Sidney BlumenthalApril 19, 2006 05:53 PMhttp://tinyurl.com/s45twThe resignation of the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, is an event of almost complete insignificance except insofar as the beleaguered White House presents it as an important change. Meanwhile, the secretary of defence, Donald Rumsfeld, under siege from dissenting ex-generals demanding his firing for arrogant incompetence, stays.McClellan is a flea on the windshield of history. On the podium, he performed his duty as a slow-flying object swatted by a frustrated and flustered press corps. Inexpressive, occasionally inarticulate and displaying a limited vocabulary, his virtue was his unwavering discipline in sticking to his uninformative talking points, fending off pesky reporters, and defending the president and all the president's men to the last full measure of his devotion. Inside the Bush White House, he was a non-player, a factotum, the instrument of Karl Rove, Bush's chief political strategist and deputy chief of staff. McClellan played no part in the inner councils of state. He was the blank wall erected in front of the press to obstruct them from seeing what was on the other side. McClellan's stoic façade was unmatched by a stoic interior. He was a vessel for his masters, did whatever he was told, put out disinformation without objection, and was willing to defend any travesty. He is the ultimate dispensable man. 
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Comment #9 posted by runderwo on April 21, 2006 at 00:02:50 PT

actually
Actually, this was a very positive article considering the headline. They did a good job aggregating all the "what the F*ck is the FDA thinking" responses from all over. Sadly, most people won't read past the headline I think.
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Comment #8 posted by MikeEEEEE on April 20, 2006 at 22:27:13 PT

Follow the money
Drug company boner pills carry more weight than a plant that has been used for thousands of years.Doctors and nurses have compassion, not big corporate govt. 

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Comment #7 posted by FoM on April 20, 2006 at 21:50:35 PT

AP: FDA Rejects Medical Uses of Marijuana

By Lou Kesten, The Associated Press  April 20, 2006WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that it does not support the use of marijuana for medical purposes.The FDA said in a statement that it and other agencies with the Health and Human Services Department 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."A number of states have passed legislation allowing marijuana use for medical purposes, but the FDA said, "These measures are inconsistent with efforts to ensure that medications undergo the rigorous scientific scrutiny of the FDA approval process and are proven safe and effective."  
 The statement contradicts a 1999 finding from the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, which reported that "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."Bruce Mirken, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, said Thursday: "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 said "a rabid congressional opponent of medical marijuana," Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., asked the FDA to make the statement.Souder, 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. 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 statement noted "there is currently sound evidence that smoked marijuana is harmful." It also said, "There are alternative FDA-approved medications in existence for treatment of 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."For the FDA to ignore all that evidence is embarrassing," Mirken said. "They should be red-faced."___On the Net:Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov/ Marijuana Policy Project: http://www.mpp.org/ Copyright: 2006 Associated Press

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Comment #6 posted by afterburner on April 20, 2006 at 21:09:18 PT

Smoked Vaporized Eaten, the Miracle Plant 
The F.D.A. statement said state initiatives that legalize marijuana use "are inconsistent with efforts to ensure that medications undergo the rigorous scientific scrutiny of the F.D.A. approval process.""F.D.A. approval process" Vioxx -- prestige value zero."The F.D.A. statement directly contradicts a 1999 review by the Institute of Medicine, a part of the National Academy of Sciences, the nation's most prestigious scientific advisory agency."IoM -- prestige value top of the line.Using DEA lies as evidence -- politricks.
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Comment #5 posted by Sukoi on April 20, 2006 at 20:25:41 PT

FoM, Ekim, etal.
I thought that you would like this and it's actually worthy of its' own post (in my opinion). Read the first comment here: http://www.ioerror.us/2006/04/18/dispatches-from-the-drug-war-2/
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Comment #4 posted by BGreen on April 20, 2006 at 20:14:11 PT

Citing conclusions by the evil pigs
known collectively as the DEA, the ones who get sexual gratification for destroying the lives of sick people, and COMPLETELY IGNORING THE CONCLUSION OF SCIENTISTS AND THOUSANDS OF DOCTORS, the slimeballs at the FDA have sold their souls to the almighty dollar.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on April 20, 2006 at 20:07:08 PT

UPI: FDA Rules Out Medical Marijuana

WASHINGTON, April 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it does not support "the use of smoked marijuana for medical purposes." The FDA released a statement in Washington reiterating its long-held position that marijuana meets the three criteria for placement on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act -- the most restrictive classification of narcotics -- a high potential for abuse, no "currently accepted medical use" and "a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision." Citing conclusions by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, which administers the Controlled Substances Act, the FDA said there is "sound evidence that smoked marijuana is harmful." The statement cited evaluations by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and National Institute for Drug Abuse, which "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." The FDA said measures in a growing number of states to legalize medical marijuana are "inconsistent with efforts to ensure that medications undergo the rigorous scientific scrutiny of the FDA approval process," and are proven safe and effective. Copyright: 2006 United Press International, Inc. http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060420-103304-7138r
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on April 20, 2006 at 19:57:57 PT

Related Article from Reuters
FDA Speaks Out Against Marijuana Legalization***By Maggie Fox, Health and Science CorrespondentApril 20, 2006 WASHINGTON - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will publish a statement on Friday criticizing state measures to legalize the medical use of marijuana, calling them attempts to bypass scientific review.The agency said it was posting the statement in response to requests from lawmakers and others, but advocates for legalizing marijuana said the FDA was making an unusual and inappropriate foray into politics."In response to inquiries, including from Congress, we are clarifying our position on the science," said FDA spokeswoman Susan Bro in an interview."The FDA continues to support medical researchers whose intention is to undertake rigorous, peer-reviewed investigations and well-controlled clinical trials, in line with the FDA's drug approval process," she added in an e-mail.But Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project said he was puzzled by the FDA's decision. "It's fascinating that they are making what strikes me as essentially a political move here," said Mirken in an interview."There are plenty of herbal products that people use ... that are not FDA-approved. It really sounds to me like the FDA is inappropriately intruding itself into a political process and I have to say I find it very sad."The issue of the medical use of marijuana has been long contested on the state and federal level. Some patients with diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma say only the herb provides relief, and sometimes their doctors agree.But the federal government maintains that FDA-approved drugs, including a synthetic form of the active ingredient in marijuana, are adequate for these patients. The Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecutors say the medical marijuana movement is a thinly disguised effort to allow for recreational use of the illegal drug. STRICT LEGAL CONTROLMarijuana is a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, the most restrictive schedule.Last June, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a bill that would allow the medical use of marijuana.But 11 states have rebelled, most recently the Rhode Island state legislature which in January overrode Gov. Don Carcieri's veto of a law legalizing marijuana used for symptom relief.Efforts are underway in several other states, including Minnesota and Illinois, to legalize marijuana use.The FDA expressed concern about this."These measures are inconsistent with efforts to ensure that medications undergo the rigorous scientific scrutiny of the FDA approval process and are proven safe and effective," it says in the statement, made available to Reuters.The interagency statement is to be posted at: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01362.htmlTom Riley from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy applauded the move."Why does it get a special get-out-of-jail-free card by plebiscite?" he asked. "The medical marijuana ballot initiatives have been attempts to do an end-run around science. Let's takes it out the political realm and put it back into science where it belongs."Copyright 2006 Reuters News ServiceCopyright: 2006 ABC News Internet Ventureshttp://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1868862&page=1

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Comment #1 posted by FoM on April 20, 2006 at 19:49:33 PT

Video From New York Times Article
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/21/health/21marijuana.html
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