THE SPIN DOCTORS SPIT ON SCIENCE PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE DrugSense FOCUS Alert #328 - Tue, 25 April 2006 Last Thursday the Food and Drug Administration distributed a press release "Inter-Agency Advisory Regarding Claims That Smoked Marijuana Is a Medicine" which you may read at http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01362.html The reaction in the press has been interesting, and worthy of your letters to the editors. Below we have listed links to a collection of the press responses as of today, Tuesday morning. If you need facts to support your letters we suggest these webpages: http://www.mpp.org/medical/ Please note the Common Questions about Medical Marijuana (answered by the Institute of Medicine) and http://www.drugwarfacts.org/medicalm.htm One of the editorials says "If the FDA won't listen to the scientists, Congress should take steps to see that it does." Please contact your members of Congress and ask them to take those steps. Thanks for your effort and support. It's not what others do it's what YOU do Published Friday, 21 April 2006 New York Times F.D.A Dismisses Medical Benefit From Marijuana URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n495/a01.html San Francisco Chronicle FDA's Missive Against Medical Pot URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n495/a10.html Island Packet (SC) FDA Rejects Marijuana for Medical Uses URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n495/a09.html Seattle Post-Intelligencer FDA Rejects Medicinal Use of Marijuana URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n495/a08.html Salt Lake Tribune FDA Says Marijuana Has No Medicinal Value URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n497/a05.html Chicago Tribune FDA Declares Marijuana Has No Medical Value URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n497/a04.html Watertown Daily Times (NY) FDA Says Pot Not Medicine URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n499/a07.html Arizona Republic Rebuffing Scientists, FDA Says Marijuana Has No Medical Value URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n500/a03.html Philadelphia Inquirer FDA: No Benefit in Medical Marijuana URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n500/a04.html Indianapolis Star FDA Says Marijuana Has No Medicinal Value URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n506/a07.html Oakland Tribune FDA Says No Studies Support Marijuana for Medicinal Use URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n508/a08.html Spartanburg Herald Journal (SC) FDA Dismisses Medical Benefit From Marijuana URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n508/a07.html Atlanta Journal-Constitution Marijuana Useless As Medicine, FDA Says URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n509/a01.html Gainesville Sun (FL) F.D.A. Dismisses Medical Benefit From Marijuana URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n509/a03.html Detroit News FDA: No Sound 'Proof' For Medical Marijuana URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n509/a07.html The Register-Guard (OR) FDA Joins Opponents of Medicinal Pot URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n514.a07.html Published Saturday, 22 April 2006 New York Times F.D.A.'s Report Illuminates Wide Divide on Marijuana URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n500/a02.html New York Times Editorial: The Politics of Pot URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n500/a01.html Seattle Times Marijuana Has No Medical Use, FDA Says URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n500/a05.html Gadsden Times (AL) FDA's Report Illuminates Wide Divide on Marijuana URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n507/a02.html Gainesville Sun (FL) F.D.A.'s Report Illuminates Wide Divide on Marijuana URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n509/a02.html Published Sunday, 23 April 2006 Chicago Tribune Editorial: Dissembling On Medical Pot URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n506/a03.html The Oregonian Column: In The Bush Administration, The Spin Doctors Spit on Science URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n509/a05.html Published Monday, 24 April 2006 International Herald-Tribune Editorial: The Politics of Pot URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n509/a06.html Clayton News Daily (Jonesboro, GA) Column: FDA Marijuana Stance Good for Anti-Drug Movement URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n509/a08.html Los Angeles Daily News Editorial: See No Evil URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n513.a07.html News Journal (DE) Editorial: FDA's Credibility Goes Up in Smoke by Mixing Pot and Politics URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n513/a08.html Honolulu Star-Bulletin Editorial: FDA Loses Credibility With Jab At Medical Pot URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n514.a03.html The Republican (Springfield, MA) Editorial: Marijuana Research? Don't Hold Your Breath URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n515/a06.html The Oracle (U of South FL) OPED: Medical Marijuana Is Nothing to Huff and Puff About URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n516.a08.html Published Tuesday, 25 April 2006 New York Times Column: Potheads and Sudafed URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n516.a04.html Rocky Mountain News (Denver) Column: Follow the Drug War Money URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n516.a05.html St. Paul Pioneer Press Column: Twisting Science to Serve Political Ideology URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n516.a06.html Minnesota Daily (U of MN, Minneapolis) Editorial: FDA Says No to Medicinal Weed URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n516.a07.html Tracy Press (CA) Editorial: Blowing Smoke at the White House URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n516.a09.html The Journal Times (Racine, WI) Editorial: FDA Ignores Science In Marijuana Holding URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n517.a01.html Additional news clippings on this issue may be found at this link as they are MAP archived: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Food+and+Drug+Administration Suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides Or contact MAP Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath for personal tips on how to write LTEs that get printed. PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent letter list () if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to if you are not subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others can learn from your efforts. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list () will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing efforts. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form Prepared by: Richard Lake, http://www.drugnews.org

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