Pubdate: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 Source: New Mexican, The (Santa Fe, NM) Copyright: 2006 The Santa Fe New Mexican Contact: http://www.freenewmexican.com/emailforms/letters.php Website: http://www.freenewmexican.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/695 Author: Edward Parone ADMINISTRATION'S MARIJUANA MESSAGE IS STALE So, the Bush administration, past masters of cynical manipulation, has sent one of its drug czar assistants with the same old message (and still without a shred of verifiable evidence) that marijuana has "no proven medical value" and can lead to serious mental illness, depression and suicide. He also regards the arguments of medical-use proponents as "cynical and manipulative." Most astounding of all, he declares that "the FDA and not politicians" should make determinations for drug use. Oh yeah? Perhaps he and the FDA can explain why the FDA, under heavy political pressure from the right, refuses to release the "morning-after" pill for over-the-counter sales, despite having approved its safety and effectiveness. Cynicism, manipulation and hypocrisy indeed! Edward Parone Santa Fe - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake