Pubdate: Tuesday, 27 October, 1998 Source: Seattle Times (WA) Contact: http://www.seattletimes.com/ Copyright: 1998 The Seattle Times Company Author: Barry R. McCaffrey and Donald R. Vereen Jr., Office of National Drug Control Policy WE SHOULD USE SCIENCE, NOT THE BALLOT BOX, TO MINISTER TO DISEASE Editor, The Times: On Election Day, residents of Washington state will be asked to vote on a referendum that would legalize cultivation, distribution, possession and consumption of marijuana ostensibly for medical purposes. We should all seek safe and effective medicine to treat medical ills, but our collective interest is better served when proven, scientific processes - not the ballot box - minister to disease. Crude marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals, and we know the effect of only a few. The active ingredient in the cannabis leaf, THC, is synthesized in measured dosages as Marinol, a prescription drug that has been available for 15 years. The FDA has encouraged the pharmaceutical industry to develop other methods for administering THC - for example, by patch, suppository or inhaler. Such developments may make it easier for more individuals to realize the possible therapeutic benefits of THC under controlled, prescribed conditions. This marijuana referendum comes at a time we can't afford to send the wrong message to our children about marijuana or other illegal drugs. Juvenile marijuana usage rates have skyrocketed in the past six years. Kids now begin smoking pot in the sixth and seventh grades. Half of today's teens do so before completing high school. Many will suffer from decisions made while their judgment is impaired by the psychoactive effects of this drug. Indeed, marijuana is now the second leading cause of car crashes among young people (after alcohol). If we lower the societal barriers further, then marijuana use among youth surely will escalate along with the negative consequences of drug abuse. Now is the time for concerned Washingtonians to say "yes" to their communities, their children, and themselves by voting "no" on this initiative. Barry R. McCaffrey and Donald R. Vereen Jr., Office of National Drug Control Policy Washington, D.C. - --- Checked-by: Rich O'Grady