Pubdate: Thu, 01 Jun 2006 Source: Columbian, The (WA) Copyright: 2006 The Columbian Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.columbian.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/92 Author: Larry Little Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) ALLOW MEDICAL MARIJUANA It's simply disgraceful that the Food and Drug Administration is the federal government's agency trusted to provide accurate advice with respect to the medications submitted by drug companies, and to guarantee their safety for consumption prior to them being placed on grocery or pharmacy shelves. Bad things happen to good people. Reactions to prescription drugs kill thousands of people every year I mean the drugs that the companies advertise the heaviest, and the ones that are ineffective. The pharmaceutical industry corrupts the part of Congress that Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay didn't, and some owe their seats to these professional drug pushers who don't want to compete with medical marijuana because they would lose. Consider how many very expensive anti-anxiety, anti-depression and anti-nausea medications being pushed by the pharmaceutical industries would disappear from the market, replaced with a cheap drug, easily produced, decidedly superior and not in control by the drug companies a drug affectionately called pot by users. Immediately, there would be the $70 billion annual budget the Drug Enforcement Administration is using to harass medical marijuana patients that could be used to feed the homeless and give 40 million uninsured children health insurance. Larry Little Vancouver - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman