The Supreme Court says the feds can no longer persecute a doctor for discussing medical marijuana. You wouldn't think a case like this would be necessary, would you? But the drug warriors aren't exactly rational thinkers. Read what Dr. Andrea Barthwell, deputy director at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has to say:
"There is a difference between feeling better and actually getting better. There is no scientific evidence that qualifies smoked marijuana to be called medicine. Further, there is no support in the medical literature that marijuana, or indeed any medicine, should be smoked as the preferred form of administration. The harms to health are simply too great."
I'll skip over the bald faced lie there, as evidence of marijuana's efficacy as medicine continues to mount, and that odd bit of logic about a non-medicine having a 'preferred form of administration.' What stands out from that quote is her apparent belief that her office and the White House are the best judges of medical science. I don't think many people outside D.C. would take that claim seriously.
Posted by Walter at October 14, 2003 12:37 PMNo, it isn't a case that ever needed to happen--but I'm glad the court came down on the right side of things.
Posted by: zombyboy at October 14, 2003 01:05 PM