Pubdate: Tue, 12 Jun 2001 Source: Clarion-Ledger, The (MS) Copyright: 2001 The Clarion-Ledger Contact: http://www.clarionledger.com/about/letters.html Website: http://www.clarionledger.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/805 Author: Robert Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n994/a02.html WHY CERTAIN DRUG PLANS EXIST PUZZLING Regarding ("OxyContin abuse a death sentence", June 3), Danna Droz, chief of the Drug Control Branch at the Kentucky Department of Public Health states "OxyContin has made people realize some prescription drugs are dangerous." Granted OxyContin is potentially deadly, the legal status of any given drug is not necessarily determined by danger. The goal of a "drug-free" America that so many politicians claim to be working toward applies only to certain drugs. Specifically, natural drugs that cannot be patented by the pharmaceutical industry, one of Washington's most powerful lobbies and the principal founder of the "Partnership for a Drug-Free America." New lifestyle drugs routinely are granted fast-track approval by the Food and Drug Administration, while marijuana, which has been used medicinally and recreationally for thousands of years, allegedly requires further research. In the short time the blatantly recreational drug Viagra has been on the market, it has already killed more people than marijuana, a relatively benign drug whose pharmacological qualities have never been shown to cause a death. Nationwide, cancer and AIDS patients are being locked up at taxpayers' expense for using medical marijuana, while 2-year-olds are prescribed Ritalin and anti-depressants. So much for protecting the children from drugs. One need only follow the money trail to find out why a given policy exists. Robert Sharpe, M.P.A. Program Officer The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation Washington, DC - --- MAP posted-by: Andrew