Pubdate: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 Source: News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) Copyright: 2009 The News and Observer Publishing Company Contact: http://www.newsobserver.com/484/story/433256.html Website: http://www.newsobserver.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/304 Author: David R. Work MADNESS, ALL RIGHT Apparently the Obama administration is hinting at a change in policy on marijuana ("Medical pot policy in limbo," Feb. 8). The time is long overdue to civilize the personal use of this substance for medical purposes or recreation. I am unaware of any death connected only to marijuana use. And if it cannot be demonstrated to have caused even one death, then I see no health and safety basis for making it a controlled substance. Marijuana is in Schedule I at the federal level along with heroin and mescaline. This is nonsensical. A historical review does include the distribution of the film "Reefer Madness," which is a series of hallucinatory scenes used by drug control advocates to foster a general panic in our population without any evidence of harm. David R. Work Chapel Hill The writer is the retired executive director of the N.C. Board of Pharmacy. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin