Source: Orange County Register (CA) Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Pubdate: 29 Sep 98 Author: Carl W. Armbrust, deputy district attorney for Orange County DEP. DISTT. ATTORNEY IS 'AMAZED' I continue to be amazed that the relatively small handful of people who want to smoke pot seem to have more credibility with your editors concerning the medicinal value of marijuana than the American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the American Glaucoma Society, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the National Eye Institute, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S.Congress, etc, etc. None of the above agencies agree with your premise that smoking marijuana is an effective medicine["A nonsense resolution, "Opinion, Sept.17]. The latest scientific evidence, according to the president's Office of National Drug Control Policy, demonstrates that smoked marijuana damages the brain, heart, lungs and learning and interferes with memory, perception and judgement. Smoked marijuana contains cancer-causing compounds and has been implicated in a high percentage of automobile crashes and workplace accidents. Marijuana-related visits to hospital emergency rooms have tripled since 1990.Of course, it is well known that marijuana is also associated with gateway behavior leading to more extensive drug use. The Congress did the right thing. In the words of the office of National drug Control policy, "Medicine must be based on science rather than ideology." Carl W. Armbrust Santa Ana - --- Checked-by: Pat Dolan