Kettle calls pot black

Big news: FDA won't admit marijuana has any medical benefits.
Here is part of one version of the news story:

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that it does not support the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The FDA said in a statement that it and other agencies with the Health and Human Services Department had "concluded that no sound scientific studies supported medical use of marijuana for treatment in the United States, and no animal or human data supported the safety or efficacy of marijuana for general medical use."

A number of states have passed legislation allowing marijuana use for medical purposes, but the FDA said, "These measures are inconsistent with efforts to ensure that medications undergo the rigorous scientific scrutiny of the FDA approval process and are proven safe and effective."

The statement contradicts a 1999 finding from the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, which reported that "marijuana's active components are potentially effective in treating pain, nausea, the anorexia of AIDS wasting and other symptoms, and should be tested rigorously in clinical trials."

Hypocrite-in-chief Bill Clinton had a "Drug Czar" who was an accused war criminal (during the war against Serbia) who frequently made the claim that the government (meaning the federal one) had never accepted there were any medical benefits in marijuana.

Following is, in contrast, a minor news item from 2001, as reported by the Associated Press.

MEDICINAL POT PIONEER ROBERT RANDALL DIES IN HIS HOME JUNE 2, 2001 – Robert Randall, who made history in 1976 when a court gave him access to government supplies of marijuana to treat his glaucoma, died at his home of AIDS-related complications. He was 53. A federal court ruled 25 years ago that Randall's use of marijuana was a medical necessity. Two years later the government cut off his access to marijuana. Randall sued for reinstatement of the drug and won. He kept on smoking pot with federal permission until his death.