WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ --

"Vice President Gore is ignoring scientific evidence on the 'medical' use of marijuana and, in effect, lending support to the movement to legalize the drug,'' Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis, Senior Director of National Security and Foreign Affairs at Family Research Council (FRC) said Wednesday. Gore said Tuesday that he supports legalizing the medical use of marijuana, even though Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the nation's drug czar, strongly opposes the idea. In fact, a recent study commissioned by the Office of National Drug Control Policy found that smoked marijuana is not a medicine and has negative health consequences.

See
Prohibitionism After the IOM Report; Analysis by Richard Cowan
Repeat After Me: No Medicine Is Smoked! No Medicine Is Smoked! No Medicine Is Smoked!
That’s It. You Are Now Qualified To Start Your Very Own Government Funded Anti-Drug Group!
and
Counterblaste to DEA: Fallacious Pharmacology.
"The contention that smoking cannot possibly be an acceptable route for the administration
of a therapeutic substance is morality dressed up as science." by Peter Webster

Maginnis, appointed by Majority Leader Sen. Trent Lott to the newly created Parents Advisory Council on Youth Drug Abuse, expressed concern about the message Gore is sending to youth on drug use.
See
Prohibitionist Propagandist Appointed To Czar’s "Parents Advisory Council On Youth Drug Abuse."
If Anyone Can Lie More Than The Czar, This May Be The Man For The Job.

"Efforts to promote marijuana as 'medicine' and other failed ideas like needle giveaways are hurting our efforts to teach children the truth about the drug scourge,'' Maginnis said.
See
The Party Line Versus Reality On  Medical Marijuana.
Prohibitionism Is Being Destroyed By Its Own Delusions.
Analysis By Richard Cowan and 1 Article

"Sick and dying people do not need marijuana. They need good medicine,'' Maginnis said.

See
Press Release And Full Text Of Letter From AIDS Groups
Calling For Immediate Access To Medical Marijuana.

"There are already legal, non-smoking ways for patients to receive the useful ingredient found in marijuana. In fact, there are FDA- approved medicines available that treat every symptom patients are seeking to treat with smoked marijuana. Simply, medicine is just not smoked.'' Maginnis referred to THC (Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol), the key psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, which is currently available in legal, prescription forms taken orally.
See
Marinol Was The First Schedule 2 Drug To Be "Down-Scheduled,"
Boasts Roxanne On Its New Marinol.com Web Site.
Doesn’t That Mean That It Should Never Have Been Schedule 2 Anyway?
and links

"The only compassionate approach is to encourage researchers to find ways, such as the use of inhalers, to deliver this ingredient to the bloodstream in a way that is fast-acting and does not involve smoking.

"The issue of 'medical' marijuana is a wolf in sheep's clothing being used by marijuana legalizers to make political gains. Instead of pushing the legalizing agenda, Gore should listen to scientists and the experts on drug control before he reverses the work his administration's drug czar has done to curb the use of illicit drugs.''
See
Is medical marijuana just the opening wedge to legalize marijuana generally?

A 1998 poll commissioned by FRC found that 53 percent of Americans believe that the national debate over the use of marijuana as medicine has had a great or some impact on encouraging teens to experiment with illicit drugs. Another poll, commissioned by FRC in 1999, found that when people are given the information that other medicines are available and that marijuana is harmful, 48 percent oppose marijuana as medicine, while 43 percent approve.

(Marijuananews note: What I find most interesting about this last bit of datum is that even when you lie to people and tell them that "other medicines are available and that marijuana is harmful" 43% are still in favor of medical marijuana! Clearly, the FRC needs to think up some better lies.)