Dean: "I don't like politicians making medical decisions"

Dean speech draws 5,000 here
Candidate: Flag not owned by Ashcroft, Limbaugh, Cheney

By David Callender
October 6, 2003

...Dean said the nation needs to consider nonviolent drug crimes as a "medical problem and not a judicial problem," a statement that drew more cheers.

He said he is reluctant to promise action on the issue "for the same reason I'm pro-choice: I don't like politicians making medical decisions."

But he said if he were elected, he would ask the Food and Drug Administration to review all studies, recommend the appropriate medical uses, "and we will follow their recommendations."

Dean added that based on his review of the studies, the FDA would most likely recommend that marijuana is "fine for HIV/AIDS and cancer patients and ... it would probably not be fine for glaucoma, where the risks outweigh the benefits."

Dean's response won grudging approval from longtime pro-marijuana activist Ben Masel, who said a friend posed the question.

"It was the best answer we've heard from him to date," said Masel, who said he was pleased by Dean's answer that drug abuse should be treated as a medical problem and not a crime...

http://www.madison.com/captimes/news/stories/58222.php