Newsday from New York, New York • 8

to agencies marijuana's say use for is 3 No place for pot there scant evidence justify medicinal purposes BLOOMBERG NEWS The Bush administration has reasserted its opposition to marijuana use for medicinal purposes, citing a lack of "sound scientific studies." The Food and Drug Administration, along with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and other agencies, issued a statement Thursday on the FDA Web site saying that they "do not support the use of smoked marijuana for medical purposes." The stance clashes with a March 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine, an independent scientific adviser to the federal government. The position also injects the FDA into another politically divisive issue. Some legislators and interest groups have accused the agency of failing for political reasons to approve or reject over-the-counter sales of the emergency contraceptive Plan B. "This is not a new statement but an organized approach to describing everybody's point of view," said FDA spokeswoman Susan Bro in a telephone interview. "We felt it would be useful to have all in one place the collective point of view and position on medical use of marijuana." Eleven states, mostly in the West and New England, have legalized medicinal use of marijuana, although the substance is still forbidden by federal law except for research authorized by the DEA.

The FDA cited the states' actions on its Web site, calling them inconsistent with efforts to ensure medicines pass scientific muster. Marijuana, produced from the cannabis plant, can be smoked or ingested. Medically, the substance has been used to combat pain in cancer patients and others, and to treat neurological disorders and glaucoma. A top FDA official outlined the agency's position on medical marijuana in 2004 during congressional testimony. "The statement we posted to our Web site reiterates the agency's long-standing scientific view," said Scott Gottlieb, the FDA's deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs, in an e-mail.

The FDA said it issued the statement in response to inquiries. Since 2004, the FDA has received "a half-dozen letters" from legislators from both parties in both the House and the Senate, Gottlieb said. The Marijuana Policy Project, the lobbying arm of a San Francisco-based foundation that backs the use of medical marijuana, said the FDA is ignoring evidence in favor of the substance. Stern's successor shown the door BY RAFER STAFF WRITER DAVID LEE ROTH VS OPIE ANTHONY David Lee Roth revealed Fri- (ROTH) day that his short and unsuc- David Lee Roth REAL NAMES Greg (Opie) Hughes, cessful stint as the morning Anthony Cumia host on WENY 92.3 FM has 51 AGES Opie, 40; Anthony, 45 PHOTO come to an end. Ind.

AP Bloomington, FROM Long Island who In Howard had an been Stern, ironic hired twist, finished to replace Roth, his Eddie Poker Van player Halen on TV FEUD MOMENT WITH XFL Howard pregame Stern hosts ANTHONY), final show and then granted "Sopranos" an interview to Stern's news Howard Stern REPLACED David Lee Roth program, Howard 100 News, Replacing STUNT THAT Sex in St. Patrick's on Sirius Satellite Radio. Howard Stern BACKFIRED Cathedral 010Hd "It's a huge disappointment, "Most obnoxious SAY THE Radio's "shock jocks" and I love doing radio," Roth singer in human CRITICS told reporter Steve Langford, according to a transcript provided history" GETTY by Sirius. "We got canned 20 minutes before the hour." CBS Radio, and was recently sus- declining to comment. The radio Opie and Anthony, who will Roth, the onetime singer for pended from the air for two industry Web site AllAc- keep their current show on XM Van Halen, has watched his rat- days.

Earlier this week, news re- cess.com, however, reported Fri- Satellite Radio while also airing ings plummet since his inaugu- ports predicted that Roth was on day that "a CBS representative" on FM beginning ral broadcast on Jan. 3. He bat- his way out. confirmed Roth's ouster. Wednesday, according to Altled publicly with his employers In the meantime, CBS Radio Roth is expected to be re- lAccess.

An XM spokesman deat WENY, which is owned by has gone into bunker mentality, placed by longtime shock-jocks clined to comment. Suspect tied to terror plot held Federal BY ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO STAFF WRITER A Georgia man who traveled last year to Canada and to Bangladesh was being flown to New York City on Friday to face terrorism-related charges he lied to federal investigators about his reasons for traveling, officials said. Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, 19, who had been living in Roswell, could be arraigned as early as Saturday in federal court in Brooklyn on charges he gave numerous false statements to the FBI when questioned about his travels, according to an arrest warrant unsealed Friday. Investigators said that Sadequee, who was born in Fairfax, gave false statements when interviewed at Kennedy Airport in August about a trip earlier in the year to Canada.

During a check of Sadequee's baggage, FBI agents found two discs, like CDs or DVDs, concealed in the lining of his suitcase. One couldn't be decoded and the other contained a film, according to an affidavit filed with the arrest warrant. During the FBI interviews, Sadequee said his impending travel to Bangladesh was to get married and that he went alone to Canada and stayed with an aunt, officials said. However, FBI agents said that after interviewing Sadequee's friend, Syed Haris Ahmed, they believed that Sadequee lied to investigators about the Canada travel. Ahmed explained to agents that he traveled to Canada with Sadequee in March 2005 to meet with "like-minded Islamic extremists," at which time the group "discussed strategic locations in the United States suitable for a terrorist strike," according to the affidavit.

Ahmed said that Sadequee stayed with a person who would accompany them to terrorist camps for training, according to investigators. Officials said in the affidavit that Ahmed later traveled to Pakistan to receive such training. Ahmed, 21, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, was charged Thursday in Atlanta on charges that he provided material support to terrorism. He is being held without bail after entering a plea of not guilty.

A law enforcement source who asked not to be identified said that Sadequee was en route Friday to Brooklyn. A news report out of Dhaka, Bangladesh, stated that Sadequee's father said his son had been arrested on Monday in that city. The father said Sadequee, who was married on March 30, was reportedly picked up at gunpoint by a group of plainclothes officials. GETTY IMAGES PHOTO.