Scott Burns, the deputy drug czar in the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), urged voters in South Dakota to reject a medical-marijuana ballot initiative, calling it a "con," the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported Oct. 21.

"It's a step backwards in South Dakota and a step backwards nationally," said Burns of Measure 4, which would make South Dakota the 12th U.S. state to allow residents to use marijuana for medical purposes. Proponents say that drug helps ease symptoms related to cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, and other conditions.

"We really need this for patients who are truly ill so they can have another means of release," said South Dakota medical-marijuana user Valerie Hannah of Deerfield. But Mike Milstead, the Minnehaha County Sheriff, opposes the medical-marijuana question, saying, "The risk far outweighs the benefits. There's great concern about how easily this marijuana could fall into the wrong hands."

Burns called medical marijuana a first step towards drug legalization and said it could reverse the trend toward less use of the drug.