Millions of Americans use marijuana on a regular basis - last year alone 700,000 were arrested on charges related to the small, benign-looking plant.
While the majority of cannabis smokers are recreational users, some of them have turned to marijuana for its medicinal properties.
The current U.S. policy against medicinal cannabis is hypocritical and needs to be reevaluated in terms of its benefits to society.
A study from a group of Australian researchers, published last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association, claims that long-term marijuana use impairs memory and concentration.
But according to Mary Lynn Mathre, a University addictions consulting nurse, widely publicized studies "are mostly on the negative effects of marijuana."
The health benefits of smoking cannabis must be explored as well, in order to balance the preponderance of research that does not support medicinal marijuana.
Mathre has had the chance to observe first-hand the long-term effects of cannabis usage.
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Of the few patients who were allowed long-term legal access to marijuana under a federal program terminated in 1992, the only adverse effects were minor ones such as bronchitis, Mathre said.
Many physicians and researchers claim that for patients who are likely to benefit from marijuana usage, such long term side-effects are irrelevant.
Medical experts cite significant benefits to patients suffering from a variety of diseases.
For example, experts say smoking cannabis can alleviate the negative effects of chemotherapy, such as nausea and vomiting.
Marijuana also seems to be the only treatment that keeps glaucoma patients from going blind.
The issue was brought to public attention in the 1970s and 1980s when police arrested glaucoma patients for growing marijuana at home.
Defendants claimed they resorted to marijuana after all available legal treatments failed.
Several synthetic marijuana derivatives such as marinol are available by prescription. But these cannibis substitutes often are prohibitively expensive and less efficient than actually smoking marijuana.
Furthermore, unreasonable federal regulations have made it difficult for researchers to determine the efficacy of marijuana derivatives.
Donald Abrams, clinical medicine professor at the University of California-San Francisco, has been trying to compare the effects of inhaling marijuana smoke with those of marinol, but "could never get it done," because of restrictive government regulations.
Abundant anecdotal evidence, however, suggests marijuana can help reduce the side effects of AIDS chemotherapy.
The "treatment we give often causes nausea and [marijuana] seems to give some sort of relief," Abrams said.
Allowing chemotherapy patients to smoke cannabis would alleviate their suffering and perhaps aid in their recovery.
Amid the controversy surrounding marijuana, many researchers and physicians agree it is amazingly safe to use.
According to Denis Petro, a practicing neurologist and member of the Patients Out of Time board of directors, there have been no reported cases of fatal cannabis overdoses.
Petro claims in his book "Cannabis in Medical Practice" that "considering that hundreds of people die each year of aspirin overdose, one can only be impressed by the safety of cannabis."
For patients in advanced stages of diseases such as AIDS and cancer, marijuana can provide a reasonable and effective solution.
Many Western European countries and Canada now allow medicinal use of cannabis.
California and several other states, while not explicitly legalizing recreational cannabis, exempt seriously ill people from prosecution for its medical use.
This policy is highly appropriate, and lawmakers in all states should follow the Golden State's example.
Last year the Supreme Court overruled the California law, however, making it much harder for patients to obtain marijuana legally for medical purposes. Justices showed a lapse in judgment by striking down this progressive legislation.
Supporting legal access to medical marijuana should not be confused with promoting illegal drug trade. Regulated access to cannabis only will aid in eliminating its criminal market.
No matter what one's position is on the federal policy against illegal drugs, however, we must all realize that allowing desperately, sometimes incurably sick people access to medical marijuana is humane and morally justified.
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