Since marijuana was discovered, it was smoked to get high and to cope with suffering medical conditions. Scientists are now realizing that marijuana could help in some medical cases. "It's not particularly effective across the board, but it may be effective for some people some times," LaMar McGinnis (medical consultant to the American Cancer Society). "It should be available as a controlled substance. Pot helps with many medical conditions, especially cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, and some spastic conditions.
             Marijuana has its pros and cons, and to determine whether it should be legal or not, one has to outweigh the other. The reason that patients and doctors want medical marijuana to be legal is that it is wrong to deny patients relief from the pain of an unbearable disease. Studies have shown that help for chemotherapy, AIDS, glaucoma, and chronic pain is a great amount. A recent study by the Institute of Medicine stated in March of 1999 that marijuana does in fact help. The study found that marijuana does four main things. It holds particular promise for alleviating nausea and vomiting in people undergoing chemotherapy. It shows potential for improving severe weight loss caused by AIDS. It holds usefulness for chronic pain that does not respond to traditional opoids.
             Another study by scientists at the University of California at San Francisco found that Marinol, a marijuana-like drug taken as a pill, killed the pain of rats by acting with the same pain area of the brain that morphine, another painkiller, affects. The studies concluded that marijuana's active ingredient THC, gives true pain relief. A doctor at the University, Ian Meng, stated, "this opens the door for understanding the scientific reason that marijuana can affect pain."
             Many who are against the legalization of medical marijuana are against it because they feel the legalization of it can make for social
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