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 usefu

In summary, the National Institute of Health states that the use of medical marijuana is not worth the risks that arise. Many people and institutes support this view, but National Drug Policy Director Barry R. McCaffrey made a bold statement about if medicinal marijuana is worth it. He feels that there is "little future or benefit from smoked marijuana as a medically approved medication." Director McCaffrey has determined that medical marijuana's use should be based on science, not ideology.

Many who are against the legalization of medical marijuana are against it because they feel the legalization of it can make for social and legal issues. These are the concerns that legalization will make marijuana more of an abusive drug, especially by children. Also, many people not supporting medical marijuana state that there is still little proof that marijuana has any medicinal value. The National Institute of Health studies the use of marijuana to relive pain and found some interesting facts. No clinical trials involving smoked marijuana have been performed in patients with naturally occurring pain. Two adequate and well-controlled studies in cancer pain compared graded doses of oral 9-THC to placebo, and one of these included graded doses of codeine as a control. Although

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