There has been heated debate by many sides giving their opinion in the issue. These people are not only left wing liberals either. Richard Brookhiser, a National Review Senior editor is openly supportive of medical marijuana yet extremely conservative in his writing for National Review (Brookhiser 27). He is for medical marijuana since he used it in his battle with testicular cancer. He says, "I turned to [marijuana] when I got cancer because marijuana gives healthy people an appetite, and prevents people who are nauseated from throwing up. "(Brookhiser 27) Cancer patients are not the only benefactors from the appetite enhancer in marijuana, but so are any other nauseous people. Arizona and California have already passed a law allowing marijuana to be used as a medicinal drug. Fifty Six percent of the California voters voted for this law. "We'v

"The California Marijuana Vote." New Yorker 23 Dec 1999: 62+. Brookhiser, Richard. "Pot Luck." National Review 11 Nov 1999: 27+ Simmons, Michael.

"Give Pot a Chance." Rolling Stone 26 Dec 2000: 111+. Rist, Curtis and Harrison, Laird. "Weed the People." People 21 Oct. 1998: 75+. Funk and Wagnall's Volume 23

"California's Separate Peace" Rolling Stone 30 Oct. 1999: 43+ Brookhiser, Richard.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the active drug in marijuana used to help relieve nausea in cancer patients. This THC has been proven to lower testosterone in the blood stream for men. (Angier 15) This is not a major concern to full grown men because the level of testosterone quickly rises back after the smoker is done smoking. However, it may be harmful to adolescent boys. "In adolescence, a boy's body is going through many changes--it grows taller, it gets hairier, the voice deepens--and these changes are controlled by testosterone. Marijuana could very well block the normal growth process," says Carol Smith, of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethsheda Maryland. Columbia University did a study on 16 men who smoked five to fifteen joints a day. After they finished smoking their sperm counts were counted. It was discovered that all of the men experienced a dip in sperm count for weeks after and had malformed sperm cells. This could cause some serious malformations in conceived children. Studies were done on female rhesus monkeys that have very similar body chemistry to human women. The monkeys were injected with doses of THC. The menstrual cycles of the monkeys were greatly disrupted and some stopped ovulating altogether. Says Smith, "Nothing we have ever tested including oral contraceptives, has as radical an effect on the menstrual cycle as marijuana does." The hormones in men and women are definitely thrown off by marijuana use. (An

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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)