Marijuana has many unique uses as a form of treatment. It has been used effectively to combat the nausea caused by chemotherapy, to reduce the internal pressure of the eyes of glaucoma patients, and to prevent the “wasting syndrome” in AIDS and cancer patients (“Marijuana for the Sick” A10). As an alternative to using actual marijuana, modern science has developed a synthetic form of THC, the active chemical in marijuana. However, this synthetic drug, called Marinol, is useless for most everyday treatment because it has the unpleasant side effect of being a powerful se

Because of its medicinal value and the lack of an effective substitute, marijuana should be reclassified as a Schedule II drug instead of a Schedule I drug, which would allow it for certain medical uses. Other illegal drugs such as cocaine and heroin are classified as Schedule II, even though they are considered habit forming and dangerous, where marijuana, classified as a Schedule I, has never caused a death or overdose and is not considered addictive. The federal government refuses to reclassify marijuana because there “is no proof that smoked marijuana is the most effective available treatment for anything.” (McCaffrey 27) There can be no proof until marijuana has been tested in a series of clinical trials. There can be no clinical testing of marijuana because the federal government will not allow them (Conant 26). Anyone who has read the book Catch-22 will find this situation familiar.

Marijuana as a form of treatment has gained support from the medical community. Such prestigious medical publications as the New England Medical Journal have come out in support of medicinal uses for marijuana (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 1/30/97 3A). In addition to that, a Harvard study showed that nearly 44% of doctors who treat cancer patients in the American Medical Association, a group officially opposed to marijuana, have actually recommended marijuana to ease the pain of their patients (“Medical Marijuana” 22). Even with this support, the federal government has refused any sort of clinical testing or reclassifying.

Many people have testified to marijuana’s validity as a unique form of treatment. One of these, Robe

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