The advanced stages of many illnesses and their treatments are often unbearable; intractable nausea and pain frequently accompany them. Medications prescribed, at times, cause more distress then the ailment in which they are intended to remedy. Many patients suffering from such debilitating diseases as cancer, AIDS or Multiple Sclerosis have turned to a more natural source of pain reliever and choose to smoke marijuana. The American government has held a prohibition of marijuana for the past seventy years; this means the possession of marijuana is unlawful (Fratello, 721). Patients tormented by excruciating afflictions and their families have risked fines and jail time in the effort of relieving their discomfort. These patients should be able to utilize the treatment of their choice, free from the fear of persecution and without the stigma of being considered a criminal. This may be possible with the pharmacological reclassificati

on of the drug marijuana. Eight states so far have passed initiatives making it legal for physicians, in these states, to prescribe marijuana to seriously ill patients, California (with prop 215) and Arizona being the first in 1996 and Hawaii being the most recent, passing its bill in April 2000. This was a signal of progress in an area that has long been in need of reform. Within weeks after voters approved the propositions in California and Arizona protecting doctors and patients from persecution for prescribing medical marijuana, the federal government stepped in. Attorney General Janet Reno threatened that any physician who prescribed marijuana to patients could have the privilege of writing prescriptions revoked and be denied Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. President Clinton asserted that doctors would be committing a federal offence and be open to fines and possibly imprisonment (Kassirer, 366). According to a poll commissioned by the American Civil Liberties Union in 1998 79% of the American public said they thought it “would be a good idea to legalize marijuana to relieve pain and for other medical uses if prescribed by a doctor.” (Glasser, ACLU) It is wrong for the government to counteract a bill that is so overwhelmingly supported by society. The government has long contended that marijuana has adverse long-term effects on organs in the body and that it is highly addictive. For many patients employing marijuana as alleviation to their distress, this is not applicable because most of the diseases being treated are fatal. The person would most likely have passed on when the negative effects are said to show up. It should not be too concerning also for those

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