According to NORML, thirteen states have active medical marijuana programs. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that residents of those states can use marijuana to treat medical conditions without risk. Even though the people of those states democratically legalized such use, the Supreme Court demonstrated that it has no compassion for the chronically ill. The Federal government outranks the state government.
It’s about time the Feds get enlightened. Earlier this year, a group of medical doctors, endorsed using marijuana for medical purposes, urging the government to roll back a prohibition on using it to treat patients and supporting studies into its medical applications. This endorsement did not come from a bunch of quacks practicing on the fringes of medicine; it was the American College of Physicians, the second-largest doctors group in the United States.
Sadly, the Bush administration is immune to the logic of science. However, it’s become more difficult for the administration to ignore the benefits of marijuana for treating conditions that pharmaceuticals do not effectively treat. Last month, a study found that giving carefully calibrated doses of smoked marijuana to people with neuropathic pain, which can be difficult-to-treat and extremely painful, can ease their pain without clouding their minds. Those racked with chronic pain will tell you that the value of such relief cannot be counted in dollars and cents.
This is not the only medical condition that marijuana can treat. Because of the variety of ailments that can be treated with it, marijuana could improve the quality of life of countless Americans if the Feds would just lighten up. The emerging clinical applications for cannabis & cannabinoids range from Alzheimer’s disease to Tourette’s Syndrome:
The Progressive Zone 