If your every waking moment was consumed by pain and nausea, wouldn’t you ask for medication? What if the only medication legally available would leave you unconscious or do nothing at all? If you were the one suffering, would you resort to the only treatment that allowed you to live normally even though it was illegal? Thousands of people across the country are forced to break the law to ease their pain. They have chosen marijuana over anything legallyavailable because it has various medicinal properties that cannot be found anywhere else. Due tothese many unique medicinal uses, marijuana should be reclassified as a valid, legal form oftreatment. Marijuana has many unique uses as a form of treatment. It has been used effectively to combat thenausea 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 formof THC, the active chemical in marijuana. However, this synthetic drug, called Marinol, is uselessfor most everyday treatment because it has the unpleasant side effect of being a powerful sedative.A member of Milwaukee’s AIDS community, said that a friend of his was taking Marinol toincrease his appetite: “He spends the whole day laughing and watching movies...He can’t evendrive a car because he’s so out of it.” (3/25/97) In addition to that, Marinol only comes in pillform, which makes it useless for patients taking it for nausea. Marijuana has neither of thosedrawbacks. Because it is usually smoked, even the most nauseous patient can use it as well aseasily regulate their intake (“Medical Marijuana” 23). No prescription drug offers the benefits andpotential of marijuana. Many people have testified to marijuana’s validity as a unique form of ...
