Marijuana has been used as a medical treatment for thousands of years, yet remains illegal in the United States (Mayo, 2005). It was listed in the US Pharmacopeia, the organization that sets quality standards for drugs approved for use in the US, until the 1940s, when political pressure forced its removal. Marijuana contains more than 60 chemicals known as cannabinoids, the most familiar of which is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the mind altering drug which also helps treat the nausea and vomiting associated with several medical conditions. Cannabinool and cannabidiol have the same medical properties without giving the "high" of THC. Dronabinol is a synthetic THC used to prevent nausea and vomiting after chemotherapy and to increase the appetite of patients suffering from AIDS.
Scientific studies of the medical uses of marijuana have found that THC is most useful in younger people to treat the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy and AIDS because they can tolerate the mind-altering effects better than older people (Mayo, 2005). In the 1970s, it was discovered that smoking marijuana reduced the pressure in the eyes of glaucoma sufferers: glaucoma is the third leading cause of blindness in the US. THC works as well in treating cancer pain as codeine and was widely used as a pain killer in the 1800s. It has also proved significantly effective in treating the muscle spasms and pain of multiple sclerosis (MS). Marijuana may protect the nerves from the damage that occurs in MS. Despite these obvious medical benefits, it is still against the law to possess marijuana, and its possession, even for medical purposes, can result in fines or imprisonment.
MayoClinic.com (2005). Marijuana as medicine? Pros and cons.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/medical-marijuana/GA00014
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