Why is medical use of marijuana a controversy?

I wrote a paper for college on this subject, and three of my sources were personal interviews with actual doctors. While I won't mention their names, below are their quotes:

"I don't think you'll find any honest doctors out there who will claim that they've been hindered in the treatment of their patients because they can't give somebody some reefer."

"There are much more appropriate drugs available to doctors who treat the symptoms of the conditions that marijuana advocates use for their protests."

"The bottom line is: there is no adequate justification for marijuana in medicine." As you can see, all three doctors were in agreement, and to my knowledge, not one of them knew the other two. It is my personal oppinion that the health hazards associated with smoking pot outweigh any health benefit that it may have. Answer If I had been your teacher, I would have flunked you for not doing the research. In the first place, you have to ask why we have the marijuana laws in the first place. Marijuana was originally outlawed for two major reasons. The first was because "All Mexicans are crazy and marijuana is what makes them crazy." It was racial prejudice against Mexican immigrants and other minorities. When Congress voted on it, they didn't even realize that this was the same drug found in about 250 common medicines at the time, with a long history of safe medical use. The representative of the American Medical Association testified before Congress that there was no evidence that marijuana was a dangerous drug and, therefore, no reason to make it illegal. See: Short History of the Marijuana Laws at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/cu/cumenu.htm Complete transcripts of the hearings for the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 - http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/taxact/taxact.htm When and why was marijuana outlawed? - http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/mj_outlawed.htm

The question of medical marijuana use has been studied in depth. The US Federal courts have ruled on the subject and found that 1) marijuana is a medicine and 2) it is the only medicine suitable for some people. That is why the US Federal Government sends a big tin can full of 300 US Government joints to a number of patients each month. The Chief Administrative Law Judge for the US Drug Enforcement Agency studied the issue of medical marijuana for two years, heard arguments from both sides, and accumulated fifteen volumes of research. He concluded that marijuana meets the legal standards of a medicine and that there are some patients for whom it is the only suitable medicine. He further stated that "marijuana, in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man."

DEA Ruling on Medical Marijuana - http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/YOUNG/index.html In 1999, the US Drug Czar commissioned on a report on medical marijuana from the US Institute of Medicine. They concluded that marijuana is a medicine,and there are currently some patients for whom there is no good alternative medicine to marijuana. They recommended that patients should be allowed to use it. See:

Marijuana as Medicine, Assessing the Science Base, US Institute of Medicine, 1999 - http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/iom/IOMReport.htm Every major government commission report on marijuana from around the world over the last 100 years has concluded that marijuana prohibition was based on racism, ignorance, and nonsense. They all said the marijuana laws should have been repealed long ago because they do more harm than good.

Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy - http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/studies.htm