It’s appalling that anyone would propose jail time for someone using marijuana on the advice of their doctor.
Both the American College of Physicians and American Medical Association have expressed support for investigation of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Marijuana in various forms, not necessarily smoked, has been used therapeutically for centuries in many parts of the world. Marijuana appears to provide relief from pain, nausea, and other symptoms, with fewer ill effects and a greater margin of safety than the narcotic drugs commonly administered for pain, and safer even than the non-narcotic drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen and related compounds that are responsible for a few hundred deaths each year (www.acponline.org/journals/annals/15sep97/nsaid.htm).
The American College of Physicians position can be found at (www.acponline.org/advocacy/where_we_stand/other_issues/medmarijuana.pdf)
The American Medical Association position is available at www.ama-assn.org/assets/meeting/mm/i-09-ref-comm-k.pdf (the Medical Marijuana section begins on page 12 of the 27 page document).
I hope that anyone who can benefit from the medical use of marijuana is allowed to do so safely, without having to go to a criminal drug dealer and without fear of prison for himself or herself.
