While many people are finding relief from terrible diseases by smoking marijuana, there are also many people who believe that legislators should allow researchers more freedom to research this drug for legal medicinal usage. To date, 12 states have declared medical marijuana legal to use. The Supreme Court recently ruled that the federal government can continue to ban the use of medical marijuana. the federal government also has, under the commerce clause, the power to prohibit interstate commerce of this drug. Personal use of marijuana may not be commerce, but if our drug laws were working correctly, they would be perfectly enforced. Even as evidence mounts concerning the benefits of marijuana as a medicine, federal officials and agencies continue to bury their heads in the sand.

Written records on medicinal marijuana stretch back over 2000 years. It was first discovered in print in the 2nd century in a Chinese book of medicine. As far back as 1611, this plant was cultivated for its fiber in Jamestown, Virginia. In the 19th century, it was used to treat such ailments as spastic conditions, labor pains, insomnia, and even helped with appetite. It is still used as a medicine in the Middle East and Asia (Roth, 2001). Although modern technology medicine does not refer back to the medical practices of ancient civilizations, this only confirms that marijuana has had a significant medical history, and claims of its medicinal use were not just pulled out of nowhere.

Montel Williams is a huge activist for legalizing medicinal marijuana since he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999. He has debilitating knee and foot pain and has tried Oxycontin and a variety of other drugs with no relief. Then a doctor suggested he smoke pot and “immediately I slept through the night.” Williams is a registered medical marijuana user in California. He began pushing for medical marijuana laws after being stopped at a Detroit airport by an Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms officer for carrying drug paraphernalia. His charges were later dropped.

Williams told a Senate panel about his chronic pain and urged New Jersey to join 11 other states that have enacted these laws. The states that have currently legalized medical marijuana are: California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Maine, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Montana, Vermont, and Rhode Island.Williams spoke at two events in Trenton; a Drug Policy Alliance-sponsored news conference and a Senate hearing. Governor Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey said that he would sign a medical marijuana bill into law. Williams said “I break the law every day and I’ll continue to break the law.”

In 2007, an article in Science Daily said that “marijuana cuts lung cancer tumor growth in half.” Researchers do not know why THC inhibits tumor growth; they say it is possible the substance activates molecules that arrest cell cycles. It may also interfere with angiogenesis and vascularization, which promotes the growth of cancer. Anju Preet, Ph.D., a researcher in the Division of Experimental Medicine says much work is needed to pave the pathway by which THC functions. “The beauty of this study is that we are showing that a substance of abuse, if used prudently, may offer a new road to therapy against lung cancer.” People hope that the federal courts and legislators will be allowed to take a closer look at the benefits, examine the evidence and conclude that we only want safe pain relief for the people who need it the most.

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