It probably has less to do with some states allowing medicinal marijuana than it does that society looks less strictly upon it's use now, more of the adult population has/continues to use/understand marijuana and most people realize that the harder drugs in our cabinets and pharmacies are much more likely to do them true harm.

You seem to be basing your stance on the same outdated and inaccurate information that anti-drug groups have been struggling to cling to in recent years. Let me help you out a bit:

"The active ingredient in the marijuana plant is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Some people believe that it helps cancer patients deal with the nausea and loss of appetite caused by chemotherapy; the pressure inside the eye caused by glaucoma; the pain of migraine headaches and other pain. Although there has not been enough research to support this, some states have made marijuana easily available by legalizing its use as “medicinal”. "

There are actually over 60 different active ingredients with a myriad of different beneficial effects, only one of which being THC. THC causes the mild euphoria people dub "high", and--after generations of specific breeding and cloning practices by black-market growers--cannabis plants have an increased level of THC compared to the other cannabinoids. Also, patients don't go out of their way to attend hearings and advocacy events because "some people believe." That is a downright obnoxious statement about genuinely ill people. Fortunately, you aren't the one who decides when there has "been enough research to support" claims of medical benefits!

Furthermore, medical marijuana programs haven't made marijuana easily available. I grew up in pot-harsh Florida and never had issues buying pot in the bathrooms of my high school. Get with it!

they have done more testing on cannabis than needed, just that it is 80% to find harm, they only find more positive (and hide it), check with Israel, they have the right idea.

What a moron. First thing there is NO general perception that medicines are "safe",quite the opposite most all drugs can kill you if you take too much,interaction between drugs can kill you,hell almost everything in your medicine cabinet can kill you,just because they approved by the FDA does NOT make them safe.MerryWanna on the other hand cannot kill you. Also Ms.Dipshit it is not the states that have declared MJ to be medicine,it is the PEOPLE in those states saying they demand the right to use a safer drug to ease their pains. The sooner idiots like this get a clue the better off we will all be.

Instead of smoking a joint next time i want to get high, maybe ill just take 5 percodans and see where that gets me... Oh wait, i'd die. So much for the so called "very strict set of standards to ensure public safety."

if I could count how many deaths perscription meds cause on my fingers I would need some friends to help me and if I was trying to count how many marijuana caused I wld b able to do tht math in my head cause its ZERO! Get ur shit straight

Bah, funny for someone of your position and role in all of this to take that stance. I am sure you (the author) are familiar with the term bias. It seems to me that there is a pretty evident one in play right here. Not because I disagree with your position, but because it lacks arguments from the other side of this issue. I personally believe you need to do some legitimate research with real sources cited and rethink your stance on the issue. If you still feel the same then that is great, however if your opinion changes that would not make you a bad person either.

This article was obviously WWI - ”Written While Indoctrinated”. I DO NOT blame the author as I too was once heavily indoctrinated from birth by gov run education, my already indoctrinated parents and of course gov licenced media. I was as anti marijuana as ANTI could get until I turned 18 and actually started to question everything I had been taught regarding government. By the time I turned 30, I had accepted the fact I had been 100% lied to about marijuana(among many other issues). I have seen, read, learned and understood ALL the studies showing the magical and wondrous properties of the cannabis plant. Tried cannabis for the first time at age 30 as I was so convinced of its safety and of its benefits to the human body. That was ten years ago and I am more convinced than ever marijuana is truly a magical plant capable of CURING many ailments and is a much better substance for social gatherings than alcohol ever will be. Recreational/social use aside, the TRUE properly structured yet suppressed studies by numerous REPUTABLE top notch scientists from all over the world, who lack any hidden agenda what so ever, have proven and confirmed the cannabinoids in marijuana CURE cancer!!! What makes me angry is the FACT government has known since 1974(and possibly long before) that cannabis flat out cures cancer among many other ailments; and does so with incredible efficiency and safety. Its so safe, babies could be cured of many different cancers with high...cont

cont... -> dose/concentrated cannabis oil. My conclusions on cannabis are the result of many years and thousands of hours performing in-depth research into these suppressed studies and of course the VERY misleading government favored studies to see the reality behind the iron cannabis curtain. Follow me on twitter @ValVenisENT for continued truth on many issues including marijuana.

In My Opinion: Lie. Lie. Lie. Lie. Marilyn G. Belmonte is a Falsehood Plasterer! FDA is corrupt, you are corrupt. Are you my God? Do you declare what plants are legal? Well hello my God. Is the FDA my God? Is Partnership for a Drugfree America my God? No your just a bunch of low IQ thumbsuckers afraid of a plant, that want to be God, because you're scared of living in a world where you are not in control of everyone because in that kind of world your not going to do very well, are you!?!

One of the worst thing you can do is lie to your children about cannabis, and the instant article is built on a platform riddled with bald faced lies, half truths, and hysterical rhetoric.

Children aren't stupid, and it takes about 5 minutes inside my world to understand that the party line of the Know Nothing prohibitionists bears no resemblance to reality. The result of this leads many children to believe that they're being lied to about heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, LSD, Ecstasy and on down the naughty list. The Federal government says it's has the same risk profile as Heroin and LSD, and that cocaine and meth are safer than cannabis, so why would we expect them to come to any other conclusion after being fed a ton of baloney?

Professional prohibitionist parasites prevaricate with pompous, pathetic postulations indeed.

There are thousands of studies that prove marijuana's efficacy as a medicine. There was a study released just recently that concluded that marijuana helps ease the pain of people with MS. A question for the author is this? Do you know HOW a medicine gets through the FDA? The answer is, private drug companies have to have the right to produce and study it then they bring it to the FDA for approval. We cannot do this with cannabis because it is listed as a schedule 1 drug and companies do not have the right to produce and study it. Marijuana advocates have lobbied the DEA to allow FDA approved research to be done at the University of Massachusetts Amherst by Professor Lyle Craker however the DEA has not allowed it despite a 2007 ruling by their law judge that said that is would be in the best public interest to do so. Since FDA approved research like this has been blocked, cannabis cannot event have the opportunity to go through the FDA. If the author is consistent with her argument then she should call on the DEA to allow Umass Amherst to grow and study cannabis.

Biggest bunch-o-crap, propaganda EVER! Propaganda like this is a HUGE problem in this war against prohibition. We, the ones who know the truth, MUST get together on EVERY news service source, EVERY day and let the people know the TRUTH about the lies that are being told to them by "the ignorant front" that is sweeping the news sources with this crap that spews from their bias laced, brainwashed minds.