n 4). Supporters explain that because marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the US today, people who have used less popular drugs such as heroin, cocaine, or LSD, have probably used marijuana. Also, for the large majority of people, marijuana is a terminus rather than a gateway drug because a person does not crave a “better high” when he or she uses it (Morgan 4). One of the most common objections to legalizing marijuana for medical use is that it will set a bad example for children targeted by drug pushers. However, because marijuana would only be prescribed for seriously ill patients, the idea of smoking marijuana would not be glamorized (Thompson 150). Proponents of medical marijuana say that it has been used as a therapeutic agent for centuries and swear by its abilities to help people in pain (Weed). “The fact is that marijuana, even if it is not fully understood, clearly helps many patients…clearly marijuana is worth investigating and even providing as medicine for pain relief, severe nausea, and appetite stimulation for seriously ill patients (Science 1). The most common side effects of chemotherapy include nausea and vomiting, caused by the chemotherapy drugs affecting the stomach, the area of the brain that controls vomiting, or both (You). There is strong evidence that marijuana reduces muscle spasticity in patients with neurological disorders (Morgan 2). According to DEA Judge Francis Young, “It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to stand between those sufferers [of terminal diseases] and the benefits of this substance.” Richard Brookhiser is a cancer survivor who underwent chemotherapy. Brookhiser was diagnosed with cancer in 1992, before the use of marijuana was legal in any state for medicine. While on chemotherapy, he experienced the usual resulting nausea. After legal antiemetic drugs did not work, he turned to marijuana. Brookhiser had smo...
