supplied with marijuana by the federal government, was diagnosed with acute glaucoma and told that he would be blinded within five years (Brazaitis 1C). Randall discovered by accident that smoking marijuana relieved the internal pressure of his eyes (1C). After more than twenty years of smoking marijuana, Randall still has his vision, defying the predictions of his doctors (2C). Richard Brookhiser, a senior editor of the conservative National Review who has admitted to using marijuana to treat the nausea caused by chemotherapy, claims that if that moment comes to you, you will turn to marijuana. (Brookhiser 28) Rita Zweig further illustrates marijuanas effectiveness: If anything that is prescribed worked as well for me, she said, I wouldnt use marijuana. (Snider A1) These three people represent thousands of sufferers across the country who use marijuana as a form of treatment. Marijuana as a form of treatment has gained support from the medical community. Such prestigious medical publications as the New England Medical Journal have come out in support of medicinal uses for marijuana (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 1/30/97 3A). In addition to that, a Harvard study showed that nearly 44% of doctors who treat cancer patients in the American Medical Association, a group officially opposed to marijuana, have actually recommended marijuana to ease the pain of their patients (Medical Marijuana 22). Even with this support, the federal government has refused any sort of clinical testing or reclassifying. Because of its medicinal value and the lack of an effective substitute, marijuana should be reclassified as a Schedule II drug instead of a Schedule I drug, which would allow it for certain medical uses. Other illegal drugs such as cocaine and heroin are classified as Schedule II, even though they are considered habit forming and dangerous, where marijuana, classified as a Schedule I, has never caused a death or overdose and is not considered addi...
