al purpose. Cocaine and morphine on the other hand are schedule two and do have medicinal value. Gen. McCafferey says "a physician who tries to prescribe a schedule one drug with or without the referendums in California or Arizona, is subject to prosecution under federal law." (Simmons112) This quote has come under great duress since the DEA is the only group which can arrest someone who uses pot and slap someone with a petty misdemeanor. People will not care if they run the risk of a misdemeanor and likely use the drug anyway. Dennis Peron, one of the leading activists of marijuana legalization, has devoted twenty years to the legalization of marijuana. He says that when friend Jonathan West, developed AIDS, Dennis saw the potential uses for medical marijuana when he saw Jonathan feel better after smoking weed. (Rist and Harrison 75-76) Peron fought wildly to pass a bill to legalize medicinal marijuana. "Any other drug that eased nausea, increased appetite, and reduced pain, would be prescribed everywhere." says Peron. (Rist and Harrison 75-76) A Harvard Medical psychiatrist calls the drug a "wonder drug" for pain, nausea, and appetite. However, there are many cons to the pros in prescribing marijuana for nausea and pain. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the active drug in marijuana used to help relieve nausea in cancer patients. This THC has been proven to lower testosterone in the blood stream for men. (Angier 15) This is not a major concern to full grown men because the level of testosterone quickly rises back after the smoker is done smoking. However, it may be harmful to adolescent boys. "In adolescence, a boy's body is going through many changes--it grows taller, it gets hairier, the voice deepens--and these changes are controlled by testosterone. Marijuana could very well block the normal growth process." says Carol Smith, of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethsheda Maryland. Columbia university did a s...
