treatment. One of these,Robert Randall, one of only eight patients supplied with marijuana by the federal government, wasdiagnosed 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 thepredictions of his doctors (2C). Richard Brookhiser, a senior editor of the conservative NationalReview who has admitted to using marijuana to treat the nausea caused by chemotherapy, claimsthat “if that moment comes to you, you will turn to marijuana.” (Brookhiser 28) Rita Zweigfurther illustrates marijuana’s effectiveness: “If anything that is prescribed worked as well for me,”she said, “I wouldn’t use marijuana.” (Snider A1) These three people represent thousands ofsufferers across the country who use marijuana as a form of treatment. Marijuana as a form of treatment has gained support from the medical community. Suchprestigious medical publications as the New England Medical Journal have come out in support ofmedicinal uses for marijuana (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 1/30/97 3A). In addition to that, aHarvard study showed that nearly 44% of doctors who treat cancer patients in the AmericanMedical Association, a group officially opposed to marijuana, have actually recommendedmarijuana to ease the pain of their patients (“Medical Marijuana” 22). Even with this support, thefederal government has refused any sort of clinical testing or reclassifying. Because of its medicinal value and the lack of an effective substitute, marijuana should bereclassified as a Schedule II drug instead of a Schedule I drug, which would allow it for certainmedical uses. Other illegal drugs such as cocaine and heroin are classified as Schedule II, eventhough they are considered habit ...
