24). .
Not all doctors and scientists thought marijuana was harmful either. .
Now, .
the facts about pot is getting out to more and more people. .
Marijuana has a chemical called THC, which is very harmful to your .
body. THC .
affects your senses, movement, thoughts, and feelings. THC remains in .
our .
body for a long time. It may take up to one month if you smoke several .
times .
a week. It is stored in fatty tissues of the body.
Proposition 215 is the medical marijuana initiative. This is part of .
California's medical rights. Most people have heard that marijuana is .
sometimes used as a medicine. Patients with cancer, glaucoma, and AIDS .
are .
among those who find that marijuana reduces their pain associated with .
chemotherapy and powerful drugs like AZT. By reducing nausea and .
stimulating .
appetite in severely and terminally ill patients, marijuana can help .
lengthen .
life span and improve quality of life. Many doctors have been .
convinced that .
marijuana works in some cases, and many doctors now quietly recommend .
it. .
Unfortunately, because marijuana is illegal, patients must break the .
law to .
get it. Patients using marijuana today must risk arrest. These .
seriously .
ill people have been put in an impossible position by the current .
marijuana .
laws. The laws do not distinguish between legitimate medical need and .
illegal drug ABUSE. .
Proposition 215 is a small step that gives immediate relief to .
patients. .
Until there is federal action, we can protect the rights of patients .
who use .
marijuana in legitimate medical treatment.
A new government report cautiously endorses Pot as a painkiller and it .
not .
only embarrasses drug czar Barry McCaffery but also may help to .
undermine the .
17 billion war on drugs (Dreyfuss, 32). Perhaps they didn't inhale, .
but .
many Americans were surprised when a scientific study funded by the .
White .
House's drug czar reports in March that marijuana's active ingredients .
seem .
to have medical value, "particularly for" pain relief, control of .
