After being charged with the cultivation of marijuana he appeared in court. Judge George King, found McWillams guilty without hearing his defense, which would have argued that he was an AIDS and cancer patient and got relief from the marijuana. McWilliams was released on $250,000 bail. The bail terms required McWilliams, be tested randomly for marijuana use. Prohibited from using cannabis he could only use the less effictive Marinol. He reported that Marinol only helped him a fraction of the time, and only because marijuana kept the pill down. This incident confirms that prohibiting the use of medical-marijuana can cost lives (Buckley 11). .
Marijuana has been shown to help in the fight against AIDS, HIV, cancers, glaucoma, epilepsy, migraines, multiple sclerosis, convolutions, ataxia, high blood pressure, insomnia, nausea, and depression(Chevallier 180). .
So what does our government do about these studies? The FDA approved Marinol pill, could be the solution . . . or could it? Marijuana is a Schedule I drug, under the Federal Controlled Substance act(Mathre 4). Other Schedule I drugs include the two most lethal drugs, heroin and cocaine. In July, 1999, after conducting some studies the government moved Marinol into Schedule III, making it easier for doctors to prescribe it. "Drug czar Barry McCaffrey insisted the move was based on 'pure science,' but a review of the players involved suggests that the rise of Marinol is more the result of politics and profiteering" (Cotts 44). Claims from patients taking Marinol say that it works too slowly and the side effect of being "high" makes activities, like driving, nearly impossible. When doctors are approached by patients who wish to use marijuana for its therapeutic relief, they prescribe Marinol to them first (44). The companies that produce Marinol have seen an increase in the usage of their product in the states with "medical-marijuana laws".
