Could America Benefit From Legalizing Marijuana?

"New evidence of the efficacy and lack of side-effects of marijuana in the treatment of several diseases. On the treatment of chronic pain:

“Cannabinoids may augment the analgesic effects of opioids, allowing longer treatment at lower doses with fewer side effects.”

This is an empirical and scientific question, not a social or moral one. And what many do not seem to understand is that marijuana is often most effective in enabling patients to tolerate medication regimens that would otherwise be impossible to maintain: chemotherapy, multiple sclerosis meds, AIDS therapy, etc."
http://www.theatlantic.com/da...

"Marijuana heals post traumatic stress
A new study has found that administration of cannabinoids (marijuana) after experiencing a traumatic event blocks the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-like symptoms ."
http://articles.timesofindia....

"There is scientific evidence that [marijuana] helps with pain relief and nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy, for example, in terminal cancer patients," said John A. Benson, Jr., a principal investigator of the IOM study and a professor of internal medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

In addition, some HIV/AIDS patients suffering from decreased appetites use marijuana to "get the munchies," another oft-noted effect of the drug. [...]
In the early 1990s Pertwee's research group helped to uncover human-produced chemicals similar to THC that stimulate our appetites and help us control pain. "We produce our own cannabis, in effect," he said. "It often seems to have a protective role.""
https://www.google.com/search...

There you go...

"HOUSTON --- The American Medical Association (AMA) voted today to reverse its long-held position that marijuana be retained as a Schedule I substance with no medical value. The AMA adopted a report drafted by the AMA Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) entitled, "Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes," which affirmed the therapeutic benefits of marijuana and called for further research. The CSAPH report concluded that, "short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis." Furthermore, the report urges that "the Schedule I status of marijuana be reviewed with the goal of facilitating clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods." [...]
"It's been 72 years since the AMA has officially recognized that marijuana has both already-demonstrated and future-promising medical utility," said Sunil Aggarwal, Ph.D., the medical student who spearheaded both the passage of the June 2008 resolution by the MSS and one of the CSAPH report's designated expert reviewers. "The AMA has written an extensive, well-documented, evidence-based report that they are seeking to publish in a peer-reviewed journal that will help to educate the medical community about the scientific basis of botanical cannabis-based medicines." Aggarwal is also on the Medical & Scientific Advisory Board of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the largest medical marijuana advocacy organization in the U.S."
http://www.opposingviews.com/...

The report itself:
http://www.ama-assn.org/resou...