You’re sick. Someone offers you marijuana, saying that it will alleviate your suffering. Do you take it? Many patients and doctors have insisted that marijuana is uniquely beneficial, while others say the dangers of cannabis far outweigh the benefits. We know that marijuana is a drug, but is it a medicine?
People often mistakenly think that medical use of marijuana is something new. It isn't. In fact, the recorded literature on medical use of marijuana goes back to ancient China in 2737 B.C. No doubt it was used for many years before anyone thought to write it down.
Prior to 1937, at least 27 medicines containing marijuana were legally available in the United States. Many were made by well-known pharmaceutical firms that still exist today, such as Squibb (now Bristol-Myers Squibb) and Eli Lilly. Marijuana was an entirely legal medicine in the U.S. until the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 effectively prohibited marijuana on the federal level. Dr. William C. Woodward of the American Medical Association opposed the Act, testifying that prohibition would ultimately prevent the medical uses of marijuana. He was right: Marijuana was dropped from the U.S. Pharmacopeia in 1942.
A wide variety of medical and public health organizations have recognized the medical value of marijuana. These include the American Public Health Association, American Nurses Association, American College of Physicians, American Academy of HIV Medicine, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and far too many more to list.
Marijuana was a safe, effective medicine 5,000 years ago. It was a safe, effective medicine in 1937. And modern research continues to prove that it is a safe, effective medicine today.
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