U.S. Won't Prosecute in States That Allow Medical Marijuana

Many chronically ill patients depend on some of the benefits of prescribed marijuana. This drug can reduce chronic pain, nausea, and additional symptoms associated with cancer and other serious illnesses. Although this drug has many good aspects, it is still illegal under federal law. However, the government is agreeing to not prosecute anyone using marijuana complying with the wishes of 14 other states and their laws, which allow its use for medical reasons only. "It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana," says Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., "but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal." The dispute over whether or not to make it a legal drug under medical conditions is still being debated by the federal government.

In my opinion, I think that marijuana used for medical purposes is good for the health of those who have a chronic illness. Patients use marijuana for such illnesses as cancer and the chemo therapy associated with it, which reduces chronic pain and nausea. I also think that marijuana being used for medical purposes should be legal on the federal side, because if using marijuana for medical purposes is only legal at the state level, the the doctors who prescribe it are still in a quandary with the federal government, which defeats the purpose of allowing it to be legal in the first place. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/us/20cannabis.html?_r=1&ref=politics