Reality check:

1) There are currently millions of Americans using weed on a regular basis. When I start seeing headlines or evidence that it is “causing problems” I’ll start believing it should remain illegal.
2) The FDA has obviously approved a huge list of drugs that are thrown in our face every day that have a laundry list of deadly side-effects (oily-anal discharge, enlarged prostate, “suicidal thoughts,” heart attack….death). They are “controlled &/legal.” Why isn’t weed?

“But some people should definitely not have access to it:  Under age of majority; sensitive government intelligence workers;  day care and medical care providers;  on-duty civil servants like police and firemen;  refinery operators, etc.”.....

the same could be said for a huge number of over-the-counter drugs, alcohol and coffee.

Maani——- there have been scientific studies and
they are not hampered by questions of legality.

here’s a wiki entry with a short summary of studies
and claims.

For just about every claimed therapeutic benefit,
there are better alternatives…....

mostly the Mrs uses Marinol for her patients with
extremely advanced cancers and really severe
difficulty with nausea and lack of appetite.

Hetero:

“Less than sincere?”  “Unable to demonstrate truth of their claims?”  Once again, I must wonder about the narrowness of your research.

It is true that “absolute” “scientific” medical studies are few and far between, for the simple reason that since pot is illegal, it cannot be studied in humans in double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials.  But that does not mean that “proof” does not exist, both anecdotal and “circumstantial.”

Marijuana has PROVEN (through numerous studies) medical benefits with respect to easing the pressure of glaucoma, increasing appetite in those with AIDS who take med “cocktails” that suppress their appetite, and easing the nausea associated with chemo and radiation therapy.  As well, an increasing number of cardiologists and others believe (again, through studies) that, since pot lowers blood pressure, it may be the best hope for decreasing heart attacks caused by heart disease.  (Indeed, as far back as 1977, my father’s cardiologist recommended that my father try smoking a little bit of pot occasionally to control his high blood pressure.  Its acceptance for this use has only grown over the past decades since then.)

This is just a short list; there are many other diseases and conditions for which pot has been shown to have beneficial effects.

Peace.

Maani——— people claiming medical benefits for
smoking weed tend to be less than sincere or able to
demonstrate the truth of their claims.

marijuana works ok as an anti-emetic and that’s what
Marinol is used to treat, in a carefully measure
dosage, w/o all the zillion other things mixed in and
w/o all the adverse consequences of smoking.

I’ve tried it.. it works as advertised but was
otherwise a total disappointment…..

Superbly on-target!  Bravo!