Marijuana for Medical Use

I heard on the radio yesterday a very interesting narrative about the benefits some patients could get from using marijuana. There were about three good points made and cases where I could actually see the drug as a benefit for a very small portion of the population that suffer from some pretty terrible afflictions such as cancer, and other terminal illnesses. I should probably also state that I have never actually tried marijuana and have no desire to try it at all.

I think the problem is that the people that promote this stuff are "stoners" and sound like they are currently lit up. The dude that was promoting legalization of marijuana went from lucid to idiot in about 2 seconds. Here are some examples of what he said:

Marijuana can benefit several types of illnesses. (true)
Marijuana grows new brain cells. (yeah right)
Marijuana's side effects are negligible. (not even close)

I already spoke to the first topic, and agree that certain folks could benefit from the use of cannabis. Now I can promise that this stuff doesn't grow new brain cells. Simply sample the population of folks who use the drug regularly and compare them with people who have never used it. It's that simple. Marijuana's side effects are well documented and I have personally witnessed it ruin the life of someone very close to me. Easily acquired and recreationally used, marijuana cost my brother a legitimate shot at life; I am not saying he would have been the president but at least he could have had a chance. I also realize that it doesn't affect everyone this way, but it can do great harm to some people.

The other point that hurts these arguments is that it's a bunch of stoners who think they are going to be able to grow this stuff in their backyard for headaches or something. I believe marijuana could be legalized for certain uses if the groups pushing for legalization would narrow their focus and concentrate only on the people who actually NEED the benefits it provides. I would guess that two-thirds of the people I hear pushing for legalization simply end up ranting about something not relevant at all. For example the guy yesterday, who represents the American Medical Marijuana Association completely blew his chance at legitimacy by saying:

"The current government is afraid of legalizing marijuana because people who use it are much less likely to stand up and salute a flag and go fight a war because someone else told you to."


This guy was making really good points until he lit up his fatty and got diarrhea of the mouth coupled with loss of forethought. It's that kind of idiocy that will keep this drug off the shelves so to speak.
Pretty much he stated that:

A) People who use marijuana are too smart and enlightened to think that anyone might be able to better understand the needs of our country.
B) Only idiotic followers choose to serve in our military and/or support our government.

So really if you want marijuana legalized for the folks that can actually benefit from it, stop trying to get your own private stash legalized and focus on the medicinal value only.