The drug marijuana, also known as cannabis and hemp, is currently used to treat medically diagnosed high blood pressure, glaucoma, diabetes and multiple sclerosis. It has also been utilized for pain relief in patients with chronic bone disease and severe, untreatable injuries. Some patients undergoing HIV/AIDS treatment and cancer chemotherapy have found that marijuana relieves their pain, according to studies reported to the National Institutes of Health.
Early Use
Hemp was prescribed in China as early as 2737 B.C. for the treatment of malaria, gout and rheumatism. Early American medical journals touted the use of hemp roots and seeds for venereal disease and skin rashes. Dr. William O'Shaughnessy, physician for the British East India Company, prescribed marijuana for cholera, tetanus and rheumatism, and also for the treatment of rabies. The popular view of marijuana was colored by the widespread use of opiates during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Harrison Act, passed in 1914, banned the use of morphine and opium. Twenty-three states and the federal government passed laws outlawing marijuana by 1937, and a stigma has persisted until the present time. Punishments were strengthened under federal acts passed in the 1950s. Hemp was once a popular crop used in cloth and rope production, but after 1937, birdseed manufacturers were the only ones allowed to produce hemp.
California
After a lengthy political debate, California was the first to pass a law in 1996 "removing state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who possess a 'written or oral recommendation' from their physician," according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). The legislation was passed by a statewide referendum.
Other States
The California program has been used as a model in formulating laws for other states. Alaska, Washington and Oregon voters passed measures at the end of 1998 allowing medical prescriptions and decriminalizing use. Maine passed legalizing legislation in 1999. Hawaii's senate allowed medical marijuana with the passage of a 2000 bill. Nevada passed a state constitutional amendment in 2000. Colorado passed a state constitutional amendment legalizing and registering medical marijuana users beginning on June 1, 2001. Montana's Initiative 148 and Vermont's Senate Bill 76 legalized medical use in 2004. New Mexico passed an act in 2007 allowing medical use for specific diseases. Maryland passed an affirmative defense law in 2003. Both Michigan and Rhode Island passed use laws in 2008.
Shift in Federal Policy
While 15 states allowed the medical use of marijuana as of 2009, federal policy under the Bush Administration had taken a hard line against such use, even with prescriptions, and stated that users, growers and dispensary owners would be prosecuted under federal law. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2002 stated that it "does not recognize any accepted medical use of marijuana and individuals remain subject to federal prosecution for marijuana possession." The Obama Administration has not taken the same view. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stated that the Obama administration will not encourage federal Drug Enforcement Administration raids on state-licensed growers, legal dispensaries and prescription users as was done under the Bush Administration.
Current Medical Use
Statistics show that licensed medical marijuana usage, production and distribution has mushroomed in 2009. Some media reports, including those by MSNBC, state that the increase is a result of the lax federal enforcement under the Obama administration. The economic recession is also cited as a contributory reason, with patients unable to afford traditional drugs and unemployed persons searching for alternative forms of employment as marijuana growers and owners of licensed dispensaries.
