Marijuana, a drug that has been studied for many decades, provides for a very heated argument. No longer is it seen solely as a hallucinogen, but some claim that it is miracle drug for chemotherapy and glaucoma patients. However, no legitiment medical organizations, see marijuana as a safe and effective medicine. Society is also aware of the harmful and long-term effects of the drug, and therefore are strongly opposed to it"s legalization. Marijuana should not be considered for legalization because its few benefits are greatly outweighed by its downfalls.

             Marijuana is now being recognized for possessing a few medical benefits. For both chemotherapy and anorexic patients, it can serve as an appetite stimulant and as a mild pain killer. Glaucoma patients have also claimed that it saves what eye sight they have left and eases headache pains. However, these foe benefits are not enough for legislators to.

             even consider marijuana"s legalization.

             The movement to legitimize smoking marijuana as a medicine is not encouraged by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), health and medical associations, or medical experts. Supporters of marijuana"s legalization have completely thrown out all the accepted rules of medical research and FDA approval. The FDA clearly states, "for a drug to be approved, it must demonstrate that it causes no harm when taken properly, and it has to show a demonstrable and consistently positive effect on the medical condition in question." Supporters of the drug have failed to show that marijuana does either. Medical experts dictate that it is not good medical practice to allow a substance to be used as a medicine if .

             that product is not FDA-approved, is ingested by smoking and is exempt from quality control standards. Smoked marijuana has been extensively researched, and has not yet been documented to be a safe and effective medical treatment. Instead, it has been shown to be a cause of many negative health effects.