1. Health professionals are in favor of medical marijuana.
A survey by Medscape, an online community for doctors and nurses, found that three out of four doctors and nine out of 10 nurses favor decriminalizing marijuana for medical use.
2. The vast majority of marijuana prescriptions are for life-threatening conditions.
Many people think of the medical marijuana movement as an excuse for stoners to get legal weed, but according to the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center, 90% of MMJ prescriptions are for AIDS or cancer.
3. Marijuana has a neurochemical effect on pain.
A study from the National Institute of Mental Health has shown that rather than simply “relaxing” or “intoxicating” a pain patient, the psychoactive ingredients in marijuana suppress the transmission of pain signals in the brain.
4. Marijuana can be used medicinally to treat mental health disorders.
Many people think of the herb as a glaucoma and pain medication, but it is also approved in different jurisdictions to treat mental disorders as varied as Tourette’s syndrome, depression, anxiety disorders, and even anorexia and bulimia.
5. Medical marijuana can be stored without losing its potency for up to 60 months.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse conducted a study that showed medical-grade marijuana can be stored in subzero temperatures for up to 60 months without losing potency.
6. Medical marijuana could reduce the number of drug-related deaths by 1,000 or more each year.
The FDA recently released a report showing that 17 drugs used for symptoms ranging from nausea to pain (which could be replaced with medical MJ) were responsible for more than 10,000 deaths between 1997 and 2005, at a rate of about 1,000 per year.
7. The University of Mississippi has been growing medical cannabis for over forty years.
The US government has a long-term contract with Ole Miss to grow a variety of marijuana products for medical research. Every year since 1968, Ole Miss researchers have been growing 1.5 to 6.5 acres of medicinal MJ.
8. Legal medical marijuana appears to reduce illegal marijuana use among teens.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that in eight of the ten states with legal medical marijuana laws, illegal use among teens has decreased by an average of 3 percent.
9. Smoking weed can reduce your chances of getting lung cancer.
Despite claims to the contrary, an in-depth study from UCLA found no association between smoking marijuana and getting lung cancer, stating instead that marijuana “may have some protective effect.”
10. Ganja can improve the immune system.
Is there anything weed can’t do? Dr. Donald Abrams found in a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine that medical marijuana patients had “enhanced immune function” compared to patients given a placebo.