Medical marijuana: The continuing story

Recent scientific reports summarizing the current knowledge base and evaluating the benefit-to-risk ratio of marijuana have cautiously recommended smoking marijuana as a last and experimental resort for relief of chemotherapy-induced nausea or vomiting, life-threatening loss of appetite, muscle spasticity, glaucoma, or chronic pain. The legal and political implications of this recommendation amount to endorsement of the reclassification of marijuana from a schedule I to a schedule II substance by the biomedical community. The societal consequences of this action need to be systematically measured to allay the longstanding fears of drug policymakers and the public; meanwhile, the medical profession needs to implement a system of checks and balances on the uses of marijuana, the volume of marijuana prescribed, and the prescribers of the drug - and intervene, when necessary.