The United States Government has done research on Marijuana in the past and has thrown out many research topics because they prove the benefits of Marijuana. There have been Studies funded by the US Government that have encouraged the citizens to question the current laws.
Growing up in the 80's during the Reagan years hearing Nancy talking about saying no to drugs made me very scared to try Marijuana. I also thought that all Marijuana users were worthless and lazy and would become a burden to society. After going to the Netherlands and trying Marijuana because of chronic pain I realized, "this is not that bad." When I came back to the United States of America I decided it was time I did a little research on my own about Marijuana. I soon Found out that US Veterans Affairs Scientists did research to find out if excessive use of Marijuana as a teen would damage your life. They did this by surveying twins were one was a heavy user of Marijuana and the other did not use Marijuana more than 5 times. They Found, "Marijuana use had no significant impact on physical or mental health care utilization, health-related quality of life, or current socio-demographic characteristics." (Eisen SE et al. Does Marijuana Use Have Residual Adverse Effects on Self-Reported Health Measures, Socio-Demographics or Quality of Life? A Monozygotic Co-Twin Control Study in Men. Addiction. Vol. 97 No. 9. p.1083-1086. Sept. 1997)
The Government provided funding to Federal researchers to study the effect of THC on Cancer induced rats. These rats were treated for Leukemia and lung cancer with canaboids and THC found in Marijuana that increased their life span and decreased the size of the tumors. (Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Sept. 1975. p. 597-602) In 1994 federal researchers studied rats again by giving them massive doses of THC to look for cancer and other toxicity in the rats. Reasearch showed that the more THC the rat received the fewer tumors grew. (NTP Technical Report On The Toxicology And Carcinogenesis Studies Of 1-Trans- Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, CAS No. 1972-08-3, In F344/N Rats And B6C3F(1) Mice, Gavage Studies) Again in 1997 research funded by the federal government came close to proving Marijuana can prevent cancer. This research followed 65,000 patients for close to 10 years to study the effects of Cigarette smoking, Marijuana Smoking and Non-Smokers on Lung Cancer. This showed that Marijuana smokers did not have an increase in chances to get lung cancer and also showed that they were at a lower percentage to get lung cancer than non-smokers. (Sidney, S. et al. Marijuana Use and Cancer Incidence (California, United States). Cancer Causes and Control. Vol. 8. Sept. 1997, p. 722-728.) Over a year ago the federal government gave Donald Tashkin funds to research Marijuana use and Lung Cancer. This found again that those Heavy Marijuana users had a decrease risk for Lung Cancer. (Tashkin D. Marijuana Use and Lung Cancer: Results of a Case-Control Study. American Thoracic Society International Conference. May 23, 2006.)
Over the years the federal government has tried to teach that Marijuana was the most dangerous drugs available with lies and deceptions. The federal Government has been giving grants to research the dangers and hazards of Marijuana but have ended up proving that Marijuana is not only a great medication but that it is helpful to prevent cancers.