AlterNET has a great article on the history the fight between suits and science over the use of Marijuana as a medicine. The post is a reproduction of an excerpt from "Dying To Get High; a "... beautifully written account from the front lines of a struggle between a federal drug war complex determined to keep demonizing marijuana and the growing movement of patients and doctors who have found marijuana to be a valuable medicine". Here's a snip:

For many modern critics, the concept of "medical marijuana" is a contradiction in terms. Medicine is standardized, synthetic, and pure; marijuana involves the unrefined and promiscuous coupling of more than four hundred components rooted in the dirt. Medicine -- in its most powerful and privileged forms -- rests in the hands of men, while the most potent form of marijuana is found in the female flowering plant. Medicine engages in heroic battles against death. Marijuana claims only to enhance the quality of life.

This was a good read, check it out.

Gordon Meldrum, deputy director of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, said: "When cannabis was reclassified, the Scottish Police Service effectively made no change and the day-to-day reality is that there has been no change in policing style or stance.

"We still treat people found on the street with cannabis in exactly the same way. We still see cannabis as a dangerous drug and a number of recent studies have confirmed that. Cannabis is still viewed very much as a gateway drug – it's still the first drug that children and young people will try. We've a focus on cocaine and heroin, but we've never taken our eye off the ball as far as cannabis is concerned."

I've become dependent on this drug, and I'm thriving. I'm a 21-year-old student, in my final year at a reasonably challenging liberal arts college. I've been plagued with stress my entire academic career (late nights in the library, occasional experiments with academic performance enhancers to get everything done, the usual drill), except for my senior year, which is supposed to be my most stressful because we have a required senior thesis and there are very high expectations that we will perform on almost graduate-school levels. It's an intense and rigorous school, and for the first time in my life I feel like I'm handling it well, excelling even. I'm keeping up with all of my course work in addition to producing what is shaping up to be a pretty well-thought-out senior thesis. Best of all, I've been keeping a reasonable work schedule -- again, for the first time ever -- and I've been able to spend a significant amount of time relaxing.

Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank is proposing a bill that would remove federal penalties for possession and use of small amounts of marijuana.

Why do we need a federal bill?

Because the rest of the country is far behind Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon in decriminalizing the herb, with Michigan on the verge of approving a similar bill. We need a federal bill because we need to put an end to this fruitless, expensive prohibition once and for all.

And so Barack Obama tells high school kids in New Hampshire that he "made some bad decisions" at their age. He "experimented" with pot and cocaine. This is old news -- but even if it were new news, it would be ho-hum in today's politics.

After all, drug use has proven no bar to high office -- at least for those who evaded arrest. Vice President Al Gore, ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas have all admitted to smoking pot. President Bush refuses to deny that he snorted cocaine. And no one believes that Bill Clinton "didn't inhale" on that joint.

I would second the ho-hum, except for this: More than half a million Americans now rot in jail for nonviolent drug offenses, some not as bad as Obama's.