Is Marijuana used for Medical Purposes?

To answer both of the questions concerning marijuana, it is currently being used for medical purposes in 9 states in the United States: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

In these states, marijuana is used in hospitals for the treatment of cancer patients. It can be used as what's called an antiemetic (meaning it prevents nausea/vomiting) in patients undergoing chemotherapy. Doctors can also take advantage of the "Munchies" that it can produce in users and can stimulate the appetite in cancer/chemotherapy patients as well as AIDS patients.

One thing to note here is that even though it is used medicinally in these states, the recreational use of marijuana is still illegal. (People are NOT just walking on the streets smoking pot in these states.)

In the states where marijuana is illegal to use in hospital settings, like Indiana, a drug called Marinol is used instead. This drug is typically used for nausea associated with chemotherapy, usually for breast or prostate cancer patients. It is a controlled substance, just like Xanax or Ambien. This drug has been broken down so much that it is nearly impossible for a user to get "high" from it.






For those that are interested, the main reason that most states have rendered it illegal is because there are other drugs out there that can be used for these effects. Zofran, for example, is much better than marijuana at preventing nausea/vomiting. A medication called Megace can also be used to stimulate an appetite to allow cancer patients to eat more. The states that allow it are a little bit more liberal with health care than Indiana, however, and believe that since it is working in cancer and AIDS patients to keep them eating enough and not vomiting, it is worth it to use marijuana in hospitals. Since it is so commonly abused and addictive, Indiana has decided at this time that the medical use is not valued enough to risk allowing it to be distributed through hospitals and possibly stolen from employees for recreational use.