We leave no stone unturned. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, made the strongest case to date for cannabis as a potentially effective treatment for nausea, AIDS-related appetite loss, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and other ailments. Recent findings suggest that THC holds more potential as a painkiller than anyone ever guessed. Discoveries that the body produces its own cannabinoids that bind with receptors located in the brain and elsewhere lead scientists to believe THC could affect nerve impulses between cells in precise ways. It's a very exciting science question.
Some scientists remain skeptical.
There is still very little controlled clinical research on cannabis that demonstrates medical benefit. It only got worse as I considered that I would need to wait years and likely spend great numbers of dollars before legally attempting to quell that nausea with marijuana. No matter how feverishly the pharmaceutical industry works to eradicate the intolerable side effect of euphoria from marijuana derivatives, it's difficult to get excited. Marijuana is bad, I guess, unless its inherent unprofitability is removed by way of a patented process. Of course the pharmaceutical makers sound positively enlightened when compared with NIDA head Alan Leshner, who still takes the flat-earth approach that marijuana just can't be good in any form.