WASHINGTON: Good news for seriously ill patients who use pot to ease their pain. After Arizona and California started letting doctors prescribe marijuana to help patients deal with specific symptoms, the National Institutes of Health put together a panel of experts to catch up on the controversial issue. Its findings, out today, show strong evidence that pot has medical value.
The report is not exactly an endorsement of toking to cure what ails you. But it does support further research into the medical benefits of marijuana. The panel reviewed reports that smoking weed can control nausea for some cancer patients, help prevent weight loss among AIDS patients and help relieve eye pressure in people suffering from glaucoma ground already covered by experts out West. Widespread legalization won't happen any time soon, but what this could mean is a ceasefire in the war on pot.