The topic of medical marijuana usage is always a hot one. Many patients claim it is the only way to ease pain and nausea during chemotherapy treatment. The federal government believes it to be an illegal substance worthy of prosecution under any circumstance. While it is an issue of much heated political debate, it can also be a personal and moral issue. Some families might not accept a family member's choice to use it as treatment. Pot also affects each individual in a different way making blanket statements and recommendations useless. The Health Canada Medical Marijuana program has compiled the following list of helpful tips and information.

• If a trusted loved one or friends tell you that marijuana adversely affects your personality, educational studies or work performance, listen to their words and consider the validity of their observations.
• If you become dizzy, disoriented, depressed, suicidal, uncoordinated, lethargic, hyperactive, agitated, angry, paranoid consider trying different dosages or different varieties.
• Be aware of your usage. If you become too dependent on pot, decrease you dosage.
• Be mindful that marijuana can become psychologically addictive.
• To avoid addiction exercise, meditate or practice yoga for serenity and peace of mind.
• Do not use alcohol and marijuana together.
• Be careful about your marijuana, do not use it if it had been grown in a toxic environment.

These are just a few of the tips offered by the Health Canada Medical Marijuana program. What do you think about this heated topic? Do you believe it to be a valid option for patients in pain or do you concur with the government and believe it to be an illegal use of the plant? Let us know.

Famed California marijuana cultivator Ed Rosenthal's conviction has been overturned due to jury misconduct. Three years ago Rosenthal was originally sentenced to just one day in prison when it was discovered that he was growing hundreds of marijuana plants for the City of Oakland's medical marijuana program. Rosenthal claimed innocence on the grounds that he was immune to prosecution because the plants were for medical use only. Believing the sentence was far too lenient, the federal government sought a two year prison term for Rosenthal. His victory is a boon for the medical marijuana growing community. The government's beliefs that it is an illegal substance, that it has no positive value for treating cancer patients and that California's voters wishes do not affect the federal laws have been severely underscored by Rosenthal's brief sentence.

The jurors who sat on Rosenthal's jury were not allowed to hear his defense. They were unaware that he was growing the pot for medicinal purposes. After the trial was over and the jurors heard of his position, nine of the twelve jurors decried their verdicts.

Steve Kubby, the medical marijuana activist, has been freed from prison due to good behavior and overcrowding issues.  Mr. Kubby was ordered to return to the Untied States after he sought political refuge in Canada in 2001 after an arrest for drug possession.  Kubby has a rare form of adrenal cancer and marijuana is one way he can find relief from pain and nausea. Not just in it for the ride, Kubby helped to write and lobby for the law that ultimately decriminalized the use of medical marijuana in the state of California. Kubby still faces charges stemming from a failure to appear issue from nearly five years ago. In the meantime, his small victory is likely to be a boon for the medical marijuana movement.

While Queen Mary's School of Medicine Dr Wai Man Liu and researchers were studying the role of cannabis, commonly known as marijuana, in cancer therapy, they discovered the main active ingredient in cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol, THC, has the potential to destroy leukemia cells and other cancer cells. Cannabis has been well-established and recognized as an effective treatment in the remedy for nausea caused by chemotherapy and as a medication for pain. The researchers, using highly sophisticated microarray technology were able to detect changes in more than 18,000 genes in cells treated with THC, and were able to discover the existence of crucial processes through which THC can kill cancer cells and potentially promote cancer patient survival.

Due to widespread illegal use of cannabis as a recreational drug, its legal or licensed use in medicine is now a controversial issue in most countries. Currently, there are eleven states with effective medical marijuana laws on the books: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. However, the United States federal government does not recognize any legitimate medical use, and state laws have been challenged.

Dr Liu states, "It is important to stress that these cannabis-like substances used in research are far removed from the cannabis that is smoked. These novel compounds have been specifically designed to be free of the psychoactive features, while maintaining anti-cancer action." Medical marijuana for nausea and pain is known to be administered by smoking marijuana.