Colorado voters made history when they passed Amendment 64, making the possession, sale, and home cultivation of marijuana legal. Marijuana has been a controversial issue for some time now. Although there have been many defamatory claims about marijuana use, the truths are slowly starting to surface. Marijuana has many benefits, such as health, profit and helps many civilians. Although marijuana may seem like a harmful drug, it can actually be very rewarding. Until I researched this topic I had no idea that it was once a forensic medicine. Marijuana and cannabis are the same thing. The use of marijuana for medicinal purposes is not a recent discovery. In fact, written references to the use of medical marijuana date back to 4000 BC Western medicine embraced the therapeutic properties of marijuana in the mid-1800s, and by the early 20th century doctors had published more than 100 articles in Western medical literature recommending its use for a variety of ailments. (library.thinkquest/03oct/01474/history.htlm) According to michiganmedicalmarijuana.org the following is a list of agents that marijuana can help with. More than 15 million Americans suffer from asthma, a hit of marijuana is known to stop a full-blown asthma attack. 14% of blindness in the United States is due to glaucoma, smoking cannabis benefits 90% of the 2.5 million glaucoma victims. Cannabis is also an incredibly successful herb at reducing many types of cancers. “Marijuana is the best agent for controlling nausea in cancer chemotherapy,” said Dr. Thomas Ungerleider, who directed the California Marijuana for Cancer research program from 1974 to 1984. Marijuana also helps with epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, back pain, muscle pain... and taking harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Just because most people who use hard drugs started with marijuana doesn't mean that marijuana will cause people to use harder drugs. If someone wants to experiment with cocaine, they will do so regardless of whether they have already tried marijuana. People need to stop blaming hard drug users on this harmless plant. To date, I have not heard an intelligent argument against the legalization and regulation of cannabis that cannot be quickly dismissed or refuted. The public has gotten it into their heads that legalizing marijuana is condoning it, but that's not the case. You don't have to condone smoking marijuana to vote for its legalization. Marijuana is a source of profit, a pain reliever and helps many civilians. I hope one day another state legalizes marijuana just like ours did.