State laws
The acceptance of cannabis's medical use by eight states [between 1996 and 2002] and the experiences of patients, doctors, and state officials in these states establish marijuana's accepted medical use in the United States. More...

Medical professionals
Cannabis's accepted medical use in the United States is increasingly recognized by health care professionals and the medical community, including the Institute of Medicine. Several medical organizations support legal access to cannabis for medicinal purposes. A new medical journal released in 2001 focuses on the medicinal use of cannabis and cannabinoids. National clinical conferences on the medicinal use of cannabis have been held in the United States in 2000 and 2002 and are scheduled to continue on a bi-annual basis.. Most importantly, data on the number of physicians currently recommending therapeutic marijuana use to their patients demonstrate its acceptance by the medical community in the United States. More...

Patients' experience and their confirmation by early studies
Following state laws that allow for the medical use of cannabis, an increasing number of patients have collected experience with cannabis. Many reported benefits from its use. Some of this experience has been confirmed in reports and clinical investigations or stimulated clinical research that confirmed these patients' experience on other patients suffering from the same disease. More...

Reviews of earlier clinical studies
Several scientific publications have reviewed evidence from research on the medicinal uses of cannabis indicating that cannabis in fact may offer benefits in the treatment of certain illnesses. More...

Basic research
The scientific understanding of the endogenous cannabinoid system consisting of specific cannabinoid receptors and their endogenous ligands (endocannabinoids) has considerably increased since 1995. It largely supports and helps explain many of the therapeutic benefits of cannabis and cannabinoids in humans. More...

Clinical research
Results from clinical research demonstrate that both dronabinol and whole plant cannabis can offer a safe and effective treatment for the following illnesses: muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis, Tourette syndrome, chronic pain, nausea and vomiting in HIV/AIDS and cancer chemotherapy, loss of appetite from cancer, hyperactivity of the bladder in patients with multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury, and dyskinesia caused by levodopa in Parkinson's disease. More...

Route of administration.

Progress has been made in recent years in reducing the disadvantages of certain routes of cannabis administration, notably the slow onset of action with oral use and harm associated with the inhalation of combustion products when smoking cannabis. More...

Pharmaceutical industry.

The pharmaceutical industry is showing not only increasing interest in synthetic modulators of the endogenous cannabinoid system, but also industry members are funding several clinical studies with cannabis whole plant extracts in Europe and Canada with the intention to develop approved cannabis based medicines. This indicates that therapeutic exploitation of natural cannabis will be economically sound. However the present Schedule I classification of cannabis and THC is an impediment to the pharmaceutical development of cannabinoid drugs becaused of the costly restrictions it places on research. More...