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Alternative medicines are becoming more and more popular these days. I believe that holistic and herbal medicines are a great alternative for people who are allergic to traditional medicines. Along with safe use, people can better themselves with this secondary way of healing. I happen to use many herbal cures for everyday stressors, which over- the- counter drugs cannot help with. There is a great debate right now, concerning marijuana use for medical purposes.

Before I came to the US, I have always believed that marijuana was something that people experimented with as a way to deal with their daily stress. I also felt that the use of marijuana was the harmful to a person physical and mental health. –The view in my country (Cyprus) is that marijuana is as detrimental as any other hard core drug-. However, my view about marijuana has changed dramatically over the years, not just because I have tried it but most importantly because of scientific evidence that supports its medical use.

Marijuana is by far the most commonly used illegal drug in the United States and in many other countries as well. More than seventy million Americans have tried marijuana, and more than twenty million have smoked it in the last year (Zimmer & Morgan, 1997). It seems obvious that marijuana policies, and the personal decisions that people make about the use of marijuana, should be based on scientific evidence, factual information and common sense. Unfortunately, that is frequently not the case. Instead, policies and personal decisions are often made on the basis of wrong information about marijuana. Everyday we see and read reports in newspapers, magazines, and on TV about how bad marijuana is, which scares the parents and children. Some of the lies that are reported by the media, includes:

· Smoking pot does not qualify as a medicine. The marijuana as medicine issue is a carefully orchestrated...