by Lynn Zimmer

About the author: Lynn Zimmer is an associate professor of sociology at Queens College in New York and coauthor (with John P. Morgan) of Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence.

A friend of mine allows his teenage son to smoke marijuana. The boy gets intense nausea from the chemotherapy for his cancer, and marijuana works better than the medications prescribed by his physician. My accountant, a 35-year-old man with AIDS, smokes marijuana before dinner to stimulate his appetite and help him gain weight. A 77-year-old woman who lives near my mother smokes marijuana to treat her glaucoma. A multiple-sclerosis patient, whom I met at a conference, told me he uses marijuana to reduce muscle spasticity.

Under federal law and the laws of most states, these people are committing criminal offenses. In 1996, voters in...