In 1997 the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to study the scientific literature on marijuana used for medicinal purposes and determine whether the drug had any health benefits. Two years later, Janet E. Joy, Stanley J. Watson Jr., and John A. Benson released their report, Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. In their report the authors examined and evaluated marijuana’s effects on the human body and the risks associated with the medical use of marijuana. Both supporters and opponents of medical marijuana have found conclusions in the report they can use to support their arguments.

Supporters of legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes cite several sections of the report in which Joy, Watson, and Benson report that marijuana can relieve pain, control nausea, stimulate the appetite, reduce anxiety, and act as a...