Should Marijuana Be Legalized for Medical Use?

The answer to this has been argued a lot and due to the current illegalization not as many studies have been done as would have otherwise. Many argue it is a corporate conspiracy and that it will never be legalized even if it did turn out to be a Panacea. But in truth, it isn't a panacea. It is an herb. And like all herbal medicines there are a lot of problems with it.

1. Too many side effects: Everyone is familiar with the purported effects of cannabis. Munchies, mellowing, pain relief, among other things. As far as medicine goes you don't want so many side effects. Sure, it'll relieve your pain, but you'll eat tons of food, forget your obligations, and eventually become a stupid, fat slob.
2. Not concentrated enough: As with everything herbal, the plants just don't produce enough. As far as cancer goes it has been estimated that one would have to smoke a thousand joints a day to kill breast cancer. If cannabinoids were to find medical use, they would likely be in a concentrated pill form.
3. Variable Effects: Cannabis gives some hallucinations, and puts others to sleep. Testing finds that there is little consistency in effects from person to person, not something you would want when you are putting out a lot of money to help you with serious pain.
4. Inferiority: Cannabinoids have been found effective against cachaxia, pain, and nausea. But even if they are effective they likely aren't the most powerful thing we have and at most would be used only in conjunction with current medicines or when a tolerance is built to everything else.
5. Method of Cure: Most pro-cannabis people want it to smoke and swear it cures cancer despite the fact that it is at too low of a dose of a weak chemical meanwhile completely miss the irony of claiming that a cancer stick cures cancer.

All in all, cannabis has limited use. If cannabinoids are found to be useful then the chemical will be synthetic and the plant still illegal.