It is very annoying to constantly see people start the repetitive and pointless discussion on the subject "Cannabis good or bad?" everytime it is mentioned.
It is a goddamned plant people!
It is neither a saviour nor pure evil!
It is just a plant!
Most advanced ancient cultures used cannabis as medicine for many illnesses. Today's negative view stems mainly from a clash of ideologies. The money-making, coffee-drinking and gasoline-burning economies don't tolerate the relaxed and contemplating attitude created by cannabis. This is one of the biggest problems of modern medicine.
Also pharma-industry is not interested in promotion of
any natural substances and it is very vigilant and influential.
The article posted by Vitaly compares cannabis to Prozac. Why? There is a natural substance just as effective as Prozac: St John's Wort. In Germany it is the most prescribed one and available otc. The situation on the British Isles is different and has many negative consequences
even for fish.
This article does not even scratch the surface. The effects of cannabinoids on the neural system are far more complex than the way it is presented there. Neurology altogether is a very young science and the results of most studies are actually very vague.
If you are someone who would choose to self-medicate with ciprofloxacin in case of a bladder infection and do it right, you will probably figure out whether or not/when/how to smoke/eat/whack with pot. If you choose to ask your doctor and take cipro for a bad case of flu, or a hypothetical case of anthrax, don't take drugs and don't even talk about them!