[420 Girl]

Louis Armstrong called marijuana his medicine. One of the most famous musicians of the 20th century, he swore by it, as a panacea and a pastime, smoking up to three cigar-sized joints a day, every day. In 1928 he even recorded a song about it, Muggles, using a slang term for the drug. At the time the law was on Armstrong's side: before 1937, alcohol was a more serious crime than marijuana.

Armstrong may have been ahead of his time. Today health experts are cautiously—and under specific conditions—singing marijuana's praises. That has sizeable fractions of the 1 in 2.46 who've ever used it, and of the 1 in 1.68 (60%) who haven't, all lit up.

Marijuana was first legalized for medicinal use in 1996, under Proposition 215 in California. Activist Dennis Peron, whose partner had used pot as a palliative while dying of AIDS, was the force behind the legislation. Since then, 13 more states have legalized the restricted medical use of marijuana, making the odds your state legally allows medical marijuana 1 in 3.57.

Most states have an ID card system and a mandatory registry, to help prevent misunderstandings between medical cannabis-users and law enforcement. Depending on the state, a prescription-holding citizen can own anywhere between 1 and 24 oz. of usable marijuana, plus 6 to 24 live plants. (Two other, FDA-approved versions of the drug exist—both are pills.) Many places are seeing an explosion in both demand and the number of medical dispensaries—there are 250 in Denver alone and a six-month wait to obtain a card there.

Though a recent Pew poll found that a majority of Americans, 73%, favor legalizing marijuana for medical use, the issue is still a heated topic. Many fear that legitimizing the drug’s use for certain conditions will also encourage its illegitimate use. Already, 1 in 17.24 people 12 or older use marijuana in a month in America. That adds up to over 17 million monthly users. Males are twice as likely to smoke it as females—1 in 12.5, compared to 1 in 23.26—and on average, marijuana use is highest among late adolescents and steadily drops off with age. Adults 18-20 are likeliest to use it (1 in 5.43), but by 35 and older the odds are down to 1 in 32.26.

Also at issue are the ways in which marijuana is "medicinal" to begin with. Unlike, say, penicillin, a curative medicine, marijuana works as a palliative treatment. When given to HIV patients and patients undergoing chemotherapy, for example, cannabis has been shown to reduce nausea and increase appetite, preventing some sufferers from otherwise wasting away. Some using it for chronic pain report it temporarily reduces their symptoms, just as a prescription drug might do.

Another much-touted use for medical marijuana is in combating glaucoma. One of the prime side effects of tetrahydrocannabinol—THC, the main psychoactive compound in the drug—is the reduction of pressure within the eye. THC’s effect on a multitude of other conditions, from fibromyalgia to morning sickness, is currently the subject of an endless succession of medical journal articles.

As for using marijuana purely for recreational reasons, that’s still a felony in all 50 states.

But that may soon be changing. A proposition in California, slated to be voted on in November, called the "Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010," will—if passed—do exactly what its name suggests: legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana in the state of California. A new poll found that a majority of the state’s residents favor the bill.

It’s hardly the first time weed fans have petitioned the government. Louis Armstrong wrote directly to President Eisenhower, requesting that the drug be legalized. He had recently been arrested for possession, but given a suspended sentence.

His argument for making it legal? Marijuana, he wrote, "makes you feel good, man."

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