First of all it is important to clarify what marijuana is. It is a dried, shredded green/brown mix of the flowers, stems and leaves of the Cannabis sativa plant. It is also the most used illegal drug in the United States. THC, the active chemical in marijuana, works by binding to cannabinoid receptors, which are concentrated in areas of the brain associated with thinking, memory, pleasure, coordination and time perception. THC stimulates the brain to release dopamine, a chemical responsible for feelings of pleasure and relaxation. This chemical is also responsible for reducing pain, stimulating appetite, and many other properties. This, however, does not come without some negative side effects. The medical marijuana debate discusses whether or not the benefits outweigh the consequences. The first use of marijuana as medicine was reported more than five thousand years ago. India, China, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South Africa, and South America were using marijuana as medicine long before the United States. In 1545, the Spanish brought marijuana to the New World. It became a major commercial crop and was considered a source of fiber. It wasn't until 1851 that America officially recognized the medical value of marijuana. That year we added the drug to the third addition of the US Pharmacopeia (an official public authority that sets standards for all prescription and over-the-counter medicines). During the next fifty years, more than one hundred medical journals on the medicinal value of marijuana were published in the United States and Europe. American doctors began regularly prescribing the drug for conditions such as incontinence, venereal disease, and skin rashes. The herb could also be found in some pharmacies to relieve menstrual cramps, and... middle of paper... cannabinoid medications (a form of medical marijuana) were found to be more effective than standard anti-nausea medications. Glaucoma is another condition that is treated with marijuana. Although the drug is not usually recommended because conventional treatments are generally more effective, for those patients who cannot tolerate such treatments, marijuana may be the answer. Multiple sclerosis patients are proven to benefit from medical marijuana by reducing muscle spasms and pain. It has been shown that even pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis can be treated with the drug. Researchers on the other end of the spectrum argue that marijuana has no medical value. Psychologically: Some research claims that marijuana damages memory. Marijuana use impairs memory because THC alters how information is processed in the hippocampus, an area of ​​the brain responsible for memory development.