Over the last five years, there has been a re-examination of the potential of marijuana as a medicinal treatment. In 2004 Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary took part in a national trial to see if marijuana could relieve the symptoms of MS. Patients who took marijuana found some improvement in their condition, although results were mixed. Those who saw an improvement reported pain reduction, better sleep quality, and a reduction in spasms. However, progress in making marijuana available for medical use through the NHS has been slow. As a result we are now seeing the first moves to co-ordinate the supply of marijuana by special interest groups within communities. "I don't think people in wheelchairs should have to go down back alleys to meet dealers to get marijuana, something which, effectively to them, is a medication."

The Institute of Medicine's 1999 report on medical marijuana stated, "The accumulated data indicate a potential therapeutic value for cannabinoid drugs, particularly for symptoms such as pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation."

Medicinal marijuana was first written about by the Ancient Chinese in Sheen Nung's Pen Ts'ao in 2737BC. The Roman surgeon Dioscorides also praised the medicinal virtues of marijuana in 70AD whilst the English herbalist Culpeper wrote about marijuana in the Complete Herbal and English Physician. Marijuana was taken widely for its medicinal value until the 20th Century when marijuana was stigmatised and eventually banned. Legal Medical marijuana use was very common in the USA for child birth, tooth ache and chronic pain up until 1942. Its use was essentially outlawed by ' The marijuana Tax Act' of 1937, which made it illegal to prescribe marijuana in the United States. Currently marijuana is medically available in 12 US states to treat conditions/symptons it has indicated effectiveness with. The UK is even more backward on this issue.