Marijuana use for recreational purposes is prohibited in most countries in the world. There are a few countries that allow its limited use for medicinal purposes like the United States. Some states of the US have set up marijuana centers or otherwise known as compassion centers to control and regulate the use of marijuana.

Marijuana centers are authorized by law to allow marijuana use of those who are prescribed to use it for medicinal purposes. Chronic pain, nausea, seizures, multiple sclerosis are some of the conditions treated with marijuana. Smoking marijuana eases the pain felt by those afflicted with such conditions.

Patients or their legal representative are allowed to apply for a medical marijuana identification card for their use or for their caregivers. Applicants are required to present proof of identity, residency and most importantly, medical proof that he or she is indeed seriously ill.

While the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes is now allowed in eleven states of the United States, buying is still prohibited by federal law. In fact, the Drug Enforcement Administration is against these legal marijuana centers and even threatens those who lease their properties for that purpose.

But soon, this ongoing problem will find a solution.

There are moves from the legislative branch of Rhode Island’s to set up stores or marijuana centers to legally sell marijuana to registered patients of the state. The idea to allow these stores or centers to sell marijuana was realized to discourage patients of debilitating disease to purchase the drug from the streets or drug dealers. Lawmakers are proposing the bill to address the problem of accessibility of the drug.

On the other hand, opponents of the bill are worried that these bill would only contribute to the illegal drug industry. They also pointed out that this will also complicate the police’ job. They also think that though the bill is proposed with good intentions, it may open up avenues for some to gain profit from it.

There have been confusion on how to address the medicinal dispensation of the drug. Former President Bush’s administration targeted even compliant marijuana centers. President Obama’s administration meanwhile promises to go after only with non- compliant centers.

On the middle of this debate are patients who are medically allowed to be treated with marijuana. It is just unfortunate that there are times when their sufferings are not treated because of the conflict between the state and federal law.

One recent case, involved a man suffering from nausea and back pain. He has used marijuana to ease on his suffering. He tried to purchase marijuana from youngsters on the street. He ended up being beaten up. He cannot even report the ugly incident to the police because it is still illegal to buy marijuana.

On the surface, the bill will benefit those who need marijuana to treat their medical conditions. But it’s really the implementation that will ultimately decide if the initiative will benefit not only the patients but the state as a whole.