The American public largely supports the legalization of medical marijuana. At least 84 percent of the public believes the drug ought to be legal for medical uses, and recreational marijuana usage is less controversial than ever, with 61% of Americans in support.

 

Even though some medical benefits of smoking pot might be overstated by advocates of marijuana legalization, recent studies have demonstrated there are legitimate medical uses for bud and strong reasons to continue studying the drug's medicinal uses.

 

There are at least two active compounds in marijuana that researchers believe have medicinal uses. Those are cannabidiol (CBD) -- which appears to impact the mind without a high-- and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) -- that has pain relieving properties and is largely responsible for the high.

 

But scientists say that constraints on bud research mean we still have large questions about its medicinal properties. Along with CBD and THC, there are another 400 or so chemical compounds, more than 60 of which can be cannabinoids. A number of these might have medical applications. But without more research, we will not know the way to best make use of these chemicals.

 

More research would also shed light on the risks of marijuana. Even if there are valid uses for medicinal marijuana, that doesn't mean all use is harmless. Someresearch suggests that chronic, heavy users might have diminished memory, studying, and processing speed, particularly if they started regularly using marijuana before age 16 or 17.

 

For a few of the following medical benefits, there is very good evidence. For others, there's reason to keep on conducting research.

 

Jennifer Welsh contributed to an earlier version of this story.