Establishing fact and fiction in the debate about marijuana and its’ usefulness in medicine or potential harm to society has created a large divide between the opposing views. The following information is an attempt to provide some help in understanding what has been researched concerning the how and why medical cannabis can be helpful. It is not known by many that the United States government has a patent, U.S. Gov patent: 6630507.B1, that covers the uses of cannabinoids. These are the most widely known plant chemicals in marijuana. It states that cannabinoids have antioxidant, anti inflammatory, and neuroprotetive properties that can be effective in the treatment of age related inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The claims that are made about cannabis being successful in the treatment of many chronic diseases are scientifically based. The human body has an endocannabanoid system consisting of of naturally produced chemical messengers and receptors located in most t