The following article represents the views of the author and is not representative of Queercents, the site owner or its other writers.

We’ve been talking about the pros and cons of marijuana legalization all week. On Monday I talked about the potential tax benefits of marijuana legalization, and on Tuesday I talked about the potential for job creation. Yesterday I summed up the major economic pros and cons of marijuana legalization, and today I want to wrap up the discussion with some of the medical pros and cons of marijuana legalization, specifically as it applies to HIV patients. Who knew that talking about pot could be so intellectual?

Medical marijuana has a number of benefits for patients with HIV/AIDS. According to medical studies:

Cannabis is used by as many one in three North American patients with HIV/AIDS to treat symptoms of the disease as well as the side-effects of various antiretroviral medications, with one recent study reporting that more than 60 percent of HIV/AIDS patients self-identify as “medical cannabis users.” Patients living with HIV/AIDS most frequently report using cannabis to counter symptoms of anxiety, appetite loss, and nausea, and at least one study has reported that patients who use cannabis therapeutically are 3.3 times more likely to adhere to their antiretroviral therapy regimens than non-cannabis users.

Clinical trial data indicates that cannabis use does not adversely impact CD4 and CD8 T cell counts, and may even improve immune function.

Antiretroviral regimes are very expensive. The World Bank estimates that antiretroviral drugs costs HIV patients an average of $228 a month, or $ 2,738 a year. (It is unconscionable that lifesaving medications are so expensive. But that isn’t the point of this post.) Those costs do not include prescription drug costs for anti-nausea medications, pain medications, anxiety medications, etc. I asked Allan St. Peirre, Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, to explain the financial impact that medicinal marijuana can have for HIV/AIDS patients.

Although NORML has never done a cost benefit analysis of cannabis versus other drugs, I can tell you that many HIV patients report that even at high prohibition prices, cannabis is still cheaper than other medications. For example, the marinol pill (an FDA-approved synthetic cannabinoid) costs $9 a pill, and patients usually take 1-2 pills per day. This is still more than cannabis, even at prohibition prices.

Cannabis itself is not just less expensive than pharmaceutical cannabinoids. Cannabis consumption could help patients decrease their use of other prescription drugs, such as anti-nausea medication, thus reducing their overall medical costs. Patients who are able to grow their own marijuana plants, as in California, could drastically reduce their dependence on pharmaceuticals and marijuana dispensaries, thus reducing their medical costs even more.

Some opponents of marijuana legalization have argued that marijuana smoke has the potential to cause lung cancer. However, the medical studies on this subject are inconclusive:

Cannabis smoke ‘“ unlike tobacco smoke ‘“ has not been definitively linked to cancer in humans, including those cancers associated with tobacco use. However, certain cellular abnormalities in the lungs have been identified more frequently in long-term smokers of cannabis compared to non-smokers. Chronic exposure to cannabis smoke has also been associated with the development of pre-cancerous changes in bronchial and epithelium cells in similar rates to tobacco smokers. Cellular abnormalities were most present in individuals who smoked both tobacco and marijuana, implying that cannabis and tobacco smoke may have an additive adverse effect on airway tissue. The results suggest that long-term exposure to cannabis smoke, particularly when combined with tobacco smoking, is capable of damaging the bronchial system in ways that could one day lead to respiratory cancers. However, to date, no epidemiologic studies of cannabis-only smokers have yet to reveal such a finding. Larger, better-controlled studies are warranted.

Cannabis consumers who are worried about cancer have several alternatives at their disposal. Marijuana can be ingested as edibles (think pot brownies, ya’ll), it can be consumed as a tea, and it can also be vaporized instead of smoked. All three of these methods provide patients the same benefits without the potential downsides of smoking.

If you would like more information about the medical pros and cons of cannabis consumption, check out these resources:

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
The Cannabis College

After examining some of the pros and cons of marijuana legalization, what’s your opinion? Smoke it and toke it, or maintain the status quo?