The National Institutes of Health, in conjunction with Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National drug Control Policy, have fought to keep marijuana as a Schedule I drug (addicting with no medical uses). The Obama Administration needs to throw off the Olde Guard wonks fighting to retain their jobs, and allow a fair process for the legalization of marijuana--especially for medical uses.
The NIH itself classes nicotine as an addictive drug, and is the "leading preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States", while downplaying the dangerous effects of alcohol by saying that alcohol abuse can lead to alcoholism.
It's time we demand the federal government legalize marijuana for medical use. Take a hint from alcohol prohibition from 1919 to 1933--DIDN'T WORK!