It's about TIME.

From TIME Magazine's cover story this week, "The Year in Medicine, A-Z":

MARIJUANA - Research into the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of cannabis continued to bolster the case for the medicinal use of marijuana, making the "patient pot laws" that have passed in 11 states seem less like a social movement than a legitimate medical trend. One trial--the first controlled study of its kind--showed that a medicine containing cannabis extracts called Sativex not only lessened the pain of rheumatoid arthritis but actually suppressed the disease. An earlier study published in the Journal of Neuroscience showed that synthetic cannabinoids, the chemicals in marijuana, can reduce inflammation in the brain and may protect it from the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Looks like TIME has joined forces with George Soros and the Evil Drug Dealer Society of America (EDDSA) in the fight to legalize drugs so we can feed them to small children and puppy dogs. Where is Chuck Norris and his famous roundhouse kick when you need him??

Seriously though, it's nice to see big mags like TIME taking serious something that has always been medically legitimate. But heads up, TIME: the "social movement" you refer to is simply a direct response to the escalating federal war against people living with debilitating conditions (and their doctors) who have long recognized that marijuana is legitimately effective medicine. The only "trend" I see is that people of influence (such as TIME reporters) are finally starting to accept something that scientific studies have proven, and public opinion has supported, for quite some time. It's about time that TIME caught up. (TIME has reported on medical marijuana in the past, but it has always been framed as a controversial political issue. Now, they are finally framing marijuana as a medicine--one that happens to be surrounded in controversy).

As the scientific evidence mounts and the legalization caucus grows larger, inevitably, from the back of the room comes the familiar plea: "But if we legalize medical marijuana, what message will we be sending to our children?"...

There there, concerned parent... the only message we will send is that our government is compassionate to those who suffer. A change of pace, perhaps. But you'll get used to it.