Medical cannabis refers to the parts of the herb cannabis used as a physician-recommended form of medicine or herbal therapy, or to synthetic forms of specific cannabinoids such as THC as a physician-recommended form of medicine. The Cannabis plant has a long history of use as medicine, with historical evidence dating back to 2737 BCE. Cannabis is one of the 50 "fundamental" herbs of traditional Chinese medicine, and is prescribed to for a broad range of indications.

Medical cannabis is illegal in most countries. A number of governments, including the U.S. Federal Government, allow treatment with one or more specific low doses of synthetic cannabinoids for one or more disorders.

Supporters of medical cannabis argue that cannabis does have several well-documented beneficial effects. Among these are: the amelioration of nausea and vomiting, stimulation of hunger in chemotherapy and AIDS patients, lowered intraocular eye pressure (shown to be effective for treating glaucoma), as well as gastrointestinal illness. Its effectiveness as an analgesic has been suggested—and disputed—as well.

Sanjay Gupta ( /ˈsɑːndʒeɪ ˈɡuːptə/ SAHN-jay GOOP-tə; born October 23, 1969) is an American neurosurgeon and an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine and associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.

Known as a media personality on health-related issues, he is best known as CNN's multiple Emmy award winning chief medical correspondent, hosting the network's weekend health program Sanjay Gupta, M.D., and making frequent appearances on their American Morning, Larry King Live and Anderson Cooper 360° programs. His reports from Charity Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina helped the hospital to win a 2006 Emmy Award for "Outstanding Feature Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast". Additionally, Gupta publishes a column in Time magazine and is a special correspondent for CBS News. His books Chasing Life and Cheating Death were New York Times and national bestsellers. His latest book, Monday Mornings, a novel, was released in March, 2012 and became an instant New York Times Bestseller. It is currently being adapted as a television show with David E. Kelley and Gupta serving as Executive Producers.

Jorge Cervantes is a pseudonym for George Van Patten, a horticulturist and writer specializing in indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation. His books, articles, photographs and instructional DVDs have been sold worldwide as guidebooks to horticultural techniques to high-yield closet, basement, backyard, and guerrilla gardens.

Van Patten developed his lifelong interest with cannabis as a university student in Mexico. After graduation, he moved to California and became a guerrilla grower of "sinsemilla" (Spanish for without seeds) marijuana, the "new" high-quality cannabis that Mexicans reserved for domestic consumption. In the early 1980s, Cervantes started growing indoors, but a lack of credible information about indoor cultivation led him to author Indoor Marijuana Horticulture in 1983. The book became a best-seller, and successful indoor growers dubbed it the "Indoor Grower's Bible" which became the book's subtitle. Today, growers simply call it "The Bible".

Van Patten (as Jorge Cervantes) first published the book Indoor Marijuana Horticulture in 1983. That first edition was 96 pages, bound by staples, and printed in black and white. Now in its fifth edition, with 512 full-color pages and 1120 full-color photographs and illustrations.Marijuana Horticulture sold over 600,000 copies printed in Dutch, English, French and German. Marijuana Horticulture has just been released in Spanish, Italian, and in Russian. The book's credits list more than three hundred contributors including Rob Clarke and Ed Rosenthal.