31.   Last year, McKee was the first person in the country arrested for supplying medical marijuana to people with written approval from their physicians.

32.   Legal questions remain for the future of the medical marijuana outlet.

33.   Meanwhile, citizens who are ill face drug prosecution if they turn to medical marijuana, as provided by state law.

34.   Medical marijuana proponents want more states to follow suit, hoping that it will pressure Congress to change federal law.

35.   Medical marijuana users said they would not stop using the drug.

36.   More than a year ago, the state Department of Public Health petitioned the federal government for the right to study medical marijuana, as allowed under state law.

37.   Medical marijuana can be a legitimate treatment for cancer patients who are nauseated by chemotherapy, AIDS patients who lose their appetites and other seriously ill people.

38.   Medical marijuana is a small but significant step toward a more reasonable drug policy, a feature of which would undoubtedly involve marijuana legalization.

39.   Moreover, New York is a state where some experts say medical marijuana is decriminalized in practice, anyway.

40.   Most Western states have passed medical marijuana laws.