It's odd how unrelated events become intertwined. On June 9, the New York Medical Examiner concluded that a high school track star died suddenly from an accidental overdose of methyl salicylate, the anti-inflammatory agent in Bengay, Icy Hot, and other over-the-counter topical creams. That same day, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the anti-inflammatory properties of cannabis might not only be useful for pain relief, but also safe to apply topically to treat skin allergies. It was a good news day for cannabis, but sad one for a young New York athlete.

Credible studies showing cannabis to be an effective therapy are mounting up and include such conditions as Hepatitis C, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and high blood pressure. Patients with severe pain require fewer opiates if they use THC concomitantly. Synthetic THC has even been found to eradicate malignant gliomas (brain tumors) and produce apoptosis (programmed cell death) in breast and pancreatic cancers.

Good news! Science has discovered a cure for cancer. The bad news is that it is illegal.

The same good news/bad news occurs with other findings about cannabis. A recent study conducted by Columbia University reported that marijuana intoxication has little effect on executive level decision-making. Investigations conducted both in the U.S. and abroad have concluded that the adverse effects of THC on driving performance appear to be relatively small and that these effects fail to significantly link cannabis with accidents.

Even though cannabis has minimal effect on decision-making or even driving, in some states you will lose your drivers license for mere possession.

Why these dichotomies?

While many cultural, sociological, or economic factors may be at work, the root of cannabis' prohibition may lie in simple human nature: bigotry.

Merriam Webster's dictionary defines a bigot as "a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially: one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance."

Ever heard of "Zero Tolerance"?

To explain cannabis prohibition in the context of bigotry, a new term is needed: Chemical Bigotry.

Chemical Bigotry is defined as the application of bias and intolerance toward those whose body chemistry as measured through a chemical assay differed from a pre-established norm enough to apply social, governmental, workplace, or other sanctions unrelated to actual behaviors or performance.

No doubt negative stereotypes hurt cannabis. Derived from old racisms against its black, Hispanic, oriental, and gay forbearers, Chemical Bigotry applies similar negativities to cannabis users: lazy, stupid, slothful, out-of-control, and self-absorbed. That these are untrue or only apply to fictional characters like Cheech and Chong is irrelevant. Bigotry morphs to encompass the boogeymen of the day. The fault should not lie in the stereotypes themselves - after all, Cheech and Chong are quite funny - but in their application.

And applied they are. Test positive for cannabis on a drug test, and you could lose your job, housing, education, custody of your children, or driving privileges. You won't be allowed to play football or go to medical school, no matter how good you are. You might not even be able load boxes at a convenience store that maintains a "Drug Free Workplace," code for 'we-don't-hire-cannabis patients'.

Patients, indeed, are most greatly affected. Not only do they suffer from a disability or chronic illness, they also form the largest target of Chemical Bigotry. If you use cannabis to stabilize Hep C, ease MS, delay the onset of Alzheimer's, or lower high blood pressure, you may save your life and reduce your pain, but you risk losing just about everything else, including your freedom, if arrested. Further, Chemical Bigotry thwarts the vital development of cannabis-based medications that could prove quite effective in treating these ailments.

It gets worse. The two most egregious examples of Chemical Bigotry are: 1. expulsion from pain clinics, and 2. exclusion from organ transplant lists.

Fearing tight DEA oversight over the prescription of opiates, pain management clinics are requiring patients to sign contracts in order to obtain medication. These contracts stipulate that patients who use marijuana will be taken off of pain medication or even have their doctor/patient relationship terminated. If you're a chronic pain patient, the good news is that research shows a synergistic relationship between cannabis and opiates. The bad news is that you'll be kicked out of your pain clinic for combining the two.

By far the worst example of Chemical Bigotry belongs to organ transplant centers that deny this life saving service to cannabis patients. Recalling the mounting number of studies that demonstrate cannabis' many therapeutic properties, it's hard to believe that a positive drug test for marijuana will kick you off of the transplant list, sometimes permanently. Ironically, no one has ever died from a cannabis overdose, but you're dead if you use it and need an organ transplant.

If not perfectly obvious, denying medicine to the sick is wrong and immoral. Because cannabis has not proven harmful to patients, rather beneficial on many levels, the intolerance and bias imposed on those who use it comes down to little more than simple bigotry. Chemical Bigotry has thus transformed a healthcare issue into a civil rights issue. As a civil rights issue, it must be identified and fought as such.

It is time for medicine to shed the bias and intolerance - bigotry - toward patients who use cannabis. It is time to do what is ethically, morally, socially, and scientifically right: allow cannabis patients access to pain clinics and permit them to receive organ transplants, at the very least. Employment, housing, and educational policies should be reexamined so that these practices respect both civil rights and science.

It's time to dream of a better future where science has outstripped intolerance, bias, and bigotry and where character and good work again count. It's time to end irrational dichotomies and let reason prevail. What results from ending Chemical Bigotry could reflect in the answer to a simple question. What if on June 9 a young New York athlete had used a cannabis-based, anti-inflammatory agent instead?