It is really a stretch for people to be arguing in favour of smoking marijuana only from the point of view of it being medicinally useful. That argument is fine for assisting sick people, but what about all the other people who are not ill but still use it? You should make the argument about more than that.

I suspect some other posters may eventually come along who may have more to offer than what we are getting so far.

Also, the argument about calling the plant "herb" instead of marijuana is weak. The term herb is only one of many common slang names for marijuana. In fact, ‘herb’ generically refers to a wide category of plants. "Herb" is also negatively used in some urban settings (see what I found online below) and is a European word. The European scientific name for the plant is "cannabis".

Those who are against the word marijuana are not advancing an argument in favour of an African or Asian name for the plant, so I gather they are not against European terms for the plant. In that case, they should show how the term ‘marijuana’ contributes to the plant’s negative stigma within sections of society and also for it being illegal.

Check out the different meanings the online urban dictionary gives for the use of "herb":

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1. herb

used by rapper esoteric, in the song herb. pronounced like its spelled, no silent h. it doesn’t mean weed or drugs, its a term for someone who follows trends... basically one of those kind of people that nobody likes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V3g0MXjXZA

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2. herb

a) (on the streets) A stupid person.

b) (on the internet) A geek or a dork. A stupid person.

c) Weed.

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3. herb

Insult synonymous with loser but can have multiple negative connotations. Pronounced "HURB" with no silent 'h.' The term was popularized in upstate New York and spread from there.

Guy 1: Yo, I saw Melvin in the bathroom crying because he got a 93 on the math test!

Guy 2: Word? That kid is a total HERB!

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4. herb

a slang term for marijuana

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5. herb

a loser...someone who tries to be like other people to much...someone who’s a cornball etc...
- everyone knows someone like that

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6. Herb

Someone who tries too hard to be cool. An overzealous poseur.

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7. herb

1. (noun) Nerd; dork; geek; generally uncool person. Originated in early 1980s Burger King ad campaign in which a nerd named HERB was featured. The term was subsequently embraced by the hip hop generation.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=herb