MEDICINAL MARIJUANA: What's the big deal?

The Supreme Court ruled today that state medical marijuana laws do not protect users from the federal ban on the drug. Therefore, it is illegal to use medicinal marijuana no matter what state law states.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of the Bush Administration, which appealed a 2003 court decision it lost, seeking a ruling on whether or not prosecution of medical marijuana users under the federal Controlled Substances Act was constitutional.
I don't get it! I just don't get it! What is the big fear in this country about marijuana? Why is that for so long, as long as I can remember, there has been this resounding taboo against marijuana, even for medicinal purposes? Opium is a legally used medicinal drug, but marijuana, has this unexplainable stigma attached to it. I always thought as a young person, that by the time I was all grown up, marijuana would be legal, just like alcohol. But I guess I was wrong. I don't understand this, and I especially do not understand how marijuana, or any drug that has proven medical benefits, can be withheld from people by our government.
Justic Sandra Day O'Connor, in dissent to today's ruling, said that states should be allowed to set their own rules. I always thought that one of the Republicans positions was that states should govern without federal government involvement? Guess I was wrong on that too!
One of the plaintiffs in the medical marijuana case, Diane Monson, stated that "I'm going to have to be prepared to be arrested," as she vowed to defy the court ruling and continue to smoke marijuana. Monson smokes marijuana several times a day to relieve back pain. Her physician prescribed marijuana in 1997, after prescription medication did not work and made Ms. Monson sleepy.
Diane Monson, and all medicinal marijuana users, have my support. The government of the U.S. should not limit any medication works for someone. It is just what the doctor ordered!