Medical marijuana is now legal in 14 states, but the effectiveness of prescription green is still widely disputed. That’s exactly what California’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research is trying to put an end to with its $8.7 million dollar study into the medicinal benefits of reefer — including the first clinical studies of smoked weed in America in more than 20 years (where do I sign up?) CMCR tests have shown some impressive results, like significant benefits for AIDS patients and reduction of muscle spasms in people with multiple sclerosis. But my favorite study found that vaporizer bongs are an effective way to deliver marijuana. Fuck, I coulda told you that for $50 and a tub of Cherry Garcia ice cream.

One person who ain’t waiting for study results is Cheech Marin — one half of the toke-joking duo Cheech and Chong — who appeared this week at the HempCon 2010 medical marijuana convention to roll out their new movie, Light Up America (which opens on 4/20, of course). “It’s a movement whose time has come,” Cheech says of legalization. “It’s inevitable.”