We are a team of health care professionals dedicated to improving patients' quality of life through natural and safe alternative therapeutic options while attempting to avoid undesirable side effects of traditional pharmaceuticals. Modern medical research has discovered beneficial uses for marijuana in treating or alleviating pain, nausea, and other symptoms associated with certain debilitating medical conditions, as found by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine in March 1999. Several states,including Rhode Island, permit the medical use and cultivation of marijuana under certain circumstances. Rhode Island's Medical Marijuana Act does not alter federal statutes and regulations prohibiting the possession and use of marijuana.