Yesterday, we discussed the implications of using marijuana as medicine. Many people have provided stories about how using marijuana eased their chronic pain, nausea, anxiety, and other conditions.

These developments are fascinating, especially since marijuana might be a safer way to treat these conditions. They could potentially replace other substances such as opioids, a class of drugs that includes powerful painkillers such as oxycodone (Oxycodone), Vicodin, morphine, codeine, as well as related drugs such as heroin.

These drugs relieve pain, but they’re also highly addictive. Many Americans become hooked on opioids. Opioid overdoses killed 46 Americans every day, according to 2014 statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Marijuana is a different type of substance. There’s an ongoing debate as to whether people can become addicted to marijuana, although it appears that people can become dependent on the drug.

According to U.S. federal law and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), marijuana is not just illegal on the federal level, but a Schedule I drug. According to the DEA, Schedule I drugs are “drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Also on this list are heroin and LSD.

LSD, however, may have some potential medical uses. So does marijuana, according to researchers, but it’s legal status and controversial nature is making it difficult for scientists to study it.

For example, the University of Arizona fired a psychiatrist and professor who intended to study whether marijuana could help military veterans with PTSD (post-traumatic stress syndrome). The professor claims that her firing was due to the controversial nature of marijuana, while the school says her dismissal (and the dismissal of others around the time) occurred because of different reasons.

There is still so much we don’t know about marijuana, other drugs, and addiction. We owe it to ourselves to support research that helps us learn even a little about such complex topics.