While in Britain, the medicinal qualities of cannabis is still treated with scepticism by a society fond of imagining pallid teenage boys crouched behind wheelie bins sucking yellow smoke through a modified Vimto bottle, in America, acceptance of the drug's benefits is growing.
In the shadow of the Obama/Romney battle for America's soul, two pieces of legislation were quietly passed legalising marijuana in Washington and Colorado, pathing the way for all kinds of sufferers to treat their pain with the naturally occurring weed.
Rewind three years, and one photographer had already set out to challenge the kinds of misconceptions about cannabis and its users that typically impinge rational discussion about its uses.
Jordan, who first inspired Twomey's project
In 2009, Robyn Twomey was working on an assignment on medical dispensaries for Fortune magazine when she met Jordan, a teenager who had been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia.
After a grueling year of chemotherapy, he had found relief from the insomnia, nausea and lack of appetite caused by his treatment in medical marijunana. Inspired by his story, Twomey set out in search of others in similar situations, and the resulting photography project - 'Medicine' - was featured in numerous magazines and exhibited in San Francisco this year.
But it is the events of this month's election that gives her work a renewed importance, as cannabis campaigners seek to build on the successes in Washington and Colorado and convince more of America that cannabis can be useful for more than just loafers eating dry cereal and watching day time television.
Meanwhile, back home in Britain, we're stubbornly committed to the longest running war in our history: the one on drugs. Three months ago Justice Secretary Ken Clarke admitted that the 30-year project had been a failure, but insisted he remained 'unconvinced' by arguments for decriminilisation.
What about you? Do Twomey's photographs make you reconsider your stance on cannabis?
See a selection from 'Medicine' below.
