Cannabis may help alleviate symptoms of PTSD and remove negative associations in daily life.

PTSD, or post traumatic stress disorder, is an anxiety condition caused by disturbing episodes in one’s life, such as military combat or sexual abuse. PTSD is thought to be caused by changes in the brain chemistry that occur at the time of the trauma, when stress and adrenaline hormones are hyper-responsive.

It has been rumored for years that Monsanto plans to take over the cannabis industry with genetic engineering just as they’ve taken over the corn and soy industries.

Although they have always denied having any intentions to do so, at this point it is unlikely that anybody really believes them. In contrast, many in the cannabis sphere are prepared to resist any kind of GMO takeover of marijuana by Monsanto or any of their cohorts.

Evidence is mounting, though, which points strongly to the notion that Monsanto does indeed plan to take control of the cannabis plant, and it doesn’t look good for medical users, or anyone planning on getting into the industry.

Artificial intelligence is being used to improve banking, marketing, the legal field — and now to find which one of the more than 30,000 strains of medical marijuana is best

Medical use of cannabis is officially accepted -- and is helping to limit opioid abuse.

Drug abuse is devastating American society. Opioid overdose alone killed more than 33,000 people in 2015. But rather than address this public-health crisis, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has declared a new war on drugs. He has re-introduced mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes and has asked Congress to let him spend money to prosecute people and businesses behaving in accordance with their states' medical marijuana laws.

Clearly, Sessions is out of step with the scientific consensus regarding the medical effectiveness of cannabis.

There are as many canna-biz employees as there are dental hygienists.

The cannabis industry has been one of the fastest-growing industries in the country, and as it grows, it has been employing more and more Americans. The industry now employs between 165,000 and 230,000 full- and part-time workers, according to estimates published in the Marijuana Business Factbook 2017. By comparison, there are around 201,000 dental hygienists working in the U.S., about 238,000 telemarketers, and 169,000 massage therapists.

I’m an hour and one tequila into a cocktail party in San Juan when I meet the duo who call themselves the “canna-hoods” of Puerto Rico.

This is technically a business party, a reception for press and presenters attending tomorrow’s AgroHack conference (a tech-agriculture-sustainability mashup), so they’re introduced to me simply by their names: Carmen Portela and Gaby Pagan. They’re the co-founders of Growth Leaders, a consulting company they created to shape the island’s nascent medical cannabis industry.

LGC Capital Ltd. (CVE:QBA), a marijuana stock, moved sharply higher after announcing a new 50/50 Joint Venture to grow cannabis in southern Africa.

LGC Capital Ltd. (TSXV: QBA), a new marijuana stock, surged 57% to $0.055 on Monday after announcing that it has entered into a strategic alliance with AfriAg (Pty) Ltd to create a new 50/50 Joint Venture to grow and distribute medical and recreational cannabis products in the southern African region for export to regulated and certified end users around the world.

One of the most interesting, relevant and perhaps shocking places to study cannabis is Italy. Mostly known for other crops like tomato and olive, Italy was actually one of the world’s top cannabis producers in the first half of the 1900’s. Cannabis has served many roles through Italy’s recent history: as a centerpiece of a thriving industry, as an illegally trafficked narcotic, and as a consumable product used both medically and recreationally. Cannabis was widely grown as an industrial crop used in everything from ropes and rigging, to sails for ships, clothing, bedding, and other commercial applications.

The state Department of Health is boosting New York's medical marijuana program to meet growing demand.

Effective immediately, nurse practitioners can register online and certify patients the same day. Officials say that will help streamline and simplify the registration process and make it easier for nurse practitioners to speed up the process.

The Health Department also has approved the addition of a second course on the medical use of marijuana for nurse practitioners who want to participate in the state program.

The state's medical marijuana program has more than 22,000 patients, and that number is on the rise. In late March, the department added chronic pain as a qualifying condition and since then an additional 7,504 patients have become certified.

Governor Rick Scott officially signed the medical marijuana bill into law Friday. The bill is an amendment 71 percent of Florida voters approved in November of last year.

The bill, also referred to as amendment two, served to surpass Florida’s preexisting medical marijuana law designated for those who are deemed terminally ill and includes a broader range of debilitating medical conditions.

Among those conditions are epilepsy, Crohn’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), cancer, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.

In accordance with the new law, eligible patients with a doctor’s approval will have access to vaporizer pens, oils, cannabis-based pills and edibles with higher strains of THC; however, smoking marijuana remains prohibited.