A judge has rebuffed efforts by medical marijuana users to force the state to reduce the fees it charges patients.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jo Lynn Gentry said she does not dispute that the Department of Health Services is collecting more from medical marijuana users than it needs to administer the program.

In fact, documents obtained by Capitol Media Services show that this fiscal year, which began in June, the agency has taken in more than $19.9 million in fees. By contrast, expenses in the same period total less than $7.8 million.

And the balance in the fund, which rolls over from year to year, now exceeds $31 million.

A growing number of veterinarians believe cannabidiol (CBD) products can be effective in treating an array of ailments in dogs and cats, from anxiety to a lack of appetite—but federal and state laws make it nearly impossible for them to discuss it with pet owners.

That’s why Dr. Greg Richter, a veterinarian in California, and Dr. Rob Silver, a holistic vet and pet herbalist in Colorado, have working in home states and beyond to educate pet owners and legislators on the benefits of treating pets with cannabis. Silver has even published a book, Medical Marijuana & Your Pet: The Definitive Guide, which draws on his research and experience to help people determine whether cannabinoid treatment is right for your animal.

Can cannabis turn back the aging process?

As our brain ages, our cognitive abilities naturally decrease and it becomes more difficult to learn new things or devote attention to several things at the same time. Researchers long have been looking for ways to slow down or even reverse this process.

Scientists at the University of Bonn in Germany and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem report in the journal Nature Medicine that they have achieved this goal in mice by administering a small quantity of THC, the active ingredient in the hemp plant (cannabis).

Waking up in hospital is always disorientating. You feel the hard, scratchy bedclothes and hear the peculiar sounds of machines and other patients. You look around in search of a familiar face, but often lock eyes with a uniformed stranger instead. Your body feels different – whether from the pain or the medication – and it can take a while to work out where you are – or even who you are.

A federal appeals court has sidestepped making a ruling on whether U.S. prison officials can hold people who were convicted of marijuana offences that were legal under state medical marijuana laws.

In a decision Wednesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals focused instead on a narrower issue.

The court was considering a legal challenge by prisoner Matthew Davies, who was convicted of federal marijuana charges. Davies said he ran medical marijuana dispensaries that complied with California law.

He argued that the Bureau of Prisons could not hold him because of a federal regulation that restricted interference by U.S. officials in the implementation of state medical marijuana laws.

Earlier today, Governor Jay Inslee signed that big "omnibus bill" of pot laws that cleared the Washington legislature last month. The omnibus bill combined more than a dozen different legal changes to cannabis law in our state, including forward progress on legalizing growing pot at home and creating the country’s first state-run organic certification program for weed.

The Parliament of the Canary Islands has asked the Spanish central government and the Cortes to regulate cannabis use, “from the perspective that it is a product that carries risks to health.”  Only the conservative PP, Paritdo Popular, opposed the request.

The non-legal proposal, jointly promoted by the Canarian Coalition , PSOE, Podemos and ASG, also argues that as long as there is no state regulation, cannabis clubs and associations in the Canary Islands establish de facto mechanisms for self-regulation, good practice and collaboration with the administration .

Cannabis has been identified as a potential substitute for users of legal or illicit opioids, but a new Vancouver-based study shows the drug may also help reduce people’s cravings for another highly addictive substance: crack cocaine.

Scientists at the BC Centre on Substance Use tracked 122 people who consumed crack in and around Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside over a three-year period and found they reported using that drug less frequently when they opted to also consume cannabis.

A TASMANIAN poppy processor is set to become a major cannabis producer as well through a partnership to cultivate the crop and make medicinal cannabis products at its processing facility at Westbury.

Medicinal cannabis producer AusCann will tell the Australian Stock Exchange this morning that it has joined forces with Tasmania Alkaloids — which produces 40 per cent of the world’s opiate stock — to produce a local cannabis crop and manufacture products for the Australian and international markets.

AusCann secured a cultivating licence from the Office of Drug Control last week.

It now needs to secure a Tasmanian licence to cultivate and manufacture medicinal cannabis. If successful, it will be the second company to do so.

The New Zealand government should stop "lying" to its people over medicinal cannabis, a visiting doctor says.

United States physician Dr David Bearman, who specialises in medicinal cannabis effects and pain relief, said Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne needed some remedial education on cannabis.

"And he needs to stop talking out of both sides of his mouth. I  don't see how on the one hand, he can say there's no evidence that cannabis is medicine and then on the other hand approve Sativex, which is tincture of cannabis — it's liquid cannabis."