The Health Ministry is set to propose changes to legislation covering the use and production of medicinal cannabis.

Health Minister Andreas Xanthos suggested measures are on the way allowing doctors to prescribe drugs that contain cannabis purely for medical reasons.

The government is also set to put forward draft legislation that would allow these types of medicines to be packaged and produced in Greece. The ministry’s decisions are based on a scientific study on the effectiveness of medicinal cannabis for treating certain illnesses.

Medical experts suggest the use of cannabis helps alleviate the symptoms of chronic pain, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. However, they also warn it can be addictive and regular use can cause psychotic disorders.

Other states have let some sell early while rules for new stores are created, but who would qualify is debatable.

Medical marijuana dispensaries and caregivers are quietly lobbying state lawmakers to allow them to sell pot to recreational users before retail cannabis stores open in Maine next year.

With consumer interest in CBD on the rise, top selling gummies now offer therapeutic effects.

Wana Brands has united its top selling sour gummies with CBD, a consumer favorite, for its latest line extension CBD Specific Gummies. The new line allows customers the freedom to choose their favorite Wana flavors that boast the therapeutic effects of CBD. Wana Brands is the No. 1 ranked edibles brand in sales revenue in the highly competitive Colorado market according to BDS Analytics.

It remains to be seen what Attorney General Jeff Sessions will or won't do with regard to enforcing federal marijuana laws in states that have legalized the drug. However, several efforts are quietly under way to change those laws.

At least a dozen bills have been introduced in the U.S. Congress over the past three months that relate to marijuana. Several of them could have significant ramifications for marijuana stocks if they are ultimately passed. Here are three that could have especially big impacts.

Medicinal marijuana has been prescribed on the NHS to an 11-year-old boy in what is believed to be the first case of its kind. 

Billy Caldwell had been travelling to the USA to get the medication for help to treat his epilepsy which at its worst saw him suffer up to 100 life-threatening fits a day. 

But when his supply of cannabis oil was about to run out and he was unable to make the return trip to Los Angeles, his mother Charlotte took him to see his local GP in desperation. 

Dr Brendan O’Hare, realising the “unique and unusual” situation, opted to prescribe him the CBD oil - a derivative of cannabis containing the component cannabidiol which under MHRA guidelines doctors are allowed to prescribe.

On April 19, Gov. Jim Justice signed into law Senate Bill 386, which makes West Virginia the 29th state to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

“We’ve done something that’s goodness in my opinion,” Justice said at the time, adding that legalizing the drug could help Mountain State citizens who would have trouble finding relief for severe pain without the new law.

But not everyone thinks legalizing marijuana — even for compassionate medical reasons — is a good idea.

Legalizing medical marijuana everywhere in the U.S. could save a lot of taxpayer dollars.

A study released in mid-April found if every state had allowed medical marijuana in 2014, it would have saved Medicaid more than $1 billion on prescription drugs.

Researchers compared the prices of Medicaid prescription drug spending in states with medical marijuana and those without.

Specifically, they looked at drugs used to treat ailments that marijuana could potentially treat.

In both West Virginia and Ohio, it’s official: Breaking the law is not against the law — at least when marijuana is involved.

Both states have legislation making use of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, legal for health care purposes. West Virginia’s measure was just signed into law by Gov. Jim Justice. Ohio’s has been in effect for some time, but state officials are still working out the details.

But possession of marijuana in any form is illegal under federal law. That puts our states, in concert with 26 others that have “legalized” medicinal marijuana, in the position of advocating behavior that is criminal by federal statute.

Early this morning, legislators announced an agreement to expand Iowa’s soon-to-expire law that merely decriminalized possession of cannabis oil for treatment of chronic epilepsy.

“There are sick Iowans out there who need relief,” Representative Jarad Klein, a Republican from Keota, told reporters during a news conference on the House floor at around 3 a.m.

Klein has been the point person in House negotiations on the bill.

“I ran the original bill on the floor that got this to the kids that have intractable epilepsy. I have a constituent that suffers from that and I’ve heard the positive results,” Klein said. “That just reassured me of taking the next step.”