The legalisation of cannabis for medicinal purposes would prove much safer than patients sourcing illegal cannabis on the street to relieve chronic health conditions, a Limerick doctor has claimed.

Dr Ray O’Connor, of the graduate entry medical school in the University of Limerick, said he supported proposed legislation on the drug but called for strict regulations should it pass into law.

He said “it won’t be a case of walking into a pharmacy and getting six bags of cannabis and ‘Happy days’”.

“It will be given for specific purposes for specific patients, and will need to be strictly monitored to ensure that it is not abused,” he said.

An Iowa Senate subcommittee meets Wednesday to discuss a bill to legalize the production and sale of medical marijuana in Iowa.(Photo: William Petroski/Des Moines Register)Buy Photo

Legislation authorizing the use of medical marijuana is quickly moving through the Iowa Senate with the goal of providing help for patients with cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder and a host of other ailments.

Dozens of medical marijuana dispensaries are sprinkled in cities across the state, and Detroit has 61 pot shops open for business. But come this time next year, the landscape for weed around the state could be completely different.

That’s when the state will begin officially handing out licenses to growers, testing facilities, transporters and dispensaries.

The state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) is beginning to gear up for the task of regulating a new, and potentially very lucrative, business in the state. The medical marijuana business is projected to generate revenues of more than $700 million, and if a ballot proposal goes to voters in 2018 and the market is opened for recreational use, too, those revenues will easily surpass $1 billion.

People who habitually cap off their night with a bowl of cannabis are probably missing out on something closely related to the psychoactive effects of the plant: dreams. Not a lot of people talk about how their dreams take a backseat after a nightly toke – most individuals just shrug off the harmless phenomenon without giving it much thought. Like all things in life, including sleep paralysis, there’s a legit explanation as to why you’re either struggling to remember your dreams or why you could not be dreaming at all during this period.

Did you know? In addition to providing valuable medicinal and stress-relieving benefits when ingested and smoked, the marijuana plant can be used for everything from making clothing and fireproof construction materials to paper, biofuel, and plastic that decomposes in a timely manner.

Amy Turncliff, a mother of three, is concerned.

Her children are 10, 8 and 4 years old. In November, voters approved legislation that made recreational marijuana legal in Massachusetts. However, there is still a lot of legislation coming down the pipeline.

Turncliff, a neuroscientist who lives in Ashland, thinks a lot is at stake. She and her husband are worried their children will grow up in a culture where “marijuana use is treated like alcohol use and is believed to be a rite of passage.”

“I’m not even sure 21 is the right cut-off age,” she said, referring to the current legal age for owning, using, and home-growing marijuana. She thinks it should be higher.

How a country the size of New Jersey became the epicenter of medicinal marijuana.

After speaking here last month at a conference devoted to marijuana innovation, Garyn Angel handed out cannabis-infused salad dressing and sauces to people seeking to add an extra kick to their lunch.

A foreign investor is expressing concern that Jamaica’s delay in establishing a medical ganja industry is providing other countries with the advantage to maximise from the opportunities to cement themselves in the export trade.

Florida-based investor Mark Santiago, who has applied to the Cannabis Licensing Authority for a licence to operate a vertically integrated ganja business, feels that the disunity in communication is a major hold-up in the industry.

“I believe that the foot dragging is because of our lack of communication,” Santiago argued.

He was speaking to the Jamaica Observer at the MoBay Invest Conference put on by the Montego Bay Chamber of Conference at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on Friday.

Add marijuana to the list of items San Jose residents can order and have delivered to their door without ever leaving their couch, starting this week.

San Francisco startup Eaze launched its on-demand medical marijuana service in San Jose on Tuesday after the city removed its ban on cannabis delivery. The app, which lets customers order everything from pre-rolled joints to cannabis-infused mints, now serves the entire Bay Area.

“We’re excited that it finally came to fruition,” CEO Jim Patterson said.

Pennsylvania released draft regulations Tuesday for doctors who wish to prescribe medical marijuana as the permitting process for growers and dispensaries continues.

Doctors have until -- perhaps appropriately enough -- Apr. 20 to submit comments on the new temporary rules governing how the medicine can be obtained.

"The process for a patient to obtain medical marijuana will begin with the physician, so it's vital to ensure that our regulatory process for those physicians is open and transparent," Health Secretary Karen Murphy said, in a written statement.