Medical marijuana dispensary owners, employees and patients gathered outside city hall Wednesday in protest of the city's crackdown against the businesses and to call for regulation.

The rally was organized in response to "cease and desist" letters sent out by the city to 17 medical marijuana dispensaries last week.

The letters cited zoning infractions and come with a warning of fines up to $50,000, plus up to $25,000 per day after conviction.

The state official who oversees Nevada’s medical marijuana industry said Wednesday that he doesn’t see the need to treat the recreational product any differently except when it comes to taxes.

In Colorado, state laws require companies to separate medical and recreational marijuana at both the cultivation level, as well as when the product is sold. There are different checkout counters for medical and recreational sales in that state.

But Nevada doesn’t need to go that far, Joe Pollock, who oversees the state’s medical pot program, told the Senate Committee on Finance on Wednesday. Pollock said Nevada should sell the same product to both markets, but simply have different taxes at the point of sale.

Israel has built world-class businesses in cyber security, agricultural technology and big data analysis. Now it has global ambitions in medical marijuana.

Last week an Israeli government committee took the first step towards advancing legislation that would allow the export of medical marijuana products. Officials hope it will encourage new investment and innovation in the field and boost its agricultural sector.

There are a number of Israeli companies aiming to tap this niche but growing industry. They range from farming groups, taking advantage of Israel’s sunny climate and relaxed regulatory environment for cultivating cannabis for medical use, to companies such as Syqe Medical.

It turns out marijuana could have taxpayers seeing green in more ways than one. There is a massive windfall associated with making medical weed available nationally and a big data company broke it down for us.

New Frontier Data, a market research company for the cannabis industry, said on Wednesday that their data analysis shows that if medical marijuana was available nationally, the decreased Medicare expenses for three widely used opioid painkillers — OxyContin, hydrocodone, and fentanyl — would lead to taxpayers saving over $220 million.

A clinical trial is underway on the effectiveness of marijuana for treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in veterans.

The study was launched on Monday by the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a non-profit research organization in California. According to officials, the study will focus on the effectiveness and safety of using marijuana at four separate potency levels.

NBC 7 spoke to some local veterans on Wednesday who said they hope that if the results are positive, medical marijuana could help thousands of veterans living with PTSD.

Medical marijuana has a long history of being denied coverage by insurance companies. Up to now most insurance companies refuse to cover cannabinoid treatments, typically citing federal regulations as the main reason to decline medical marijuana coverage. This is especially true in the United States where cannabis is a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act with “no perceived medicinal value”.

In New Mexico, an employee hurt on the job was denied medical marijuana coverage under his worker’s compensation insurance and his suit to force the coverage failed. Beside the ruling in New Mexico, lower courts in Michigan, Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut have given similar verdicts to workplace insurers.

A Canadian company will begin exporting medicinal cannabis to Auckland's Middlemore Hospital from later this month.

Tilray has been granted approvals to export oils containing THC and cannabidoil to New Zealand.

It comes days after Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne, who had been responsible for approving almost all medicinal cannabis prescriptions, downgraded requirements.

Patients now only need authorisation from the Ministry of Health for prescriptions for medicinal cannabis products.

Tilray is expected to be an alternative to Sativex, a cannabis-based mouth spray used to help multiple sclerosis patients with pain, which costs $1200 a month.

Canada recently concluded a study on the benefits of medical cannabis and found that the plant was not only effective in pain management, but that it also helped with addiction to more harmful vices.

The study found that cannabis use can diminish a user’s dependency on tobacco, alcohol and other dangerous drugs like painkillers. The research is one of the first major studies to make the connection between cannabis and substance addiction. The study asserts that cannabis can help you get off drugs, and is not the “gateway drug” that it has been described as for years.

The Turnbull Government is taking further action to enable the safe and legal distribution of medicinal cannabis products for adults and children suffering from painful and chronic conditions.

We recognise that access to medicinal cannabis is of vital importance to many Australians. But we must ensure this is done in a way that is safe and responsible.

To help achieve this, we have established and appointed members to the Australian Advisory Council on the Medicinal Use of Cannabis - which will provide expert advice to government.

I am pleased to announce that Professor James Angus AO has agreed to Chair the Advisory Council and Emeritus Professor Anne Tonkin has agreed to be Deputy Chair. They will be joined by some of Australia's top medical professionals.

Cannabis extracts were used for therapeutic and ritual purposes since prehistoric ages. What's next with THC, CBD and terpenes oil, wax and dabs?