Residents of Minnesota suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will be allowed to use medical cannabis starting from August next year, the Minnesota Department of Health said Thursday. The agency added that it had expanded the list of qualifying conditions that would benefit from its year-long medical marijuana program.

Also under review were conditions like depression, arthritis and autism spectrum disorders but Department of Health Commissioner Ed Ehlinger said there wasn’t enough evidence proving marijuana’s effectiveness in treating those conditions.

He added that the lack of an effective treatment for PTSD helped its case. The list was compiled after taking into consideration public petitions filed to the department.

Medicinal Genomics and Courtagen Life Sciences today announced that they will host the 2nd annual CannMed 2017 Personalized Cannabinoid Medicine Conference to be held on April 9-11 in Boston, MA.

Shares in biotech Zelda Therapeutics soared after announced promising results using medical cannabis oil to fight breast cancer.

A short time ago, the shares were up 40% to $0.032.

The initial proof of concept study into the anti-cancer effects of the company’s medical cannabis formulation was conducted by researchers at Complutense University of Madrid. 

“Future studies will examine the potential to significantly increase the anti-cancer effect of traditional chemotherapy drugs and is an exciting opportunity that can not only improve a patient’s quality of life but also potentially extend life expectancy,” says company chairman Harry Karelis. 

Elected officials try to undo the one bright spot of November 8th.

Political leaders in several states are threatening to thwart the implementation of voter-approved initiatives specific to the regulation of marijuana.

FOLLOWING THE PACK: No country in Asia allows cannabis or cannabis products for medicinal use, and neither should Taiwan, Ministry of Health and Welfare officials said.

The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Wednesday dismissed an e-petition that urged that cannabis be downgraded to a Category 3 drug and its use in medical treatment be legalized, sparking a vigorous debate among netizens yesterday.

The e-petition was on the Public Policy Network Participation Platform of the National Development Council’s Web site and garnered more than 5,000 signatures since July, exceeding the threshold needed for the proposal to receive consideration by the government.

On a typical day, Daphnée Elisma will fire up her vaporizer and inhale roughly three grams of marijuana.

She can go through a quarter-pound of weed a month, spending about $500 in the process. 

But Elisma, 41, isn’t what you might call a burnout.

She’s in her third year of law school at Université de Sherbrooke. Like more than 40,000 Canadians, Elisma is licensed to use medical marijuana. She says the drug helps manage her chronic pain and makes it possible for her to keep up with the demanding schedule of a full-time law student.

Elisma describes the pain in vivid terms.

There has been no rigorous study that's looked at compounds found in pot to reduce seizures.

Researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children are poised to begin a clinical trial using cannabis extracts to treat children with severe epilepsy whose seizures can't be controlled with existing medications.

The trial is believed to be the first in Canada to test an oral preparation that contains both CBD and THC, compounds in marijuana that have been shown in the lab and through anecdotal reports to have anticonvulsant properties in children with treatment-resistant epilepsy.

About a month ago, on an unseasonably warm Wednesday evening in the courtyard of the Oakland Museum, partygoers in blazers and floor-length gowns mingled, sipping champagne and martinis. A DJ spun remixes on a neon-lit stage. A photographer snapped photos. Tiki torches and triple-decker towers of appetizers helped set the mood.

It looked like any fancy A-list event, save for the cloud of marijuana smoke hovering over a cordoned off area, the most crowded section of the party. Revelers passed joints back and forth, sucked on vape pens, and lined up for their turn at the dabbing bar (dabbing, a newly popularized way to consume marijuana, involves inhaling heated cannabis concentrates). It’s a fitting way to celebrate the 10th birthday of the country’s biggest dispensary.