Medical marijuana legalization has allowed researchers to discover new and useful aspects of the plant we may not have even thought of before. From treatment of multiple diseases and illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease to lowering body mass index, Marijuana has taken over as one of the most natural and effective remedies known to man.

The Arizona Department of Health Services awarded preliminary licenses for 31 new medical-marijuana dispensaries last week, creating a lucrative opportunity for entrepreneurs and (soon) more shopping choices for patients.

Most of the 747 applicants lost out on their hoped-for pot of green gold — not to mention the nonrefundable $4,000 of their $5,000 application fee. But the lucky few whose applications were accepted could make a fortune in the industry.

"It's fantastic," said a woman who is part of a group that won a license. "We did an enormous amount of work to get to this point."

In May of 2016 Nicola Sturgeon backed calls for relaxing the laws on Cannabis use for “specific cases” of people with conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis. She made clear at the time she is not in favour of decriminalising for recreational use as it causes harm. She said “Cannabis is not a harmless substance. I am not in favour of general decriminalisation but I do think there is a specific case for medicinal use.”  Now it’s been announced that the SNP will be holding a vote at its Autumn conference, which takes place between the 13th and 15th October 2016. The vote will decide if the NHS should offer Medical Marijuana on prescription.

Independent Rules

In Canada, licensed dispensers dispatch neat little packets of cannabis to medicinal users all over the country for as little as $5 a gram. The packets wouldn’t look out of place in a supermarket.

In Australia, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has a very different plan for patients accessing cannabis. The TGA is the Department of Health agency charged with regulation of therapeutic goods, from medicines to sunscreens. Until recently, the Australian government has taken a restrictive approach to creating legal access to medicinal cannabis.

When Lisa Mastramico needed relief for her ailing tabby, Little Kitty, she turned to an unlikely source: marijuana.

At 12 years old, the cat had arthritis. For a long while she spent her days hiding in a closet, where Ms. Mastramico had built her a bed of plush blankets. After trying various supplements that proved ineffectual, she went to a meeting for Women Grow, an industry group for cannabis entrepreneurs.

She was not sold on the idea right away. “My concern was that it’s not my place to get my cat high,” said Ms. Mastramico, the director of a public access television network in Long Beach, Calif.

Two government departments seem to disagree about whether cannabis products have a medicinal value.

Vendors of a product called cannabidiol, or CBD, an oil derived from cannabis plants, have received letters from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), a Department of Health-sponsored agency, saying that they have to stop selling it in the next 28 days, because it has been designated as a medicine.

That means that they will probably have to undergo clinical trials, and demonstrate that they are safe and effective treatments for specific conditions, before they can be sold.

In the evening of September 24, 2014, Max Lorincz, a 35-year-old father living in Spring Lake, Michigan, discovered his wife passed out on the kitchen floor.

Erica Chittenden was barely breathing.

Lorincz called 911. Then he took the couple’s four-year-old son Dante to the boy’s room and told him to stay inside. Lorincz wanted to spare Dante the sight of his unconscious mother.

Paramedics arrived few minutes later. Patrick Gedeon, a deputy with the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department, also responded to the call.

Opioid addiction is becoming a deadly epidemic in the U.S. and players in the National Football League are especially at risk from the multiple injuries they over their careers.

Now, a group of current and former players is funding a study on a potential opioid alternative – cannabis oil, made in the Bay Area – to help alleviate the pain brought about by a football career.

Injuries like those suffered by retired offensive tackle Kyle Turley often come with a lifetime of pain, usually treated by opiates. “I need a new right hip, I need two right knees. I have got a plate and ten screws in my right ankle,“ said Turley. “I am bone-on-bone in every joint.”

Stefana Pecher, MD, the premier Connecticut and Rhode Island-licensed physician specializing in the treatment of patients in need of medical marijuana, today announced the official launch of her websites http://www.medicalmarijuanadocconnecticut.com and http://www.stefanapechermd.comto cater to the growing need of patients in need of treatment with medical cannabis.

The advice and care you receive from your doctor is likely to be influenced by his or her political beliefs, according to a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). 

Researchers at Yale University surveyed a national sample of primary care physicians (internists, general practitioners and family medicine providers) and found that patients receive significantly different care on several hot-button health related issues, such as marijuana use, gun safety and sexual behavior, depending on whether their physician is a Republican or a Democrat.