36 leftist SYRIZA MPs submitted a question to Greek Health Minister Panagiotis Kouroumblis regarding the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. The question, titled “National plan for medicinal cannabis,” follows a previous request for the legalization of medical marijuana production in February.

So far 13 European Union nations have legalised marijuana-derived medicines including Austria, Britain, France, Germany, Italy.

Marijuana-derived medicines became legal today in Macedonia, which joined over a dozen European countries that have already authorised the products for certain patients.

Medicines containing less then 0.2 per cent of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the plant's main psychoactive ingredient, can now be prescribed by doctors and bought in pharmacies, the head of Macedonia's agency for medicines Marija Darkovska-Serafimovska told reporters.

"This will help a huge number of Macedonian citizens that are fighting serious illnesses and have a need for treatment with nature-based products," Darkovska-Serafimovska said.

As the second year of medical cannabis in Minnesota begins on July 1, patients for the first time will be able to get certified to be treated with the drug for intractable pain.

A month later, certified patients will be able to start receiving medical marijuana from one of the state's two approved companies: LeafLine Labs and Minnesota Medical Solutions.

Interest already is being expressed.

"I've seen half a dozen patients in my practice already who have come to me wanting to know about the intractable pain," said Dr. Dave Thorson, who is part of a large family medical practice in the Twin Cities and is president of the Minnesota Medical Association.

More than a decade after he retired from practicing podiatry, Dave Feller said he might be inclined to get back into the workforce due to the many employment opportunities that will open up now that medical marijuana has been legalized in the state of Pennsylvania.

“I want to see what medical conditions are allowed to be treated with medical marijuana and if podiatry is one of them,” said Dr. Feller, 65, of Butler. “If people are in pain and this law will allow treatment of medical marijuana, this is another avenue to use other than opiates and anti-inflammatories.”

The way he sees it, the medical marijuana industry could not only provide an alternative when it comes to treating patients in pain, it could be a way to supplement his retirement income.

For years, Lisa Tollner, co-founder of the California marijuana edibles company Sensi Products, says she’s received calls and emails from customers reporting her cannabis-infused Sensi Chew caramels had helped alleviate pain, insomnia, nausea and other ailments. But Tollner wanted more.

“These people are telling me their stories, but with no real consistency,” said Tollner, who was interested in hard data on how her products worked, not shifting anecdotal evidence. “I need ways to prove our products’ efficacy.”

Ava Barry has to endure hundreds of seizures every year. Unfortunately, most modern medicines fail to control the episodes. Her worried parents tell our reporter they believe a cannabis oil, not available here, may hold the key.

Vera Twomey and Paul Barry are absolutely terrified that their gorgeous little girl will die if she doesn't get a particular drug that has not yet been approved in Ireland.

Canada's medical marijuana industry has recently become a battleground between the nation's "gray market" dispensaries - illegal storefronts selling marijuana in cities like Vancouver and Toronto - and licensed producers such as Tilray and OrganiGram

Travis Lane has been growing marijuana since high school, when his first pot plant swiftly withered and died in his bedroom closet. By the time he was 20, he had cultivated a small basement grow-operation.

Now in his mid-thirties, Lane owns an online dispensary and runs two 390-plant operations on Vancouver Island. He employs two growers and raises his plants without pesticides or liquid fertilizer.

"I don't want to hide what I do. I'm good at what I do. I'm proud of being good at what I do," he said. "I've been proactive my whole life in trying to move towards a time where I can openly be a cannabis professional."

The marijuana industry is blossoming, and 2016 could wind up being its best year yet in a number of ways.

Marijuana keeps expanding despite federal inaction

Since California first approved Proposition 215 in 1996 to provide certain patients with medical marijuana on the basis of compassionate use, the marijuana industry has been trudging forward. Today, two dozen states have approved medical marijuana, while another four, along with Washington, D.C., have legalized the use of marijuana for recreational purposes.

THERE’S a secret addiction sweeping across Australia and we aren’t hearing about it.

We all know the damaging effects of the monster drug ice and other hard narcotics, but what about the substances that are a little easier to get and widely spread?

Marijuana is not something you often associate with the word “addiction” or consider it to be dangerous, but many people are hooked on the drug and it’s a problem experts say we need to take more seriously.

A National Epidemiological Study of Alcohol Use and Related Disorders found adults who smoked marijuana were more likely than non-users to also abuse alcohol.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana use is also linked to other addictions like nicotine.