“I Want to Take You Higher.”

Pharmaceutical companies developing cannabis-based drugs just might be serenading investors with this 1969 hit single by the group Sly and the Family Stone.

But a word of caution to those banking on marijuana drugs to be the blockbusters that send share prices zooming. You could see your investment “go to pot.”

Is marijuana addictive? The answer to that question depends on whom you ask.

Critics of legalization argue that marijuana is highly addictive and that increased access to the substance will feed a cycle of drug dependency, especially among young people. Frequent users, on the other hand, contend that there's literally no such thing as marijuana addiction.

Most patients enrolled in Minnesota's medical marijuana program believe the medication is helping them, but a majority also think it's unaffordable, according to a Minnesota Department of Health survey.

About 90 percent of patients surveyed by the agency saw some benefit from the medical marijuana, with about half of patients giving the medication the highest marks possible, saying they'd received a "great deal of benefit." 

Sufferers of multiple sclerosis and epilepsy say the current Government funded medicine isn't working for everyone. 

Marijuana based drug Sativex is believed to reduce seizures and constant pain. 

Jamie O'Mara used Sativex for six weeks and his mother Sally says it's the only drug that's made a real difference to his health. 

"We've tried natural therapies, none of which have had the results that this Sativex has had," she told ONE News.

The drug is currently not by Pharmac, and costs $1200 a month. 

Pharmac says although Sativex has some benefits, it is not clear it does a better job than the medicines they already fund. 

Seventy-four people have applied to use Sativex, and with permission needing to be granted, only 26 are taking it. 

Israel’s medical marijuana program is a stunning success when it comes to treating people for pain and nausea, according to a study presented at the International Jerusalem Conference on Health Policy.

The study, released May 26, is the first its kind examining cancer and non-cancer patients who’ve been given permission by Israel’s health ministry to use marijuana for treatment.

Lead researcher Prof. Pesach Shvartzman of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s Health Sciences Faculty said the vast majority of patients reported the drug helped relieve pain and nausea.

Helen Kapalos' documentary A Life Of Its Own: The Truth About Medical Marijuana has been scheduled a release date. 

In the works since 2014, the chairperson of the Victorian Multicultural Commission took to her Facebook page to express delight over the news.

"Finally!! am proud to say my documentary, which features so many incredible Australians speaking with courage on medical marijuana, is about to be released at Palace Cinemas," she wrote on Monday. 

Directed and produced by Kapalos herself, A Life Of Its Own follows her quest to investigate the medical truths behind the life-giving and enhancing properties of marijuana. 

Growing up on a cotton farm in Missouri in the 1950s, Bill Richardson didn’t know a thing about marijuana. Nobody talked about it, he never saw it and he certainly never smoked it.

“I didn’t inhale,” Richardson, LSU’s 71-year-old vice president for agriculture and dean of the College of Agriculture, said with a smile in a recent interview.

Richardson has become the unlikely leader of an effort to get LSU into the pot business.

The Liberty Township family that moved to Colorado to treat their daughter with marijuana for her epilepsy is considering a move back to Ohio if Gov. John Kasich signs the medical-marijuana bill that the legislature passed last month.

“I have smiled inside and out at the thought of being able to come home, back to our family, friends, Skyline chili and Big Boy. I would pay big bucks for a Big Boy right about now,” said Heather Benton in Castle Rock, Colorado, outside Denver. “I’m just so tired of feeling like I don't have a home. As beautiful as it is, Colorado is not home.”

Parkinson’s disease has been in the news a lot lately with the passing of boxing legend, and social justice icon, Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali had suffered from Parkinson’s for quite some time, and passed away this week at the age of 74. There have been several studies that have shown that cannabis can help those suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Via Reset.Me:

In 2004, a majority of Montana voters approved Initiative 148, creating a medical marijuana program. 

But in 2011 the Montana Legislature repealed the initiative after the rampant expansion see throughout the state.

Initiative 182 aims to create an accountable medical marijuana program and in turn, assist the 12,000 Montana patients who will lose access August 31 following the spring Montana Supreme Court ruling to uphold the 2011 repeal.

Organizers claim to have secured 30,000 signatures, more than the required amount to get it on the November ballot.