Local dispensaries are pulling pot products from their shelves with yet another batch of recalls hitting cannabis wholesalers statewide. The latest, a voluntary recall by Avicenna Products, affects more than 80,000 concentrates — including wax, budder and vape pen cartridges — that were found to contain traces of pesticides. 

The company announced on May 13 that samples of the products contained residual levels of Myclobutanil, Imidacloprid, Spiromesifin and/or Etoxazole — all pesticides the Colorado Department of Agriculture determined cannot be used legally on marijuana. 

Katie Corkern couldn’t stop smiling Thursday, confident that relief for her son’s uncontrollable seizures may finally be near.

Corkern, her son Connor and the rest of her family stood near Gov. John Bel Edwards as he signed a bill to kick-start and expand the Louisiana medical marijuana program, which has been slow to begin because of regulatory hurdles.

“I’m very excited for the future. And I’m very excited for all the people this medicine can help,” the mother and advocate said after the bill signing.

The governor said the program will have a dramatic effect on Louisiana’s families.

The five companies awarded licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana in New York have joined forces to lobby lawmakers for changes to the state's Compassionate Care Act.

“We’re going around giving an update to the program [and] sharing some of our impressions and talking about ways that we think the program can be improved,” said Ari Hoffnung, chief executive officer of Vireo Health, one of the five companies that have formed the Medical Cannabis Industry Association.

The four others are PharmaCann, Etain, Columbia Care and Bloomfield Industries.

Caregivers in Maine want to give medical marijuana a try.

Can you treat a drug addiction with another drug? Many medical cannabis patients in recovery, as well as their caregivers, think it’s possible. 

Studies have already shown a decrease in opioid overdose deaths in states where medical cannabis has been legalized. On a more personal level, it’s showing unprecedented potential as an alternative treatment option for addiction to opioids, like heroin and prescription pain pills.

In response to growing public interest and support of medical marijuana, the American Pain Society has issued a white paper to help assist pain physicians with marijuana-related clinical issues. Published in the Journal of Pain, the paper covers a wide range of opinions on medical marijuana from various medical experts.

A wave of recent polls shows that majorities of voters in five states, and a majority nationwide, support legalizing medical marijuana. Many voters also support legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

Eighty percent of Florida’s registered voters would support a state constitutional amendment to legalize medical marijuana. While support drops when voters are asked about recreational use, the issue still garners a majority with 56 percent for it and 41 percent against.

When Jim McCann, the CEO of 1-800-Flowers, admits that he is concerned about his supply chain now that many flower growers are tempted by the huge potential from growing cannabis, you know this is an industry greenhouse growers need to pay attention to. On Fox News show Morning with Maria, McCann expressed particular concern about large growers in California, Colorado and Oregon who are already considering ‘Maybe I can switch to cannabis and get 10 times on the revenue line.’ “That’s a big concern of ours.”

Terminally ill Helen Kelly says the Government has made her a "criminal" after a review of medicinal cannabis guidelines ended with little change.

More than a year ago the former Council of Trade Unions boss was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and after trying a variety of different medications she resorted to cannabis for pain relief.

Kelly continues to illegally source her own drugs after her bid for medicinal cannabis was withdrawn - the result of a "complicated" application process, which required information that was "impossible to access".

The Drug Enforcement Administration had previously banned research on medical marijuana, even calling it "a joke." But for a parent of a patient who needs to use marijuana for medical purposes, for them to have a normal life, there is nothing ridiculous about it.

As featured in a video from ATTN, Yvonne Cahalane, a mother of a cannabis patient, shares her story. Her son would have as many as 10 seizures a day; but after introducing marijuana, he gets to enjoy three months with no seizures at all.

Lack of Research

On April 17, Pennsylvania became the latest state to pass medical marijuana legislation, which will take effect this month. And recently Ohio’s House of Representatives has passed a plan to permit medical marijuana in the state.