Patients using marijuana could not smoke marijuana flowers nor use cannabis with high levels of THC under revisions expected to be made Wednesday to Ohio's proposed medical marijuana law. 

State lawmakers wrestled with the idea someone would "smoke their medicine" and had initially wanted an appointed commission to decide whether Ohio would allow smoking. But revisions planned for House Bill 523 specify marijuana could not be smoked or available in products attractive to children, such as gummy bears. It would allow patients to use a vaporizer, which heats marijuana to the point it releases chemicals but not smoke.

Canada’s municipalities are in a tough position when it comes to pot. Faced with a previous federal government that had no interest in legalizing marijuana or modifying its obtuse mail-order medical-marijuana program, Toronto and Vancouver have swiftly become home to more than 250 dispensaries that operate outside the law, with more than 100 now open in Ontario’s capital.

A leading Auckland drug researcher is calling for regulated cannabis products to be sold legally in New Zealand. 

Massey University's Dr Chris Wilkins would like to see the adoption of a not-for-profit club model for cannabis.

The proposal would see licensed companies permitted to sell Government-approved cannabis products to registered adult members.

Products would only be produced and sold by the Government, ensuring a high price to restrict demand and generating tax revenue to support treatment counselling, health services and enforcement.

"The government will be the only producer and the only seller, and that's a means to keep the price high and also collect tax," says Dr Wilkins.

Cannabis may join the herb and spice rack in California kitchens as the most populous U.S. state prepares for the possible legalization of recreational marijuana in November.

Chef Chris Sayegh is leading the way by taking haute cuisine to a higher place with his cannabis-infused menus in private homes for as much as $500 a head, or in "pop-up" banquets around Los Angeles for $20 to $200 a person. For now, diners must show their medical marijuana cards.

Germany is to legalise cannabis for medicinal purposes early next year, the health minister said on Tuesday.

"Our goal is that seriously ill patients are treated in the best possible way," said Hermann Groehe, who will present draft legislation to the German cabinet on Wednesday.

A London scientist whose research on marijuana has also paved the way to a commercial enterprise has discovered that when it comes to schizophrenia, the use of pot can be the best and worst of times.

It turns out that though one of the major chemicals in marijuana is linked to psychosis, another may serve as an effective treatment, said Steven Laviolette, an associate professor at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.

“Within the same plant, you’ve got two different chemicals that are producing opposite effects,” said Laviolette, whose study was published in the journal Neuroscience.

“Look at me. I’m a regular mom. Average looking,” Jessie Gill wrote in an essay for Redbook. “You’d never think anything was wrong with me. But the truth is every single day, I battle with excruciating pain. And because of my disability, my family suffers. To manage that pain — and that suffering — I use medical marijuana.” 

Netherlands Based on rising demand, Bedrocan, the sole remaining producer of medicinal cannabis in Europe, tripled its production with the opening of a new production facility in 2015. Nevertheless, the company cannot supply Europe’s cannabis patients single-handedly.

There's new evidence to support the idea that marijuana legalization could combat America's opioid epidemic. A new report found that people are less likely to abuse prescription painkillers in states with legal medical marijuana systems. 

An analysis of healthcare claims from about one million Americans over a five-year period revealed that 5.4 percent of patients who receive painkiller prescriptions in states that outlaw marijuana go on to abuse to drug. In contrast, only 2.8 percent of patients with access to legal marijuana become abusers.*

The latest report from the federal auditor general urges Veterans Affairs to get a grip on its medical marijuana program for injured ex-soldiers, which is expected to cost taxpayers a startling $25 million this year.

Michael Ferguson says it's just one of the programs where the federal government has critical data available to it that's either not usable, not used or not acted upon at all.

The report tabled Tuesday in the House of Commons also looked at the dire condition of the army reserves, the federal government's inability to detect and prevent refugee fraud and the uncertain impact of the former Conservative government's $400-million venture capital action plan.

But with medical marijuana for veterans, Ferguson paints a picture of program out of control.