The Vermont Senate approved a marijuana legalization bill earlier this year (S.241). Vermont’s Governor, Peter Shumlin, has expressed a strong desire to see Vermont become the first state to legalize marijuana via legislative action. Polls have shown that Vermont voters support marijuana legalization. So what is the hold up? So far this session, it’s been the Vermont House. It sounds like that is set to change on Monday. Per Vermont Public Radio:

House Speaker Shap Smith says the House will debate a bill legalizing marijuana Monday.

Smith says it’s not clear if any version of the bill will actually win majority support.

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is hiring a "marijuana health effects" manager

Colorado health officials want to hire somebody to keep an eye on marijuana legalization — at potentially one of the highest salaries in state government.

The amount of patients who claim that marijuana has helped them kick their addictions to painkillers, and even heroin, is on the rise and may soon be legitimized. The state of Maine is currently on the fast track to becoming the first state to make an addiction to opioid prescriptions and certain illegal narcotics such as heroin a qualifier for obtaining medical marijuana.

Last month almost 30 caregivers and patients who use medical marijuana went to a public hearing where they told state regulators that using marijuana was a great ease to the symptoms they suffered during opioid withdrawal. The proponents for medical marijuana use also stated that the plant offered them a healthier alternative to using prescription painkillers and possibly becoming addicted to those drugs.

Bill's been given five months to live. He doesn't want to become a criminal, but he says he's got no choice.

A Christchurch man dying of cancer fears he will have to become a criminal if he cannot legally access medicinal cannabis. 

The 63-year-old man, who only wanted to be known as Bill for fear of persecution, said he was convinced of the therapeutic benefits of cannabis for cancer sufferers.

"It makes you sleep better, it makes you eat better and when you reflect on your life, as a person in my position would do, coming up to death, you can see it clearer."

Bill was diagnosed with a rare form of colon cancer called mucinous adenocarcinoma in February 2014, undergoing surgery in October 2015 to remove his large intestine.

Even though medical marijuana is legal in 24 states and recreational cannabis initiatives are gaining traction throughout the U.S., weed is still a touchy topic for most in the medical profession.

Sure, some trusted doctors will talk openly about marijuana’s legitimacy as medicine — and many more are coming on board — but journalists’ interview requests to major hospitals and medical schools (even in Colorado) are still met with a nervous, “Uh, we can’t talk about that on the record.”

Could the men and women who served our country and are suffering from PTSD soon be able to get medical marijuana?

Medical marijuana is legal in New York State, but not federally. This means veterans in our community can't get the drug through the VA. But now, a new study will determine if medical marijuana can effectively treat the disorder.

Hundreds of veterans in our area could benefit from that study. We spoke with one of those veterans, and he told us: it's about time to end the stigma with both medical marijuana and PTSD.

For years, Mark DiPasquale served the country as a Marine. But now he's fighting a personal battle -- PTSD. He tells us his condition has affected not only himself but also his family.

Marijuana’s medicinal benefits have paved the way for wider social acceptance of the drug, as more and more medical professionals are recognising the significant role the drug can play when it comes to treating a vast range of conditions.

This is mainly because there have been multiple case studies and clinical trials that have indicated that medicinal marijuana is an effective method of treatment when it comes to a vast range of debilitating conditions that affect millions of people around the world.

These include conditions such as chronic pain, cancer and epilepsy right through to conditions such as Aids, Glaucoma, and multiple sclerosis.

Before bed every night, Rebecca Forbes drinks a spoonful of coconut oil, infused with cannabis. It's a daily routine she credits with saving her life.

Years ago she was diagnosed with lymphoma and told she would die. For the past two years, she's been in remission.

"I started taking cannabis oil in 2010 after I left the Apex Healthplex ER with them telling me I was in organ failure," said Forbes.

At first she said she was skeptical and didn't believe cannabis would do anything for her. Still she left the ER that night and went home and took some cannabis oil someone had given her.

"It pulled me out of kidney failure within two weeks," said Forbes.

Following the lead of twenty-three other states, Pennsylvania’s Governor Tom Wolfe made history here on April 17 by signing The Medical Marijuana Act (SB3)into law. Two days later, he turned up in King of Prussia to tout the bi-partisan legislation before “jubilant” crowds, saying, “This is about helping peoples’ lives, about helping people that are going to be better, faster. They’re going to feel better and that is just such a rewarding thing.”

And he could just be right, as our law covers such conditions as:

Marijuana has been used to relieve pain, digestive and psychological disorders for more than 3,000 years—but the efficacy, safety and legality of the drug are still widely debated.¹

What is Medical Marijuana (Cannabis)?

Medical marijuana is the use of the leaves, flowers and buds of the hemp plant cannabis as treatment for diseases or symptoms. The healing properties of marijuana are due to its high cannabidiol (CBD) content (the non-psychoactive component of cannabis that may be beneficial in treating pain, epileptic seizures and possibly psychoses).² Marijuana also contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a molecule that can stimulate appetite, decrease nausea, reduce pain and produce a psychoactive effect.²