Understanding the way in which cannabis can help break the chronic pain cycle.

One in five Canadians suffer from chronic pain. Effective chronic pain management is one of the biggest challenges faced by patients and physicians alike. For many patients, traditional interventional treatments and prescription medications provide only limited pain relief and an abundance of side effects. As a result, many patients continue to seek alternative treatments, such as cannabis, to help manage their chronic pain condition. 

This year alone there have already been more than 50 legislative initiatives around the country aimed at legalizing or decriminalizing medical or recreational marijuana. 

"The condition is children, jobs, life"

Jimmy Kimmel Live took to the streets to ask people in California if they have a medical marijuana card and why, prompting answers about some nontraditional medical conditions.

“Twenty-four states have legalized marijuana, which means our country is almost now officially half-baked,” Kimmel said, introducing the video.

California legalized medical marijuana in 1996, but some have said oversight of the industry is lacking and argued doctors write medical marijuana prescriptions too freely.

Will marijuana legalization in Colorado cause pot use and abuse to skyrocket, along with other problems associated with cannabis? Or will it be a net gain, creating new jobs in a burgeoning industry while cutting arrests for a relatively mild drug?

A new report from Colorado finds a little bit of the first and a little bit of the second.

The report, filed by the Colorado Department of Public Safety for the state legislature, had several big findings:

A group of more than 50 physicians, including a former surgeon general and faculty members at some of the nation's leading medical schools, has formed the first national organization of doctors to call on states and the federal government to legalize and regulate the use of marijuana in the interest of public health.

Experts say listing cannabis among the world’s deadliest drugs ignores decades of scientific and medical data. But attempts to delist it have met with decades of bureaucratic inertia and political distortion.

Speculation is growing about the possibility that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will review by summer its “Schedule I” designation of marijuana as equal to heroin among the world’s most dangerous drugs. Very few Americans know of or understand the DEA’s drug-ranking process, and a review of cannabis’s history as a Schedule I drug shows that the label is highly controversial and dubious.

On Tuesday, Maine will be the first state to formally consider the idea, even though the federal government still classifies marijuana as an illicit drug.

Medical marijuana caregivers and patients will ask state regulators Tuesday to consider adding opiate addiction as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana.

Maine will be the first state to formally consider allowing medical marijuana to be used as treatment for addiction to opiates and other drugs derived from chemical synthesis, said Dawson Julia, a caregiver from Unity who submitted a petition to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to request the public hearing.

Hospitals and treatment centers in Colorado have seen an increase in marijuana use among patients since recreational pot became legal in January 2014, while weed-related arrests have predictably plummeted significantly, a new report reveals.

While the author of an 147-page study released by the Colorado Department of Public Safety on Monday cautions that it’s too soon to truly measure the impact of the state’s first-in-the-nation recreational marijuana laws, statistics so far suggest that facilities have seen an explosion with respect to patients who have either been hospitalized as a result of weed.

“Whether novice or aficionado, knowing how to assess cannabis flower quality is key to having the best possible experience.”

All Cannabis is not created equal, and just as wine enthusiasts enjoy a user friendly tasting system and diamond buyers employ the “Four C’s,” Good Chemistry Nurseries, one of the industry’s most experienced Cannabis producers has now created a stylish, easy-to-use free consumer cannabis evaluation guide for assessing quality cannabis flower.

Senators in Washington are trying to once again allow veterans easier access to medical marijuana programs, now that 24 of the 50 US states have legalized medical marijuana. 

The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved an amendment aimed at allowing doctors employed by the Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs to recommend medical marijuana to their patients without worrying about punishment from the federal authorities.

It’s a small step in the continuing battle between state and federal marijuana laws. The bill ‘The 2017 Military Construction Appropriations Bill’ – sponsored by Senators Steve Daines and Jeff Merkley will make sure that no federal funs can be used to prosecute or punish physicians who want to discuss using cannabis with their patients.