An association that represents individual pharmacists has changed its stance on medical cannabis, saying pharmacists should play a "front-line" role in dispensing the drug.

The Canadian Pharmacists Association says it has updated its position because it's growing concerned about what it calls a "lack of clinical oversight" in the use of medical marijuana.

The group says in a release issued Thursday that pharmacists are "medication experts" and therefore could help identify potential problems such as drug interactions, contraindications and potentially addictive behaviour.

However, licensed cannabis producers say they don't think that pharmacies should be the only way for patients to access medical marijuana.

Constance Therapeutics, a whole plant cannabis extract producer, and Gridiron Cannabis Coalition (GCC), an organization dedicated to the advancement of medical cannabis, today announced a partnership to advance research into the benefits that whole plant cannabis extracts can offer athletes suffering from chronic pain, brain trauma and other sports-related injuries.

FLORENCE, Italy — Cannabis use increases the risk for nonadherence to antipsychotic medications, suggesting that discouraging cannabis use may improve not only treatment adherence but also the prognosis of psychosis patients, say United Kingdom investigators.

The researchers found that cannabis use more than doubles the risk for nonadherence to antipsychotics and that continued use of the drug increases the risk for nonadherence more than fivefold.

Enrico Foglia, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London, United Kingdom, toldMedscape Medical News that this is the first meta-analysis of the relationship between cannabis use and antipsychotic medication nonadherence.

Although marijuana use before an acute MI doesn't improve overall outcomes post-MI (the primary composite end point), it may be associated with improvement in several components, such as in-hospital mortality, new research suggests^[1].

In a poster presented here at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) 2016 Scientific Sessions, investigators analyzed the records of more than one million hospitalized patients, including more than 3800 who reported recent marijuana use at admission.

Hopefully gone are the days of “reefer madness” myths. I say that with optimistic caution. Cannabis advocates are fighting to make it so but in some states like, Kansas parents are still losing custody of their children for smoking pot. I know. It’s insane. Thank the DARE school based program that trains kids to report their parents like we are living in North Korea. I thought about my grandchildren and that morphed into my thinking about how cannabis is being viewed by seniors.

It sounds like torture. A living nightmare. 

But it could just as easily happen to you or me. Accidents that result in severe nerve pain are quite common.

Victoria, British Columbia businessman Dave Brownell, 68, found this out when he herniated a disc and ended up with serious nerve pain radiating throughout his body.

"Over the years, I've had all sorts of injuries, including a broken neck and chopping off the end of my finger. But I never ever before experienced pain like this." 

"Imagine jumping off a table and landing with one foot on a three-inch nail sticking out of a piece of wood," he adds. "That's the kind of pain I had pulsing through my legs once every minute or so -- all day long, all night long." 

They’re smoking and drinking much stronger stuff in Toronto at Queen’s Park in contrast to the stuff we’ve got down here in Windsor.

Or it at least seems that way when you read over their latest assault on medical marijuana users’ rights.

How else do you explain reclassifying medical marijuana to place it in the Smoke Free Ontario Act and to refuse the combustion and vaping of it in all places cigarettes and e-cigarettes are banned.

In a span of just a few months, the province went from publicly stating medical marijuana users’ rights would be extended to allow for vaping in all public spaces to a total prohibition.

Candies, cookies and beverages infused with a low dose of cannabinoids, the active ingredients in marijuana, will not be available for recreational consumers for another month or two, the manager of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program said Monday. 

Low-dose edibles became legal for recreational buyers aged 21 and over at medical marijuana dispensaries when Gov. Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 1511 last week. However, the Oregon Health Authority, which oversees the medical marijuana program, must first draw up temporary rules for those sales. A key provision is the definition of a low dose. 

The agency is drafting rules now, said André Ourso, manager of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, but they may not be ready until early summer. 

Helen Kelly didn't seek re-election for Council of Trade Unions president after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer last year.

Former union boss Helen Kelly has spoken out about her "political motives" for applying for medicinal cannabis.

Kelly's oncologist, Dr Anthony Falkov, who applied and later withdrew an application to the Ministry of Health for a non-pharmaceutical grade cannabis product, told the ministry he believed Kelly was making a "political point in trying to seek medicinal cannabis".

Kelly stands by that and says the comment isn't a criticism of her as she discussed her motives with Falkov.

"He's a very good person and it was unfortunate he got dragged into it."

Supreme Pharmaceuticals Inc. (the "Company" or "Supreme") (CSE:SL) (OTC PINK:SPRWF) is pleased to announce it has established a strategic alliance (the "Strategic Alliance") with top international cannabis seed developer Dinafem Seeds ("Dinafem") based in San Sebastian, Spain. Since 2002, Dinafem has been a global leader in the innovation and standardization of cannabis genetics including pioneering many feminized and auto-flowering varieties.