One of the most important systems in our bodies is often overlooked until more recently. The Endocannabinoid system is involved in establishing and helping to maintain homeostasis within the human body. Cannabinoids and their receptors can be found in all parts of an animals’ body from the brain, tissues, glands and immunity cells. For example, a life process called autophagy; the process in which cells isolate part of their contents to be recycled, happens with the help of this system. The cannabinoid system also assists in the communications between cells and other bodily systems.

If you play professional football, "your job automatically gives you the symptom of chronic pain," said Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Eugene Monroe, who has played in the NFL since 2009. "You're hitting each other as hard as possible every single day in practice. Your body is in pain a lot of time."

More and more players are looking to marijuana for pain relief, he said, despite risking punishment from the NFL.

Broadcaster Sir Paul Holmes turned to marijuana for pain relief in the weeks before he died, his widow has revealed. 

Holmes died in 2013, after battling heart problems and the return of prostate cancer. 

His name joins those of other well-known New Zealanders who have lent support to the cause. 

Lady Deborah Holmes told NZME. Paul was not a drug user but "in the final weeks it was the one thing that could give him peace and comfort".

He was allergic to morphine and the alternative concoction of drugs "sent him off to la la land", she said.

He smoked the drug, as the couple was unaware of cannabis oil. 

TORONTO - Mettrum Health Corp. ("Mettrum" or the "Company") (TSXV:MT), a vertically integrated licensed producer (LP) of cannabis products, this week launched the Mettrum Registry Research Program (MRRP) to systematically gather data on up to six thousand Canadian patients who have been prescribed medical cannabis.

The goal of this observational study is to provide information to prescribing physicians and the wider medical community to help determine if and how cannabis should be prescribed – focusing on which strains best suit a particular patient's needs. It also considers the impact of intercurrent illness or potential interactions with other medications. The study will run for one year, with results anticipated to be published by March 2017.  

According to a new study released on March 7, more than 1 million people participate in medical marijuana programs in the United States.

The new study, conducted at Columbia University Medical Center, New York, found that “while 14 of the nation’s 24 medical marijuana programs were essentially non-medical in practice, they enrolled more than 99 percent of overall participants. Fewer than one percent were enrolled in ‘medicalized’ programs that adhere to accepted professional standards in medicine.”

Toni Richard, the mother of a 15-year-old who has autism and epilepsy, allows her son to combat the 3,000 seizures a day he was once afflicted with by using an unconventional method: medical marijuana.

"In 13 years, my son had slept 50 nights, so the night we started medical marijuana, he slept through the night, and now he pretty much sleeps almost every night," Richard told KRNV. "I am not a drug dealer. I am just a mom trying to keep my child alive. It's not a gateway drug — we're just trying to keep our children alive."

Her son went 375 days without a seizure since first using medical marijuana as a treatment, according to Richard. He was taking between 20 to 25 pills a day for the seizures. 

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus are studying the detection of prenatal marijuana use in a legalized environment. The study of marijuana use in pregnancy is only possible in a few states.

Although physicians tell women they should not use marijuana in pregnancy, it is difficult to provide them with data to support the recommendation. The need for data-supported information grows as marijuana laws change nationwide.

The Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute recently awarded a Child and Maternal Health Pilot Grant to Assistant Professor Torri Metz, MD, to develop a questionnaire for new mothers about marijuana use during their pregnancy.

Anti-drug activists think that a few puffs on a joint will turn you into a red-eyed, unemployed psychopath – probably for life.

But is marijuana actually that bad for you?

With several American states having decriminalised the herb for personal use, scientists have suddenly had the chance to see what cannabis actually does on a mass scale.

And guess what? Cannabis actually has some VERY surprising health benefits. Here’s a few.

1) Smoking weed makes you thinner – or at least less likely to be obese

A law change in Australia means New Zealanders can now legally be prescribed a month's medicinal cannabis there and bring it back to this country, a legal commentator says.

A Golden Bay woman has escaped a lengthy jail term for importing cannabis products after a judge discharged her without conviction, because it was prescribed overseas.

Rebecca Reider - who has complex chronic pain syndrome - was facing charges for possession and importing of cannabis oil and other products after she was discovered posting chocolate bars with edible cannabis to herself.

Her lawyer, Sue Grey argued because Ms Reider was lawfully prescribed drugs while visiting overseas and the quantity was no more than one month's supply to treat a medical condition, it should have been legal.

If you think that cannabis is just a danger to society then you must have been under a rock for the past few years. Ever since 2013 when Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s revolutionary documentary “Weed” premiered on CNN the plant has never been looked at same.

One group of Americans who are reporting benefits of cannabis use are the brave men and women of our Armed Forces.