In an unprecedented move doctors in Colorado are treating a 2-month old baby with cannabis oil at Children's Hospital Colorado.

The Nunez family of Albuquerque, New Mexico travelled to Denver seeking treatment for their daughter, Amylea who was born in December and started suffering from seizures immediately after birth. She was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy.

Marijuana's ascent appears nothing short of unstoppable.

Roughly two decades ago, only a quarter of people responding to a national Gallup poll wanted to see marijuana legalized. But beginning in California in 1996 and spreading throughout the country, 22 additional states, as well as Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana for medicinal use as of today.

How's this possible? On one hand, public approval of marijuana being used as medicine is higher than it's ever been. A CBS News poll from April 2015 showed that a whopping 84% of those surveyed across America would like to see marijuana legalized for medicinal purposes.

MEDFORD, New York – Grimacing, Donna Schwier rubs her left calf and looks out the window of her small basement-level apartment, tucked around the back of a suburban Long Island home. Outside, tree limbs are sagging under heavy new-fallen snow. That’s a concern, since cold and moisture exacerbate the fibromyalgia that has robbed Schwier of her career, her income and her identity.

“Today’s a reasonable pain day,” she says. “I am fresh out of opiates, though.”

The two most powerful therapeutic applications of cannabis are as an analgesic (pain reliever) and in the role of an anti-inflammatory. Because inflammation often leads to pain, cannabis medicine works on multiple levels to provide relief to many patients. Use of this herb for pain management is nothing new. According to Harvard University psychiatry professor Dr. Lester Grinspoon, cannabis has been used as medicine and to treat symptoms like pain for more than 5,000 years.

President Obama has publicly stated he will not do anything about cannabis legalization for the rest of his presidency. It was frustrating news to hear for parents who are fighting for their children's lives. The only candidate running for president at this point who could possibly do the right thing and reschedule marijuana is Bernie Sanders.

If any of the other candidates win the general election it'll mean four more years of frustration.

Epilepsy and Medicinal Marijuana

A few months ago, a woman made the medical headlines when she replaced all her prescribed medications with fresh cannabis juice and got great results. There are people who were not at all shocked by the story, but the number of people becoming aware of the amazing healing benefits of this natural plant is constantly rising.

Two-month-old Amylea Nunez made history at a Colorado hospital last week when she became the first patient there to receive cannabis oil as part of her treatment.

(Yes, cannabis — as in marijuana, pot or hemp.)

You see, little Amylea has spent the majority of her life inside a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU.) This is because of seizures that began a day after she was brought home from her December delivery in New Mexico. While doctors at Children’s Hospital in Aurora have been attempting to treat her rare form of epilepsy, the medications are causing damage to her liver.

Regarding Senate Bill 73 (Medical Cannabis Act), the Utah Medical Association recently tweeted that none of their practicing docs "are complaining about (its) stance" against the bill. However, even in the medical community, opinions are as varied as the beautiful landscape of our state. A number of groups have come out against SB73 based on what "could" happen, or about "unintended consequences that may accompany" the bill. The arguments against medical marijuana are largely based on hypotheticals and what-ifs.

Fortunately, Utah isn't the first state to tackle this issue. Nearly half the states in our nation have medical cannabis laws and we can leverage their experience. So what could we expect from passing SB73?

CARSON CITY — The medical marijuana business is growing so fast that the state is having trouble keeping up with applications from patients seeking licenses.

The state is receiving 300 applications a month.Joseph Pollock, deputy administrator of the state Division of Public and Behavioral Health, told the Legislative Interim Finance Committee today there are 14,000 patients with state medical marijuana cards. He expects that number to grow to 60,000.

The committee allowed the program to shift $464,000 in its budget to hire more contract workers.

Under the law, the state has 30 days to process applications. That time had slipped to 60 days, but has since been reduced to 21 days.

Re: “Maine Voices: Bill to address opiate crisis in Maine is a step in the right direction” by Becky DeKeuster (Jan. 23):

The recent op-ed by a spokesperson for the marijuana industry saying that pot can be used for people trying to get off heroin, is both wrong and dangerous.

I’m a doctor who has spent 30 years treating drug addicts, starting in my residency at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

The aim in treating addicts is to get them off all addictive drugs, including alcohol and marijuana, not substitute one for another. And the reason is that addicts and alcoholics are happiest clean and sober.