For the first time, researchers have completed a study that proves medical marijuana can treat migraines. A study like this has never been done before due to federal regulations preventing scientists in the U.S. from obtaining cannabis for research. Throughout the years, migraine and headache sufferers have turned to smoking pot to alleviate their pain, but this is the first time scientific evidence exists to back up their claims. 

Six people have been hospitalised after a drug trial went terribly wrong at the Pontchaillou Hospital in Rennes in France. One has been declared brain-dead, and four others are in critical condition. Ninety participants in the trial have been asked to contact the hospital.

According to preliminary reports, the trial was of a drug aimed at inhibiting the brain enzyme that degrades endogenous cannabinoids, chemicals produced naturally by the brain that resemble the active compounds in cannabis.

• A new study treated 121 migraine patients with medical marijuana
• 103 of those patients reported a decrease in monthly migraines
• The average monthly migraine frequency dropped from 10.4 to 4.6
• This finding links medical cannabis to headache relief for the first time

Medical marijuana reduces the frequency of migraine headaches, scientists revealed.

A new study treated 121 migraine patients with cannabis – with 103 reporting a decrease in the number of migraines they suffered each month.

The participants’ average frequency dropped from 10.4 to 4.6 migraines each month.

A clinical trial involving a cannabis-based painkiller has gone seriously wrong in France, leaving one man brain-dead and five others seriously injured. The French media is reporting that the trial took place at the Biotrial clinic, in Rennes in Brittany. Health Minister Marisol Touriane is currently speaking at a press conference on the unfolding situation, but has already stated that “a serious accident took place” and that all subsequent tests have been halted. 

The Bear River Board of Health members discussed their position on the use of medical marijuana as the Utah State Legislature prepares to debate a pair of bills regarding its legalization, acknowledging possible medical benefits while taking a cautious approach to its application.

Board member Dr. Jim Davis presented a look at the possible benefits of the marijuana plant as a treatment for serious illness, particularly in cases of epilepsy, nausea and chronic pain, but also noted there was not yet enough conclusive evidence pointing to it as a superior or equally effective treatment for illnesses that already have more regulated treatments with fewer associated risks.

For a seasoned cannabis user, it might seem a little strange that people are traveling to the emergency room for issues related to marijuana.

Unlike alcohol or pharmaceuticals — which bring hundreds of thousands to the ER each year — no one has ever died from cannabis use alone, a fact the federal government backs up. Overdosing on an edible or hash-dab can be a truly miserable experience, but currently the primary remedy in most cannabis cases is time and relaxation.

So why go to the hospital?

A Gulf War veteran who legally uses medical marijuana to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder is fighting with Kansas child welfare officials for custody of five of his children, who were taken from him after a dispute in April, the Denver Post reports. According to their story, Raymond Schwab was told that a condition of the children’s return was that he provide four months of drug-free urinalysis tests, including cannabis.

Schwab told the Post that Kansas Child Protective Service workers took custody of his and his wife’s five youngest children—aged five to sixteen years old—just before he moved from Topeka to Denver last year.

Back in 1974 there was a study done from the Washington Post that stated that THC, “slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36%.”

Unfortunately, nothing was ever done after that study in regards to cannabis fighting cancer. In 1998, a new study, by Madrid Complutense states

A large study conducted in the United Kingdom failed to find evidence of a robust link between cannabis use and lowered intelligence among teenagers.

The study, published online January 6 in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, found a statistical association between cannabis use and decreased intellectual performance. However, this association vanished when the researchers took other variables into account. “The notion that cannabis use itself is causally related to lower IQ and poorer educational performance was not supported in this large teenage sample,” wrote Claire Mokrysz of the University College London and her colleagues.

Marijuana has long been celebrated for providing creative stimulus, though has always been thought to have a less positive affect on the intellectual side of one's brain. Well, no longer, thanks to a new study that suggests getting stoned is actually a highly ineffective choice of hobby if you're looking to obliterate a few brain cells. Tobacco, on the other hand, works wonders.