After using cannabis for 1 ½ years to keep myself alive, I was recently reported, apprehended, and charged with a felony. Now a medical refugee in Colorado, I'd like to explain why I need cannabis — and why I'll be working to change Utah's laws to allow people like me to have safe, legal access.

Like many people, I have a disorder that is hidden — unseen and ignored too easily. I have an unclassified form of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a rarely diagnosed disorder that causes a mutation in my collagen. It is hereditary; we recently learned that my two young daughters have it as well.

Over the last few decades, medicine has witnessed a sea change in attitudes toward chronic pain, and particularly toward opioids. While these changes were intended to bring relief to many, they have also fed an epidemic of prescription opioid and heroin abuse.

Curbing abuse is a challenge spilling over into the 2016 political campaigns. Amid calls for better addiction treatment and prescription monitoring, it might be time for doctors to rethink how to treat chronic pain.

Ancient roots, modern challenges

A class of drugs that includes morphine and hydrocodone, opioids get their name from opium, Greek for “poppy juice,” the source from which they are extracted.

And … about-face

After 40+ years of promoting a world-class disaster via the War on Drugs, and brainwashing school-aged kids into believing that marijuana use leads to a life of impending doom, educators in Auburn, Maine, will now be allowed to provide access to marijuana’s beneficial cannabinoids for students who have obtained a doctor’s recommendation.

Absolved and available

When she was born, doctors didn’t expect Remie Miette Ellett to live. In anticipation of her death, her mother gave her the name that means “sweet little remedy.”

“I just really wanted her to have a pretty name I could remember her by,” Sarah Ellett says. “She has proven she is really just what her name says.”

The Handbook of Cannabis Therapeutics PDF Free Download, The Handbook of Cannabis Therapeutics PDF, The Handbook of Cannabis Therapeutics Ebook Preface

Learn the facts behind the pharmacology and pharmacokinetics of controversial cannabis therapeutics

Cannabis Therapeutics in HIV AIDS PDF Free Download, Cannabis Therapeutics in HIV AIDS PDF, Cannabis Therapeutics in HIV AIDS Ebook Preface

Explore the controversial subject of cannabis therapeutics for HIV/AIDS patients!

Cannabis Therapeutics in HIV/AIDS provides a scientific view of the benefits of marijuana in helping to increase appetite, ease the symptoms of HIV/AIDS, and improve quality of life for patients. Dr. Ethan Russo, editor of the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, has assembled a collection of first-rate information from clinicians, researchers, and patients. Based on scientific research, this book offers insights into how using cannabis has helped patients deal with the symptoms of HIV/AIDS.

Is marijuana kosher? If it's medicine, it doesn't matter.

That's the message from Canada's largest kosher certification agency after its board of rabbis held a debate on whether to certify cannabis oils as kosher.

The Kashruth Council of Canada met Thursday to discuss an application from MedReleaf, a licensed producer of medical pot. The meeting followed news in the U.S. that a New York company would soon offer certified kosher medical cannabis products.

But after "a lot of interplay and exchange," the Kashruth council decided the Jewish faith doesn't require sick people to consume kosher medicine, said managing director Richard Rabkin.

It's not a new topic, but it's getting a new push.

Two bills are expected to be introduced this legislative session -- one that would legalize medical marijuana and another legalizing recreational use of the drug.

"I would love to get a vote on the floor this year either in the senate or the house," explained former US Congressman Mike Ward.