With medical marijuana dispensaries now open in Illinois, a Chicago chef has become the first to launch a line of marijuana edibles attached to her personal brand of sweets.

Mindy Segal, of Mindy's Hot Chocolate, announced her new line of infused products Monday. They will include chocolate brittle bars, granola bites, a warm chocolate drink and ready-made mix with do-it-yourself instructions, according to a press release.

To produce the new sweets, Segal partnered with Cresco Labs, Illinois' largest cannabis cultivator. The products are expected to be available for distribution in late February.

Dr Rachel Farrell, consultant at UCLH's National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, is leading the innovative trial

A trial has started at UCLH of a treatment that mimics the properties of cannabis to help reduce spasticity associated with MS.

One of the most common and disabling symptoms of MS, spasticity affects up to 80 per cent of patients, causing muscle stiffness, spasms and reduced mobility. 

Many people with MS use cannabis medically to alleviate symptoms, but often suffer unwanted side effects like lethargy. Current treatments derived from cannabis are only moderately effective in reducing symptoms and also leave patients feeling fatigued and sedated. 

Prominent Chicago chef Mindy Segal announced Tuesday she plans to create a line of cannabis-infused edible products for medical marijuana patients.

Segal, the owner of HotChocolate restaurant in Bucktown, has agreed to make a line of products for Cresco Labs, which plans to operate three cultivation centers in Illinois, according to an announcement by the company. Cresco maintains Segal is the first James Beard Award-winning celebrity chef to endorse products for the cannabis industry.

Medicinal cannabis company AusCann Group is set to plant a crop on Christmas Island after raising $3 million.

The company, which is chaired by former federal Liberal MP Mal Washer, said it had already commenced engagement with members of the 2000-strong community on the Indian Ocean territory, which hosts immigration detention facilities.

AusCann, which is planning to list on the Australian market in early 2016, outlined today that it believed there would be minimal impact on the Christmas Island ecosystem as the trials would be undertaken on reclaimed phosphate mining land.

It's already been a known fact that marijuana can work wonders most especially when it comes to the medical field. It is known to cure cancer and chronic illnesses, it is also said to reduce the symptoms of several mental illnesses. As per Chronic Pain Solutions, a recent study revealed that weed is actually better then Adderall in reliving ADHD.

Want to take a bite out of the American obesity epidemic? Legalize medical marijuana.

That's the counterintuitive finding of a new study in the journal Health Economics. Researchers from San Diego State University and Cornell University found that at the state level, passing a medical marijuana law (MML) "is associated with a 2 percent to 6 percent decline in the probability of obesity." Over the longer term, this effect could be even larger. Tally it all up and according to the study's authors, "we estimate a back-of-the-envelopeper-person reduction in MML-induced obesity related medical costs of $58 to$115 per year."

Preliminary studies reveal harmful effects of highly potent cannabis, but causal links remain unclear

On the street it’s called skunk for its intense, pungent odor. But the smell isn’t the only thing that’s strong about this type of marijuana. These increasingly popular strains contain high levels of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive substance in cannabis that causes its euphoric effects. Several new studies have noted the rapid rise in marijuana potency and raised questions about the risks it poses to users.

University of Valparaiso researcher Rodrigo Diaz Viciedo begins analysis of Fundación Daya's first experimental marijuana grow. (Photo: Bud Theisen)

Santiago, Chile – Medical marijuana advocates won a huge victory in Chile in November as the regional agriculture authority approved a 6,900-plant marijuana farm and a team of volunteers planted 20 strains of high-potency marijuana seeds.

You probably don't need me to tell you that smoking anything while you're pregnant isn't recommended. Inhaling smoke into your lungs (whether that's cigarette smoke, marijuana smoke, or even bonfire smoke) is never going to be considered healthy. Period. Smoke caused from the combustion of marijuana is still filled with toxins and carcinogens — and inhaling toxins and carcinogens hurts your lungs and the fetus.

Chile and Uruguay have taken significant steps recently to advance their particular cannabis markets.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet signed a decree that licenses the sale of cannabis-derived medicines at pharmacies, and removes marijuana from the country’s list of hard drugs. The decree hasn’t been released formally, but the Associated Press acquired a copy Friday.

Still, the planting, selling and carrying marijuana without a specific medical sanction as part of Chile’s MMJ pilot program continues to be unlawful and carries prison terms of 5-10 years.