For years, Homestead and the Redland have been the epicenter of Miami's booming marijuana-growing scene. Of course, the millions of dollars' worth of weed shipped out of South Dade every year has to be produced on the sly in black-market grow houses and is subject to regular raids by law enforcement officials.     

On Tuesday, a Merrimack County Superior Court Judge ordered the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to issue a medical marijuana ID card to a woman with terminal cancer in order to expedite her access to medical marijuana.

Linda Horan of Alstead filed a lawsuit against DHHS Commissioner Nicholas Toumpas earlier this month, asking the agency to immediately issue her a medical marijuana ID card so that she can begin obtaining medical marijuana legally in Maine and using it without fear of arrest in New Hampshire.

Mike Paterson is one of Canada's hardest working and most beloved comedians. For more than 20 years, he's been a fixture on the national comedy circuit and starred alongside the likes of Cate Blanchett and Christian Bale in Hollywood feature films. He's also a writer, theater actor, musician, wrestler and star of a children's television show. He's been maintaining this gruelling schedule, even though he's been suffering with debilitating sciatica back pain. It had become unbearable for him, and with just four months until his wedding, Paterson needed a quick fix to his back pain and weight problem that had been made worse by a life of too much beer and pizza.

Each morning, Kim Hearn attaches a feeding tube to her son before outfitting him in specialized clothes that lend support to his torso, ankles and legs. A seizure often disrupts the process. It's a rigorous routine for this Stratford mom but it's nothing, she says, compared to what the 10-year-old, who can't speak or sit on his own, endures: "Sean just accepts it."

As a baby, Sean was diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, a form of epilepsy. A dozen medications have failed to reduce the 30-plus seizures Sean experiences every day. Each episode is damaging to the boy, already frail. Hearn believes there could be an answer: an oil made from marijuana plants called Charlotte's Web.

Ari and Weizy aren't exactly lap dogs. They love to run and play. But their owners, J.C. and Angie Jenkins, said their dogs weren't always this healthy.

"One night we came home and his head was bobbling. He had no muscle control and he was really dizzy," J.C. Jenkins said.

Their veterinarian diagnosed Weizy, and later Ari, with partial grand mal seizures.

A host of drugs later, the Jenkinses said pills only made the dogs worse. They didn't know what to do until they saw a CNN special about cannabis oil helping a young girl with her seizures.

"So, we were like, 'Well, it works on people, right?" J.C. Jenkins said.

J.C. Jenkins used his medical marijuana card to buy some of the oil and now they give the dogs a dose in the morning and one at night.

As a physician, I am amazed by the miracle of healing when I see people recover from injury and illness. I am also touched by the sadness and misery of pain that illness brings.

Medical use of marijuana plant as an appetite stimulant, muscle relaxant, anti-convulsant, and for relief of pain and vomiting was first discovered in 1839 by William O'Shaughnessy, an Irish physician working in India.

It is, however, a mind-altering substance with major psychotropic effects, especially on the developing and teenage brain.

It is also a gateway drug, leading to advanced drug use and addiction. Driving under its influence is hazardous.

The Florida Department of Health has approved Knox Nursery in Winter Garden as the medical marijuana dispensary of Central Florida.

The department on Nov. 23 released the names of five nurseries in Florida that have been approved as dispensing organizations of low-THC cannabis, or medical marijuana. The other four approved Florida nurseries include:

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) – A select group of sick patients will now have access to non-euphoric medical marijuana after Florida health officials selected five “dispensing organizations” on Monday that can grow, process and distribute the special pot.

But many in the industry believe that the biggest challenge in the drawn-out process is yet to come.

The five winners, who scored the highest of 28 applications, are Hackney Nursery in the Northwest region of the state; Chestnut Hill Tree Farm in the Northeast; Knox Nursery in the Central region; Alpha Foliage in the Southwest region; and Costa Nursery Farms in the Southeast region.

IF you're expecting medical marijuana to be a panacea you may be disappointed.

But a review of nearly 80 clinical trials found there was some evidence cannabinoids, one of the active constituents of cannabis, can help patients deal with nausea and vomiting.

The drug can also help in the reduction of pain.

Some patients reported increased adverse affects including dizziness, dry mouth, nausea, fatigue, somnolence, euphoria, vomiting, disorientation, drowsiness, confusion, loss of balance, and hallucination.

The medical uses of cannabis and its derivatives are continuing to be discovered at an astonishing rate. This is despite the fact that U.S. government clings to an absurd, baseless classification of cannabis as a Schedule I drug, which severely limits research and scientific advancement.

We recently reported on two rather surprising fields that could benefit from medical cannabis, as well as clinical data that backs its use for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).