The Australian Medical Association says more research needs to be carried out before medicinal cannabis is offered to the public.

While as many as 92 per cent of Canadians hold their physicians in high esteem, it's no secret that many patients struggle toengage them in meaningful conversations. One study suggests that while patients want to be part of the decision-making process with their doctor when it comes to treatment options, there are several obstacles in the way, including the feeling that they need to defer to their doctor and not wanting to be labelled difficult.

It’s estimated that over a quarter million US veterans currently suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and heartbreakingly, an average of one veteran per hour commits suicide. What’s worse, the VA’s solution to this thus far has been to prescribe cocktails of psychoactive prescription drugs, including dangerous SSRis (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and addictive opiates, typically leaving these wounded warriors worse off than before.

Pushing for more outreach to black and Latino families about the state’s new medical marijuana law, the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus began a series of hearings Tuesday meant to inform new policy recommendations when the Legislature starts back in January.

“The governor put together a commission but that commission was not inclusive of all of Georgia,” said state Rep. Dee Dawkins-Haigler, D-Lithonia, who has been critical of the new Commission on Medical Cannabis for what she said is its lack of diversity.

Back in May we reported the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board’s recommendation to include eleven additional chronic and debilitating conditions to the Department of Public Health’s approved list of qualifying conditions under Illinois’ Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act. The Board’s recommendation paved the way for the Department of Public Health Director to add his stamp of approval. Then, after rule making, the conditions would fully be a part of the Act. In May, we were hopeful for the sake of both patients and industry participants that the new conditions would pass muster and the Rauner administration would sign off.

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that people suffering from pain, nausea, anxiety or other forms of emotional distress often swap their prescription drugs for marijuana when they can.

A new study completed by the Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia and published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review adds yet more scientific rigor to the casual observations. The reported results are also consistent with previous studies going back several years.

Gillian Cicero tells MICHELLE CHOW how she has started using cannabis oil to relive the pain caused by her cancer treatment – after her husband tracked down a fellow sufferer who told of the virtues of the drug in an edition of The Sentinel

CANCER patient Gillian Cicero had been suffering from lack of sleep and loss of appetite after undergoing eight months of chemotherapy.

Desperate to relieve the pain, the mum-of-two sought help through alternative methods.

After reading an article in The Sentinel about a former cancer patient who had claimed to have seen the benefits of using cannabis oil, her husband Roy made it his mission to find him.

• First study has shown cannabis can help slow rejection of new organs 
• Active ingredient THC slows the immune response, delaying rejection
• Could pave the way for new anti-rejection therapies, scientists hope 

Cannabis could help the body accept foreign organs during transplant operations, scientists have discovered.

The active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, may help delay the rejection of incompatible organs.

It may, therefore, prove useful as an anti-rejection therapy, particularly in situations where transplanted organs may not be a perfect match.

Although marijuana remains a Schedule I substance with the Drug Enforcement Agency, medicinal marijuana continues to make headway in today’s medical society and is stirring up controversy among lawmakers, politicians and medical professionals. Since 23 states and the District of Columbia have made medical marijuana legal, it can be fair to say that cannabis is here to stay. The present DEA’s policy (i.e. Schedule I) has made medical research on marijuana almost impossible in the United States.

Marijuana is weighed at Organic Alternatives in Fort Collins on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015.(Photo: Coloradoan library)Buy Photo

Organic Alternatives will be the first marijuana shop to join a Fort Collins substance-abuse prevention nonprofit's responsible retailer program.

Team Fort Collins is expanding its Responsible Alcohol Program to include tobacco and marijuana shops. The program, which includes more than 60 alcohol retailers in Fort Collins and Loveland, will be renamed the Responsible Association of Retailers.