Chronic marijuana use by teenage boys does not appear to be linked to later physical or mental health issues such as depression, psychotic symptoms or asthma, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Rutgers University tracked 408 males from adolescence into their mid-30s for the study, which was published in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

Toni-Marie Matich's eldest daughter suffers from intractable epilepsy - a seizure disorder that cannot be controlled with conventional medicine. It led the Hawkes Bay mother-of-five to found United in Compassion (UIC), which advocates for New Zealand-based research into the therapeutic effects of cannabis-based medicines. The paediatrician caring for her daughter just happens to be the Children's Commissioner, Russell Wills.

And that's led to the unlikely but powerful alliance of Wills and UIC, teaming up with NZ Drug Foundation, to campaign for broader access to medicinal cannabis. It's raised the prospect that it could soon become as readily available as morphine.

Roughly one year after New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo passed the Compassionate Care Act—which will allow doctors to recommend and prescribe medicinal marijuana for certain illnesses starting in 2016—New York State has finally granted its first medical marijuana licenses. Last Friday, a total of five organizations were selected to produce and distribute medical marijuana across the state. The companies that were selected include Bloomsfield Industries Inc., Columbia Care NY LLC, Empire State Health Solutions, Etain LLC, and PharmaCann LLC. Of these five, Etain and Empire State Health Solutions will operate dispensaries in Westchester County. The state plans to implement the program and begin distribution by January 2016.

A brain circuit that helps create new memories to erase scary ones has been identified, at least in mice.

The circuit connects two brain regions associated with emotion and decision making, researchers said in a new study. Other studies have suggested that these brain circuits operate very similarly in both humans and rodents.

"It translates across species very effectively," said study co-author Andrew Holmes, a neuroscientist at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institutes of Health. "Immediately, we've got an idea of what may be going awry in the human brain in those folks who experience [post-traumatic stress disorder] and anxiety."

Minnesota Medical Solutions, one of the state’s two medical weed manufacturers, has jacked up prices by 15-20 percent on all its products, forcing chronically ill patients to head back to the streets to treat their pain.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- The first specialty clinic for medical marijuana opened in Annapolis in June and has seen more than 100 prospective patients even though the Maryland Medical Cannabis Program isn't expected to be operational for another year.

Greenway Consultation, located in the Conte Lubrano Office Building, has three consultants and three physicians, who are not yet registered to recommend the drug through the Maryland Medical Cannibis Commission. The commission develops and oversees all licensing, registration, inspection and testing.

The clinic's spokesman Nick Petrucci said opening in advance of the program has advantages, such as beginning to build the patient-doctor relationship to expedite a recommendation for marijuana when the program begins.

Medical Marijuana and Alzheimer’s Prevention

A preclinical study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found that very small doses of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a chemical found in marijuana, can slow the production of beta-amyloid proteins, thought to be a hallmark characteristic and key contributor to the progression of Alzheimer’s.

The study, published in August of 2014 is among others to support the effectiveness of THC in prohibiting the growth of toxic amyloid plagues.

After 4 years of doctors, surgeries, and pain medicine it was time to try something new. We packed up the whole family and drove to Colorado for a 2 week test run to see if cannabis oil could fix my wife’s back pain. To say the results were shocking is an understatement.

Jessika, my wife, got pregnant with our second son in 2010 and it triggered a birth defect in her back called Spondylolisthesis. This condition caused the vertebrae in her back to slide out of position, cutting off the nerve pathways. I had never heard of it either and probably still wouldn’t today if she didn’t have it.

Everyone has heard the claims of medical marijuana (cannabis) helping their pain or the various symptomsassociated with the disease they have. Many people with Multiple Sclerosis make the same claims. But if it helps people so much why then is it still such a taboo?