LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan would become the first state to allow medical marijuana for children with severe autism if a senior official follows the recommendation made Friday by an advisory panel.

The state’s Medical Marijuana Review Panel voted 4-2 to recommend autism as a condition that qualifies for the drug.

Supporters say oil extracted from marijuana and swallowed has been effective in controlling extreme physical behavior by kids with severe autism. Pot wouldn’t be smoked.

The panel was influenced by comments received earlier from some Detroit-area doctors, especially the head of pediatric neurology at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, and parents desperate for relief. Many of the three dozen spectators cheered and applauded after the vote.

John Evans insists that calling post-traumatic stress a disorder is like cutting yourself and calling the blood a disorder.

“It is a natural reaction to an unnatural event,” says Evans, director of support group Veterans 4 Freedom. Not only military veterans, but women who have suffered domestic abuse or sexual assault, hospice workers, EMTs, firefighters, police officers and even those affected by natural disasters can have post-traumatic stress, he believes.

An article making the rounds has this claim in the headline: This Man Was Given 18 Months To Live. Here’s How He Illegally Cured His Cancer. The article further explains that he “cured” his cancer with cannabis oil. This is highly misleading for multiple reasons.

This and other articles tell the story of David Hibbit, a 32 year old man who was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2012. First, let me say that of course I wish nothing but the best for Mr. Hibbit. I hope his cancer is completely gone and he lives a long life with his family. Cancer is a serious and scary disease. It has touched my family, and I am sure statistically it has touched most people reading this.

“The Scientist” is a documentary that traces the story of Nobel prize nominee Dr Mechoulam from his early days......as a child of the Holocaust in Bulgaria, through his immigration to Israel, and his career as the chief investigator into the chemistry and biology of the world’s most misunderstood plant. Dr. Mechoulam ascertained that THC interacts with the largest receptor system in the human body, the endocannabinoid system (ECS). 
For further information please visit:
http://mechoulamthescientist.com/

The documentary is predominantly in English with hebrew subtitles, though it starts in Spanish

New evidence has emerged supporting the idea that marijuana may help rehab patients recover from and kick their addictions to painkillers. The study, published by researchers at Columbia University earlier this month, showed that patients given a form of THC during their recovery experienced less severe withdrawal symptoms and were more likely to complete their treatment course.

For California patients, Thanksgiving is coming early this year: Melinda Haag, the US Attorney for the Northern District of California and the bane of medical marijuana growers and distributors from Humboldt County to San Jose, will resign her office on September 1st, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Haag announced her resignation after notifying US Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

Hawaiian patients will now have easier access to medical marijuana thanks to a new law Gov. David Ige signed.  

Act 241, formerly House Bill 321 Relating to Medical Marijuana until its July 15 signing, prohibits zoning regulations that discriminate against licensed dispensaries and production centers and allows qualifying patients, caregivers and employees to transport medical marijuana in any public place. The bill also authorizes background checks for caregivers and patients. 

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Michigan’s medical marijuana law has been called confusing and inconsistent, but a group of attorneys is now working to help people better understand it.

The group recently gained recognition from the State Bar of Michigan, which makes Michigan the second state to have a Marijuana Law Section of the state bar. The other is Colorado, where recreational marijuana is legal. That state has a Cannabis Law Committee.

An Edmonton mother is worried about the health of her severely-disabled son after police raided a local medical marijuana dispensary last week.

Katie Ann Lepine's 15-year-old son Christopher suffers from spina bifida, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and a heart condition.

Treating any one of Christopher's conditions would be difficult. However, taken together, Lepine said it is nearly impossible to find medication that doesn't make him feel worse. 

Drug and alcohol addicts could lose their sickness benefits if they refuse treatment under a review now under way.

Medical expert Dame Carol Black is to examine the support given to addicts - and obese people - on sickness benefits to "better support them in work".

David Cameron, who ordered the review, says there is currently no requirement for such groups to undertake treatment and suggested that this could change.

But one Tory MP said it was "ethically unacceptable" to coerce people.

The idea of requiring drug users to seek treatment or lose their benefits was first suggested by the last Labour government although it was not adopted following a consultation.