Syracuse, N.Y. -- Two more companies seeking state licenses to grow medical marijuana have announced plans to open dispensaries in the Syracuse area and one of them is promising free medical pot for patients who cannot afford it.

Citiva Medical, a company that wants to grow medical marijuana at the former Seneca Army Depot in Romulus and open a dispensary in Cicero, said it will set aside 2 percent of its annual profits to help patients in need pay for their medical marijuana.

It’s yet another feather in the cap of those who champion legalizing pot in the US.

In a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (paywall), researchers observed that in US states with medical marijuana dispensaries, the number of admissions to rehabilitation facilities for pain medication and opioid overdoses has decreased by 15% and 16% respectively.

Other studies have looked at the relationship between legal marijuana use and opioid overdose, but this is the first study to track addiction to opioids as well.

Medical marijuana opponents recently pounced on a big new analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that there isn't good evidence that marijuana works for many of the conditions, like glaucoma, anxiety, or Parkinson's disease, that it's often prescribed for. The JAMA study was based on a meta-analysis of the findings of 79 previously-published studies.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wants to make it easier for government-paid researchers to study marijuana – and not just its negative side effects.

Eight Democratic senators, led by Warren, are urging federal health and drug officials to address the “data shortfall” on potential health benefits of medical marijuana by making it easier for researchers to study the drug.

Medical use of marijuana is now legal in 23 states, though it is difficult to study because it remains one of the country’s most tightly controlled substances.

Cannabis has been known for millennia as a means to stimulate appetite and encourage consumption of food, and has long been used as a treatment for anorexia and related eating disorders. Now, modern research is finding that the link between the endocannabinoid system and diseases like anorexia is far deeper than ever suspected.

ST. GEORGE — The Libertas Institute, an organization dedicated to advancing the cause of liberty in the state of Utah, will hold a public forum on proposals to legalize medical cannabis Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Dixie Center St. George, 1835 S. Convention Center Drive, St. George.

According to a press release from the Libertas Institute, this will be the third in a series of public forums on the issue. The first, which was held in Ogden, focused on the law enforcement aspect of legalizing medical marijauna. The second, held in Provo focused solely on patient stories.

Thursday’s forum will be more of a general event, Libertas Institute President Connor Boyack said, adding that it will broadly touch on a lot of the issues.

Sunlight streaming through a glass roof in a rural warehouse will likely soon be feeding one of Illinois' first legal crops of marijuana seedlings.

The company that owns the warehouse, PharmaCann LLC, is preparing for a final inspection from state regulators Tuesday. Once that is secured, along with IDs for workers who have passed background checks, Illinois' fledgling medical marijuana industry will finally be able to get down to business — growing pot — nearly two years since a change in state law made it legal and after a series of hiccups in the rollout that followed.

Newswise — July 13, 2015 –Children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who are doing well on specific biological medications should not be switched to recently approved "biosimilar" products, concludes an expert consensus statement of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN).