Cancer is a collection of related diseases involving the abnormal growth of cells within the body. When malignant, cancerous cells divide and spread into surrounding tissues — sometimes at an alarming rate. Many types of cancer result in tumors, which are solid masses of tissue.

In the United States, cancer claims the lives of nearly 600,000 people each year and is a $150 billion business. In 2015 alone, it is estimated that more than 1.6 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the United States. Globally, there were 14 million new cases of cancer in 2012 and more than eight million deaths.

SMITHS FALLS, ON, July 8, 2015 /CNW/ - Tweed Marijuana Inc. ("TMI" or "the Company"), parent company of Tweed Inc. ("Tweed") and Tweed Farms Inc. ("Tweed Farms") is pleased to announce that pursuant to notification received today from Health Canada, licensed producers such as Tweed and Tweed Farms will be eligible to produce and sell cannabis oils pending the necessary inspections and approvals from Health Canada.

Until today the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) only allowed for the sale of dried cannabis flower. With the addition of cannabis oils to the regulatory framework, Tweed will be able to significantly increase its product offering to provide a more diverse variety for practitioners and patients.

An unlikely pair of lawmakers is seeking to promote government research of marijuana.

Reps. Andy Harris (R-Md.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) — who stand on opposite sides of the legalization debate — are co-sponsoring an amendment that would help scientists study medical marijuana.

“Our amendment shows members of Congress with widely varying views on marijuana policy are united in support of building a robust body of scientific information on medical marijuana," said Blumenauer, whose state recently legalized recreational use of the drug.

Health Canada announced today in a group call with all Licensed Producers that the regulatory agency are immediately issuing a section 56 exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA), which will allow licensed producers to produce and sell “cannabis oil and fresh marijuana buds and leaves in addition to dried marijuana”.

It is now legal for medical marijuana users to consume other forms of the drug beyond the traditional dried version. Health Canada has implemented new rules that follow a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada.

However the Harper government still is upset at the decision, and warns of potential problems.

“They will implement what the Supreme Court has said in their court imposed marijuana for medicinal purposes program,” Health Minister Rona Ambrose told reporters. “But their first top of line message is, marijuana is not a medicine, it’s not an approved medicine.”

Medical marijuana advocate and chair of Oshawa's medical marijuana working group Marko Ivancicevic smokes a joint at his Pickering home. Ivancicevic says Oshawa is ahead of many other municipalities on the issue of medical marijuana, but there is still more work to be done.

By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express 

Marko Ivancicevic isn’t afraid to admit that he’s a regular marijuana smoker. Whether the former Oshawa resident is smoking in the garage of his new Pickering home or in public, Ivancicevic isn’t bashful of smoking an illegal substance.

Except for him, the substance isn’t illegal – he has a prescription.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CannabisRadio.com, the premier online radio and podcasting network for cannabis content, announces the launch of “Cannabis Confidential” with Dr. Dina, medical marijuana icon and inspiration for the Nancy Botwin character in Showtime’s “Weeds.” Dr.

This morning (July 15) at 11 a.m. Health Canada held a conference call with medical marijuana producers to say oil can now be used.

“This is a big thing for a lot of Canadian families,” said Sebastien St-Louis, CEO of Hydropothecary, who was in on the call. “Medical marijuana has just gotten a little bit more medical today.”

Among the Canadian families affected is the McKnights of West Carleton. Mandy has fought for years for her six-year-old son to have the legal right to ingest medical marijuana in ways other than smoking.

“Gosh, I just got wind of it. I’m shocked but in a good way,” she said from her parents’ home in Newfoundland. “I thought with the election coming that they would sit on it. How amazing is that?”

Conservative government's resistance to marijuana oil up in smoke following Supreme Court ruling

Health Canada is clarifying its rules for licensed medical marijuana producers to allow them to produce and sell cannabis oil, as well as fresh buds and leaves, following a Supreme Court decision that lets patients use pot derivatives.

Health Minister Rona Ambrose had initially said she was outraged by the Supreme Court of Canada decision, which lets patients consume marijuana, not just smoke it. The government had tried to limit medical pot use to dried marijuana only.

But the ruling left a grey area with producers being limited under the law to selling dried forms of marijuana even though patients were allowed to consume other forms.

Results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial published in The Journal of Pain in July 2015 provide supportive evidence that inhaled, aerosolized cannabis may be effective for reducing pain experienced by patients with diabetes experiencing neuropathic pain.

In separate testing sessions, 16 human participants were administered a placebo (i.e. inactive agent) and 3 different THC doses (low/1%, medium/4%, high/7%).

“This adds preliminary evidence to support further research on the efficacy of the cannabinoids in neuropathic pain.”