A pharmaceutical company competing for one of the state's five medical marijuana licenses on Monday pledged to provide $5 million in grants to researchers statewide including $1 million to Stony Brook University.

Fiorello Pharmaceuticals Inc. based in New York announced Monday that it will provide the grants for research into medical marijuana uses if it secures one of five state licenses to provide medical marijuana.

GRAND BLANC, MI – Bella Chinonis can't talk. She can't walk, chew or play like most children her age. The 6-year-old Grand Blanc girl couldn't even stand until a few months ago.

Her days have consisted of seizures lasting anywhere from 2 to 27 minutes and taking multiple prescription medications for problems she's been dealing with since she was born.

Her mother, Ida Chinonis, says it wasn't until Bella was introduced to cannabis oil that things started turning around for her little girl.

"She can stand now. She responds to voices and she loves the movie 'Frozen.' She didn't do that before and the only thing different we are doing is giving her medical marijuana."

A research published in the journal Nature Neuroscience has tested the levels of pain sensitivity among male and female. To know the same, study researchers used male and female mice and came to know both genders experience the same levels of pain sensitivity. But they were activated through different immune cells during response.

The researchers wanted to know the gender differences in pain response, so that new therapies could be more successful when they enter the market. In the experiment, the male and female mice were injured on foot and were then given medicine.

Steamboat Springs — The legalization of recreational marijuana in states including Colorado has led national medical organizations to release formal recommendations on the use of the drug, specifically as they may affect pregnant women and mothers.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released a statement in June denouncing the use of marijuana by pregnant or breastfeeding mothers, and the American Academy of Pediatrics is expected to follow suit with similar recommendations this month.

“I’s my rights innit?  I can grow me own medicine carn’I?  I’m too sick to work. I can save the NHS millions. Le’s have anuvver spliff.”

Face it, this is exactly how too many people in Britain see medicinal cannabis users. It’s not true. It’s not fair. It’s unjust. Almost everything about it is wrong. The one thing that’s right – is that it’s a stereotype some people keep on reinforcing.

It all began when Yali was just four months old. The tiny boy squirmed with pain as his muscles went into spasm.

He suffered the epileptic fits for years—sometimes several times a day—and was forced to wear a crash helmet to stop him from injuring himself.

His parents were in a constant state of worry and his two brothers felt neglected. “The illness took over our entire life,” says his mother, Yael Bracha.

Today, Yali is seven years old and no longer suffers the epileptic fits that tortured him for so long. His family says that’s thanks to a drug that is illegal in many parts of the world: cannabis, or marijuana.

Fewer than 100 patients made it into Minnesota’s medical marijuana program in the first month.

Medical marijuana became legal in Minnesota on Wednesday, after a monthlong enrollment period and a yearlong rollout. As of Thursday, 192 patients had been certified to participate in the program by a doctor or other health care provider and 98 had paid their fees, completed their paperwork and were eligible to participate in the program.

State officials, and the two companies that have poured millions of dollars into launching the program, say they are not worried about the low initial sign-up numbers.

Medical marijuana sales channels are struggling in the United States. Still illegal at the federal level, this market segment is dependent on sales channels that developed out of the need to have some level of state government substance control. Physicians who prescribe cannabis for patients act as de facto gatekeepers, controlling distribution by giving it to those who “need” to treat a condition or alleviate side effects versus those who “want” the product for recreational use. This line of distinction, however, is beginning to blur.

I am an expert on addictive disorders and concerned about recent statements by Commissioner Jonathan Harris of the state Department of Consumer Protection. Mr. Harris disclosed a grandiose plan to spend $60,000 from Connecticut's empty coffers for advertisements to educate physicians and patients about the advantages of medical marijuana.

Mr. Harris has been a relentless proponent of expanding the medical marijuana program, now serving more than 4,000 individuals, by including more medical conditions, increasing the number of certified holders of medical marijuana cards, and consequently adding more growers and dispensaries.