Action Points

• Note that this observational study found that eighth- to 12th- graders in states which have passed medical marijuana laws were more likely to have used marijuana.
• Be aware, however, that the within-state changes from before- to after-legislation were not significant.

The availability of medical marijuana does not cause a surge in pot smoking among teens, according to a national, school-based survey.

When 54-year-old wife and mother Sharon Kelly began experiencing sharp pains on the left side of her body near her ribs, she thought it was a result of a strong massage she’d had sometime earlier, and failed to give it much thought. After several days passed and the pain failed to subside, she began to think she might be suffering from something more serious, and as it turns out, she was right.

Prague, June 4 (CTK) - More than a quarter of the 10.5 million inhabitants of the Czech Republic have some type of addiction, national drug coordinator Jindrich Voboril told CTK Thursday, adding that the number is increasing, while the amount of money for prevention and treatment is decreasing.

Two million adults drink alcohol every day and 94 percent of children under 15 have some experience with it. Around 200,000 Czechs smoke marijuana, 45,000 use hard drugs and there are around 150,000 gamblers, Voboril said.

He said the number of contact centres for drug addicts is insufficient.

"There should definitively be more contact centres and its employees should have an opportunity to work with the people (addicts)," Voboril said

Dr Geoffrey Guy, founder and chairman of GW Pharmaceuticals, one of the most successful start-up pharmaceutical companies leading the way into the use of cannabis for medical purposes, will lead a public lecture at the University of Westminster on Wednesday 8 July.

The lecture entitled Cannabis based medicines - A modern reality will offer the opportunity to hear from Dr Guy and gain further insight into the use of cannabis-related compounds in medicine. The use of cannabis for medical purposes continues to attract much debate and interest, and with over 30 years’ experience in medical research and global drug development, Dr Guy will discuss this hotly debated topic and provide insight into its future potential.

DENVER (CBS4) – There is new research on the use of marijuana as medicine in Colorado and a Marijuana and Health Symposium at National Jewish Health on Saturday explored nearly a dozen studies looking at using pot for things like seizures and insomnia.

“I’d rather be illegally alive than legally dead,” said 15-year-old Coltyn Turner.

Four times a day Coltyn takes his medicine. It’s cannabis oil used to treat his Crohn’s disease, an illness he’s been fighting since age 11, and up until last year it looked like a battle he was losing.

“I was just on every pharmaceutical there was out there until I would up in a wheelchair,” Coltyn said.

“He got sick and we had no other options,” Coltyn’s mother Wendy Turner said.

Watching his six-month-old daughter endlessly spasming in pain drove Michael Lambert beyond the bounds of Australian drug laws.

Three years later, Katelyn's recovery has prompted an unprecedented $33.7 million donation to fund research into medicinal cannabis. 

The three-year-old's grandparents made the staggering donation on Friday to scientists and the University of Sydney - the largest donation ever made to any Australian university. 

It was some consolation for Barry and Joy Lambert, whose BRW rich-list credentials were powerless to ease their granddaughter's pain.

New South Wales is leading the world with its $12m medicinal cannabis research centre, the state’s premier, Mike Baird, says.

The centre for medicinal cannabis research and innovation will be headed up by the NSW chief scientist, Mary O’Kane.

Related: Medicinal cannabis research gets $33m from grandparents of girl with epilepsy

It will seek to enable experts to share their world-class research and support the production of safe, reliable and affordable cannabis-based medicines.

This weekend, a group of volunteers are wrapping up a 420 km bike ride with a very specific goal in mind: making money for a clinical trial of cannabis as a potential treatment to fight brain cancer

A week before her daughter's surgery, Alicia Stier said Memorial Hospital Central officials told her to keep one seizure medication home: cannabis-based oils.

The voicemail left her scrambling.

"It's just like any other medication for seizure control," she said. "You don't drop, cold-turkey, a seizure med. That's never a good idea."

The hospital later softened its stance - telling her it would make a final decision Monday on whether to allow her daughter to receive the oil, called Charlotte's Web, while in the hospital.