Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease that currently affects up to 300 million people worldwide, and was responsible for approximately 250,000 deaths in 2011. Cannabis has been used as a means of treating the symptoms of asthma for millennia, in various medicinal traditions including those of ancient India and China.

Analgesic

John Morgan just wrote a “big check” to get a second medical marijuana ballot initiative off the ground.

And a big check it was. $150,000.

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to put medical marijuana back to the people of Florida to make it your decision,” Morgan said in a video statement posted on the website for his group, United for Care.

Morgan said it won’t be the last check he writes, but implores supporters to write their own big checks.

The funding will go first toward paying for a massive petition drive to gather enough signatures statewide to force another constitutional amendment in 2016. Once ballot language is finalized campaign funds will pay for key advertisements and educational outreach dispelling messages from critics.

People are poisoning themselves with synthetic pot products at more than twice the rate as this time last year, according to a report released this Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The company recently met with town officials to discuss the site for a proposed medical marijuana dispensary

A new medical marijuana dispensary could be coming to Foxborough in the near future.

During a recent selectmen meeting, Town Manager Bill Keegan informed the board that himself, Police Chief Edward O’Leary, and Building Commissioner Bill Casbarra recently met with a company named Beacon Wellness that represents a medical pot dispensing company interested in setting up shop on Route 1.

The odds have been plainly against marijuana legalization for decades, but the tide appears to be turning to the point where the marijuana movement may soon be able to get over its previous barriers.

At a crossroads
Two decades ago public opinion was very much against the idea of legalizing marijuana for medical or recreational purposes. A survey from Gallup in the mid-1990s pegged the public's favorable opinion on the drug at just 25%.

According to the recent reports from the poison control center of the United States, the prison has been flooded with the calls related to synthetic marijuana. The prison further reported that during the year of 2015, almost 3,572 calls up till now. These calls were made as a result of the deadly after effects of the illegal drugs used first time by the street kids. The number of these calls shows a rapid increase of 229% in comparison to the number of calls registered during January to May during the previous year.

The poison control centers across the US are flooded by calls for poisoning from synthetic marijuana. This year nearly 3,572 calls have been placed, which is up 229 percent from the same period (January to May) from last year.

A report from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls for synthetic marijuana cases that saw a jump from 349 of January 2015 to 1,501 in April in 2015. That is an increase of close to 330 percent!

This is not a new problem as synthetic drugs have had a presence. However, the lab-engineered imitation pot continues to be popular while legal, medical marijuana continues to find acceptance across the country.

The Legislature's failure to expand Iowa's medical marijuana law has some parents of sick children looking to Minnesota.

Area lawmakers who worked to pass the proposed legislation suggested some Iowans may relocate to nearby states to access medicinal marijuana. Medical marijuana will be legal in limited form in Minnesota beginning July 1.

Some Cedar Falls families confirmed they're considering their options, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier (http://bit.ly/1MsWswE ) reported.

"Obviously, they have all these good things about their bill, but it's proximity. So, you just gave yourselves competition. Minnesota moved forward. You chose to stay stagnant," said Brienna Decker.

I have posted many articles about why veterans need (and deserve!) safe access to medical marijuana. However, I am not a veteran, and I’ve always felt that this blog needed a veteran’s perspective. Below is a guest article that was sent to me by a reader who is a veteran, and obviously feels very strongly about the issue. No one should be forced to use harmful pharmaceuticals or go without medicine, especially our military veterans who have served our country proudly. Below is the guest post:

THE Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research and Innovation will be headed up by NSW chief scientist Mary O'Kane.

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

"All of us have been moved by the stories we have seen, people who are suffering in all types of situations and circumstances and there is clear anecdotal evidence medical cannabis is making a difference," he said outside Blacktown Hospital on Sunday.