(NBCNEWS.com) - January 22nd 2015 was a brisk, cold day. All the trees in Richmond, Virginia were bare from a harsh winter. As the chill blew up the hill in the city's historic Shockoe Slip district, several families began to emerge from a hotel in the shadow of the State Capitol.

Minnesota and other state’s legislatures across the country are legalizing medical marijuana, but the nation’s physicians aren’t requesting these laws. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Society of Addiction Medicine both are against medical marijuana laws. The American Medical Association doesn’t support them either.

Groups representing patients aren’t behind these laws. The American Cancer Society hasn’t demanded them, and the Glaucoma Foundation even warns patients against using the drug.

PHOENIX (KSAZ) -

Comedian Tommy Chong was in the valley Saturday, appearing at an event dedicated to promoting wellness through medical marijuana. 

The Arizona Cannabis for Wellness festival was held at the Encanto Green Cross dispensary in Phoenix near 27th Avenue and Encanto.

Chong, who is well known for his pot-themed "Cheech and Chong" comedy movies, introduced his brand of wellness marijuana.

Christopher Kenney attended his prom last month in Wind Gap.

That's a big deal for most teens, but even more so for Christopher. The 18-year-old has tuberous sclerosis, a genetic disorder that causes benign tumors to grow in any organ of the body. He has one small one in his kidney and 14 hardened areas in his brain's frontal lobe, part of which has been removed as a result. His condition has resulted in uncontrolled seizures and horrible behavioral problems that have been made worse by his anti-seizure drugs.

His mother, Deena, told me he was tremendously excited when his parents drove him to the prom at Colonial Academy, part of Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 for students with various special needs. Unfortunately, the dream quickly turned into a nightmare.

Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center will let their physicians decide whether they want to certify their Minnesota patients so they can receive medical marijuana.

Beginning July 1, non-smokable medical marijuana becomes legal in the state. In order to access it, patients must have one of nine qualifying conditions, which include cancer, multiple sclerosis and terminal illness. But before patients are eligible to receive medical marijuana in pill, liquid or oil form, they must first be certified as having one of the qualified conditions by a physician, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse.

Mayo Clinic spokesman Karl Oestreich said in a statement the clinic has developed a policy for its health-care providers.

If Gulwant Bajwa had known medical marijuana was an option when he developed a painful cancer two decades ago, he would have tried it.

He would have tried anything.

Now, the 53-year-old is hoping to help other suffering Canadians navigate the murky world of medical marijuana with National Access Cannabis, an information centre where doctors can prescribe weed.

The clinic will open an office in Hintonburg on June 23.

It’s not a dispensary; there’s “not a speck” of pot on site, according to the new CEO, who left his job in Health Canada’s medical marijuana program to join the company two months ago.

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Queensland is set to join a New South Wales-led push for medicinal cannabis trials, but some parents of children suffering from epilepsy say they just want to skip that process and continue to administer the controversial drug.

Both major parties in Queensland politics have claimed credit for the upcoming trial, which would be a first step towards legalising the practice.

State Health Minister Cameron Dick told Parliament on Thursday that, as of Monday, medicinal cannabis had been rescheduled by the Therapeutic Goods Administration from a schedule 9 poison to a schedule 4 medicine for therapeutic use only.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Two years after Massachusetts’ medical marijuana law went into effect, not one dispensary has opened. The 22News I-Team discovered what’s gone wrong and how much it’s cost us.

Governor Charlie Baker’s administration has revamped the medical marijuana process and new applications will begin to be accepted on June 29th.

18,512 patients have been certified to receive medical marijuana in Massachusetts.  The state has reviewed and approved 9150 patient registrations.  Two years after Governor Deval Patrick implemented the law, there isn’t a single dispensary open.

Kathleen and Rick Blake lost their 8-year-old son Michael to leukemia in 1988, four years after his diagnosis.

Last year, their family was again struck by cancer when doctors diagnosed their daughter Jessica with glioblastoma multiforme, a brain tumor.

Determined to help Jessica, the Blakes want her to start taking medical cannabis in July, when qualified patients will be able to legally use marijuana for the first time. "We're looking for hope, because conventional medicine has not given us any," Rick Blake said.

But even though medical marijuana use is now legal in Minnesota and the state Department of Health has started registering the thousands of patients who will be eligible to use it, doctors are wary of signing up patients.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — We expect to get new numbers Monday from the state on medical marijuana registrations.

In just 23 days, Minnesota patients will be able to get medical marijuana in the form of capsules and oils to treat certain medical conditions. But registration has gotten off to a very slow start.

So far, only five patients and 30 doctors have signed up for the program. A survey of Minnesota doctors finds only nine percent plan to take part in the program. About 68 percent say they will not, and the rest are undecided.