KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - In a story Nov. 22 about efforts to make cannabis oil available to treat epilepsy in Missouri, The Associated Press erroneously reported that neurosurgeons can certify patients to receive the oil. Only Neurologists can do so. A corrected version of the story is below:

Efforts to make cannabis oil available to Missourians with a severe type of epilepsy are off to a slow start, mostly because neurologists are reluctant to certify patients to try a treatment that does not have federal approval.

About 30 minutes before our plane is scheduled to take off, Travis Maurer strolls up to the gate at Portland International Airport in shorts and flip-flops, flashing a square-jawed smile. Broad-shouldered and affable, Maurer looks like the perfect spokesman for any cause, and he deftly charms his way into a window seat. He’s just eaten some ice cream, he tells me as we board, and he’s in a surprisingly good mood for someone about to spend the next few hours in coach. A short while later, the plane lifts into the sky and Maurer falls asleep. The ice cream, it turns out, was laced with THC.

Many doctors reluctant to use treatment that lacks federal OK

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —Efforts to make cannabis oil available to Missourians with a severe type of epilepsy are off to a slow start, mostly because neurologists are reluctant to certify patients to try a treatment that does not have federal approval.

In 2014, the Missouri Legislature legalized cannabis oil to treat an intractable type of epilepsy that can't be controlled by medications. Darla Templeton, director of the Epilepsy Foundation of Missouri and Kansas, estimates 18,000 Missourians could be eligible for the treatment.

Researchers at the Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) have found a surprising correlation between marijuana dependency and genes, as well as childhood sexual abuse. The reason why some child survivors of adversity go on to become marijuana-dependant while others are able to use the recreational drug without problems may be explained by genetic variations in the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in the brain.

A system of cannabinoid receptors located throughout the peripheral and central nervous systems of the mammalian brain comprises the ECS. It controls numerous physiological processes such as mood, sensation, memory and appetite as well as the psychoactive effects of cannabis.

WAYNESVILLE, MO (KTVI) - A Missouri group trying to legalize marijuana rallies around a sick veteran who is facing a drug charge. The vet says hemp helps him cope with his Leukemia.

Members of the Missouri Cannabis Restoration and Protection Act gathered in front of the Crocker Police Department on Friday. They`re here to support Delpert McKinnon, he`s has leukemia and says he uses marijuana to feel better, that led to a felony charge against him.

"I get dizzy sometime, and I smoke a little bit, I get dizzy." said Delpert McKinnon.

While several states have approved weed for use as a medicine, these folks want every Missourian to be able have it.

ST. LOUIS • Missouri’s 2016 ballot could be filled with weed. 

Competing proposals, bolstered by growing national support, are seeking to put medical marijuana legalization on the statewide ballot. If approved, Missouri would join 23 other states that have done so.

Proponents have an uphill battle. First they need to collect 168,000 valid signatures from at least six of the state’s nine congressional districts. Then they need to win approval from the state’s conservative-leaning voters. Only a handful of states that have legalized medical marijuana are in the Midwest (Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan). And there’s not one in the South, the region with which Missouri has been more politically aligned over the past decade.

Illinois isn’t the first state in the Midwest to allow medical marijuana. Minnesota and Michigan have active cannabis programs for patients, while other nearby states are considering legislation. Some states allow children with seizures to be treated with cannabidiol oil, or CBD, a marijuana extract.

Here’s a look at where Illinois’ neighbor states stand:

- Wisconsin: Allows possession of non-psychoactive CBD oil to treat seizure disorder. Legislation to allow adults to use marijuana for recreational or medical reasons has been introduced, but it is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled Legislature.

I am a big fan of Missouri marijuana reform efforts, which if you read this blog often, than you probably know that already. I have always felt that if Missouri can reform its marijuana laws, recreational and/or medical, that it would speed up reform nationwide. I am from Oregon, born and raised, and when Oregon legalized recreational marijuana most news reports had the ‘duh, isn’t this overdue?’ vibe. Very few were shocked, and opponents in other states just chalked it up to ‘well, it’s Oregon, they are very liberal out there, especially in the Portland area, but our state is obviously way different.’

ST. LOUIS – Last week, the St. Louis Business Journal conducted an informal online pollasking readers if they would vote to legalize medical marijuana in Missouri. An overwhelming 85 percent of respondents said “yes,” with only 13 percent answering in the negative.

The results caught some attention, especially from people working on the issue, because the Business Journal’s readership, both in print and online, tends to skew older, wealthier and more conservative.

That may not be quite true. All this seems to suggest that cannabinoids and not, in fact, endorphins are responsible for the runner’s high as reported in PNAS.

Endocannabinoids are produced naturally in our bodies, but it’s also one of the containing molecules in cannabis, or marijuana. The endocannabinoid system is also responsible for moderating the psychoactive, feel-good effects of marijuana, the New York Times reports.

Scientists went on to the next stage during which they isolated endorphins to determine the effects of endocannabinoids.