Is cannabis a cure for brain cancer?

Despite its high profile in the media as a potential agent, there's little scientific evidence to suggest whether it can actually make a difference.

With a just-awarded grant, and the unique advantage of having human brain cancer cells to study, a team of University of Auckland researchers hope to get to the bottom of the issue.

Associate Professor Michelle Glass said while preliminary studies examining the link had been interesting, there had been few to draw on so far.

"There are a lot of claims in the public sphere suggesting that cannabis is useful in all sorts of cancers, but the science not always supporting these claims."

The government could generate $150 million annually by taxing cannabis, rather than spending $400m a year enforcing drug prohibition, a Treasury note says.

An Official Information Act request by Nelson lawyer Sue Grey turned up the Drug Classification note, part of an internal Treasury forum from 2013.

The previously unreleased document said studies showed alcohol and tobacco caused far more harm than cannabis; that there was no evidence it was a gateway drug, and that Māori "take the brunt of current policies" - making up 14.5 percent of the population, but receiving 43 percent of cannabis convictions.

A group of Northland retirees who have never taken illegal drugs have started a petition to legalise marijuana.

The Otamatea chapter of Grey Power unanimously voted in May in favour of legalising the drug.

They have now started a petition, which they sent out to all the other 32 Grey Power chapters around the country.

Otamatea Grey Power president Beverley Aldridge said the drug had been used medically for over 10,000 years and it was only since 1961 when many governments made it illegal.

"None of our [members] actually takes it yet, but we want to be able to take it. We've seen our loved ones - you know, family and friends - dying in extreme pain and we don't want to go through that."

Huhana Hickey used to take an array of medication each day to help manage her chronic pain.

It never eased it completely and left her feeling 'zombied' and in tears for two hours after work every day. 

But for the past four months she hasn't needed the medication and it's all because of a medicinal cannabis mouth spray called Sativex. 

The South Auckland woman has gone public alongside 11 other users and caregivers in order to denounce the Ministry of Health's recent review of the criteria for medicinal cannabis use.

The Maori health research fellow says the group believes the Government is dragging its heels on the issue.

"They are just fudging the issue but they are actually playing with the lives of people who don't have the resources.

Full-fledged cannabis legalization: is it only a matter of time? Before we get to the odds on the topic de jure, a little context.

Cannabis was a part of America’s consciousness long before Harry Chapin’s song “Taxi” was on the airwaves in the early 1970s, and even before grass enthusiasts endured days of rain at Woodstock a few years earlier.

Key public figures are set to assemble at the Auckland Town Hall next week to host a public discussion on the impacts of cannabis laws in New Zealand communities.

The launch of the "Let's Start The Conversation" campaign - a national vehicle to create informed community discussion and debate around the impacts of current cannabis laws - kicks off on Monday, June 27th with a Town Hall Assembly in Auckland officially endorsed by Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and the New Zealand Criminal Bar Association.

The debate over whether the benefits of marijuana use are worth the risks continues to rage, as more and more states make moves to legalize it. While much remains unknown about its effects, a group of researchers recently made an important discovery that should lay some doubts to rest: Long-term marijuana use does not lead to any physical health problems. In fact, the only issue the researchers were able to link it to was a higher incidence of gum disease. For many people facing serious issues such as cancer and epilepsy who turn to marijuana, this news will be highly welcomed.

The marijuana industry is blossoming, and 2016 could wind up being its best year yet in a number of ways.

Marijuana keeps expanding despite federal inaction

Since California first approved Proposition 215 in 1996 to provide certain patients with medical marijuana on the basis of compassionate use, the marijuana industry has been trudging forward. Today, two dozen states have approved medical marijuana, while another four, along with Washington, D.C., have legalized the use of marijuana for recreational purposes.

Medicinal cannabis advocates in Nelson are among those wanting international input after a "disappointing" review of guidelines for the drug.

A government review of the guidelines released last month said five medical professionals who had made at least one application to prescribe approved medicinal cannabis product Sativex unanimously supported the current rules, suggesting only minor changes.

Requirements to have exhausted all other treatment options to gain approval for Sativex and to be hospitalised if taking unapproved cannabis-based medicine were removed but several advocates said the review didn't go far enough.

Sufferers of multiple sclerosis and epilepsy say the current Government funded medicine isn't working for everyone. 

Marijuana based drug Sativex is believed to reduce seizures and constant pain. 

Jamie O'Mara used Sativex for six weeks and his mother Sally says it's the only drug that's made a real difference to his health. 

"We've tried natural therapies, none of which have had the results that this Sativex has had," she told ONE News.

The drug is currently not by Pharmac, and costs $1200 a month. 

Pharmac says although Sativex has some benefits, it is not clear it does a better job than the medicines they already fund. 

Seventy-four people have applied to use Sativex, and with permission needing to be granted, only 26 are taking it.