Health care refugees: Medical marijuana and new hope: VIDEO

Kim Muszynski says Abby's improvement is "the most incredible thing I've ever seen."

Rich and Kim Muszynski know when their 5-year-old daughter, Abby, is about to have a grand mal seizure because her pupils enlarge, and she'll seem to fixate  something in the distance that only she can see.

How California Lab Testing Could Change the Way We Talk About Cannabis

If you buy legal medical cannabis in Los Angeles today, you’re lucky to find a reliable THC reading for most products on the menu. You’re even less likely to see information about levels of cannabinoids such as CBD, CBG, or CBN. Nor would you see much about terpenes, despite their increasing importance to patients and connoisseurs alike.

Can Medical Cannabis Be Used as an Anorexia Treatment?

A characteristic feature of cannabis is that it causes the “munchies,” which begs the question: could cannabis be used to treat anorexia nervosa? Cannabis has been widely studied as a treatment for anorexia (or cachexia) associated with cancer and HIV/AIDS. However, there’s little research on whether it would be an effective treatment to treat the type of anorexia that most people are familiar with: anorexia nervosa.

Tell Trump to Bump Sessions for Graham

The incoming Trump administration is appointing thousands of politicos to fill the jobs left by Democratic Obama officials, and the highest-ranking position of the judiciary branch could be going to a Senator accused of being an anti-pot racist.

Exclusive: Seattle Officials Crafting Bill to Legalize Cannabis Delivery in Washington

It’s now been four years since Washington voters legalized cannabis. The state’s regulated market has been up and running for nearly two and a half. But despite being ahead of the curve historically, there’s one area where Washington lags woefully behind other adult-use states: delivery. Nearly every other—Oregon, Colorado, even some newcomers like California—have delivery laws on the books. In Washington, however, whether you’re a patient or a pothead, nobody can legally deliver to you.

New York is Finally Moving Forward to Expand their Medical Marijuana Program

The medical marijuana program in the state of New York is one of the most restrictive programs in the entire country. There are 10 conditions that qualify a patient for medical cannabis in New York and while full strength cannabis is available, it is only available in non-smokable forms like oils, edibles, capsules, tinctures and the like. However, the state has been talking about expanding their program for a while now – and it looks like they’re finally taking action to see these changes through.

Here’s A Case For Marijuana Legalization In The United States

SKYHORSE/GREGOR SCHUSTER VIA GETTY IMAGES

Former governor and pro wrestler Jesse Ventura’s “Manifesto” argues that widespread weed legalization would benefit the country.

A few of our country’s most notable Founding Fathers ― think George Washington, Thomas  and John Adams ― grew the cannabis plant, hemp, as a multipurpose crop, while colonists from that time could pay their taxes with the plant. Betsy Ross sewed her American flag from hemp.

New Study Suggests Marijuana May Benefit Mental Health

Flickr @ Jordan Greentree

Many marijuana users know how beneficial cannabis use can be for their mental health. Whether we’re talking in the short-term or over a long period, marijuana has helped tens of millions of people treat their anxiety, depression and stress levels. That is why so many choose to relax after a long day with a joint or edible as opposed to a glass of wine or a beer.

Congress Can Protect Cannabis From the Trump Administration. Here’s How.

In the lead-up to the presidential election, it was hard to tell where candidate Donald Trump stood on cannabis. Supporters of both Trump and cannabis would tell you one thing, namely that the candidate had said he supported allowing states to do what they want on the issue. Skeptics, meanwhile, would note Trump’s ties to staunch legalization opponents such as Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie, and Sheldon Adelson. Others simply threw up their hands; Trump had taken so many contradictory positions over the years, they noted, that trying to read the tea leaves wouldn’t get us very far.

How Does Cannabis Consumption Affect the Brain?

The relationship between cannabis and the brain is a meaty subject. Identifying the various ways cannabis affects the brain is complicated, and we’ve only just begun to unravel many of the mysteries. Most perplexingly, there’s a lot of seemingly contradictory evidence out there.

Trump Picks Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, Stoking Fears of Cannabis Crackdown

With President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) for US attorney general, Americans are finally getting a clearer picture of what the federal government’s approach to cannabis might look like under his administration. Ending days of heated speculation, Trump on Tuesday morning officially nominated Sessions for the role, sparking worries among legalization advocates and cannabis industry leaders.

Data Dive: Legalization No Longer a Partisan Issue, 2016 Election Data Show

The returns from last week’s election didn’t just represent a triumph for cannabis legalization advocates. Data from the Nov. 8 vote also revealed a political paradigm shift. This is the year that the issue of legalization broke free from traditional conservative–liberal boundaries.

Washington State Adopts New Warning Label for Edibles

Washington regulators will require the “Not for Kids” label (left) on all infused edible products. The design on the right was scrapped due to public pushback that cannabis is not poison.

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board this week finalized a new warning label to identify cannabis-infused edibles, a step aimed at curbing instances of children accidentally consuming legal cannabis products.

Many States Have Legalized Medical Marijuana, So Why Does DEA Still Say It Has No Therapeutic Use?

Marijuana plant being grown near Albany for medical use in New York state. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

More than half the states–28, to be exact–including Arkansas, Florida and North Dakota as of the Nov. 8 election, and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for certain medical conditions.

Recreational vs. medical marijuana: VIDEO

With last week's passage of Proposition 64, the recreational use of marijuana is now legal in California.

State of the Leaf: The Election That Changed America

U.S. News Updates

Arizona
After a long and grueling campaign, Arizona’s bid to legalize adult-use cannabis lost narrowly on Tuesday, with 52.2 percent of voters casting ballots against Proposition 205. Of the nine marijuana measures on the ballot this year, Arizona was the lone one to fail Tuesday night. Arizona’s result isn’t a complete surprise, however, considering that opposition groups Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy and No on Prop. 205 sunk nearly $5 million into campaigning against the measure, airing numerous anti-legalization ads in the weeks leading up to the election. Arizona may have missed its chance to legalize this year, but the fight to end prohibition is far from over.

Welcome to a New America

We wake to a changed nation. Right now the difference between America on November 7 and November 9, 2016, feels as profound as the soul-wrenching split between September 10 and September 12, 2001. It’s a rent in the fabric of time.

Will the Trump Administration Weed Out Medical Marijuana?

Ian Almerico carries a tray of cannabis clones at Harborside, a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland, California. On election day, voters in Florida, North Dakota, and Arkansas supported initiatives to legalize medical marijuana. 
PHOTOGRAPH BY JIM WILSON, NEW YORK TIMES

The president-elect previously has said that regulating cannabis is a state issue—but some of his closest advisers think otherwise.

Medical marijuana had a huge win on election day.

Even after Tuesday, uncertainty clouds medical marijuana in Florida

Image Source: INTERNETLAWCOMMENTARY

Even though Floridians voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to allow medical marijuana, patients are months away from being able to purchase the drug.

MA just legalized now what?

Congratulations, Massachusetts!

With the adoption of Question 4, here’s what you need to know now that cannabis has been legalized.

America’s New Legalization Map Is Amazing

Election 2016: Cannabis wins big. That’s the secondary story–after, of course, the biggest Presidential upset in American history. But it’s a pretty important secondary story. 

Marijuana wins big on election night

(Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post)

Voters in California and Massachusetts approved recreational marijuana initiatives Tuesday night, and several other states passed medical marijuana provisions in what is turning out to be the biggest electoral victory for marijuana reform since  when Colorado and Washington first approved the drug's recreational use.

President Obama: New Legal States Would Force The American Government's Hand On Marijuana: VIDEO

President Barack Obama says that the new batch of legal states could force the American government to finally address marijuana legalization. The outgoing commander-in-chief made that remark during an interview with Bill Maher that aired last night on HBO.

New Study Says Mixing Alcohol and Marijuana Can Lead to Problems

In a new study out of Washington state, researchers looked into the effects of mixing alcohol and marijuana by surveying 2,400 people who say they consumed alcohol in the last year. Of those people – surveyed in 2014 and 2015 – 70% say they used only alcohol while 18% say they used alcohol and marijuana together and 13% said they used both substances, but separately.

The Trend Toward Legalizing Recreational Marijuana

Cannabis plants grow in the greenhouse at Vireo Health's medical marijuana cultivation facility on Aug. 19 in Johnstown, N.Y.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday that she plans to vote in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana in California.

Study Finds Colorado Cannabis Shops Not Selling to Minors

A new peer-reviewed study has found that age restrictions in legal cannabis states are effectively keeping cannabis out of the hands of children and minors. Newly published data in the current issue of the Journal of Studies of Alcohol and Drugs found that “compliance with laws restricting marijuana sales to individuals age 21 years or older with a valid ID was extremely high and possibly higher than compliance with restrictions on alcohol sales.”

Election Predictions: Which States Will Legalize on Nov. 8?

One week before election day, cannabis legalization races are tightening in all nine states with the topic on the ballot. In California and Florida, early exuberance has given way to strong, steady leads, while campaigns in Arizona and Massachusetts could win or lose by the slightest margins.

Less is More: Why Low-Dose Cannabis is Important

According to Jake Browne, America’s budtender and head strain reviewer at Denver Post’s The Cannabist, most consumers are not looking for strains to get them higher than Snoop Dogg and Willie Nelson trolling KFC at 3:00 a.m. on a weekend bender in Amsterdam.

Reviving Bruno: A Day in the Life of a 5-Year-Old Florida Cannabis Patient

In Delgadillo’s home, everyone does their part to take care of Bruno. Here, her stepfather Mario Vallecillo plays with Bruno before helping to get him in the car for therapy in Miami, FL on Friday, October 28, 2016.

For Jacel Delgadillo of Miami, Florida, having access to medical cannabis meant having access to her son. Delgadillo’s 5-year-old son, Bruno , was born with a rare, incurable, and debilitating genetic form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome, or Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy of Infancy (SMEI). When the condition was at its worst, Bruno endured up to 300 seizures a day. In 2013,  traveled to Colorado to seek information about treating Dravet syndrome with cannabis oil. While there she met Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who was in Colorado filming his CNN documentary Weed 2. Bruno began using medical cannabis oil to mitigate his seizures. With the oil, Bruno averaged one to two seizures per week.

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Delgadillo was eventually able to register Bruno in a Phase 3 drug trial that allows him to take a form of cannabidiol (CBD) being developed by GW Pharma specifically to treat children and young adults with Dravet syndrome. He’s currently receiving treatment as part of that trial.

But Delgadillo tells Leafly it wasn’t until  when she traveled to California and added THC to the mix, that Bruno’s seizures plummeted. “I don’t want to give the CBD credit for his decrease in seizures,” she says “CBD helps cognitively as a neuroprotectant, but I live and beg for THC. It’s what’s lowered the 300 seizures a day and what works best as a rescue drug instead of using benzodiazepine.”

With the help of cannabis, Bruno has gone from being a vegetative and non-responsive child to an active, curious and aware 5  old. “It’s like magic now,” Delgadillo says about how attentive Bruno has become. “I honestly thought before that he didn’t know I was his mom. I feel like he knows now.”

Delgadillo has been an outspoken champion of medical marijuana legalization and a co-founder of the group Cannamoms, which supports and advocates for chronically ill children whose conditions may be helped by medical cannabis. Eleven days before Florida votes on Amendment 2, a statewide measure to legalize medical marijuana, photojournalist Scott McIntyre spent a day with  and Bruno, documenting their joys and struggles.

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Washington DC Could Expand MMJ Program in Tuesday Vote

The District of Columbia Council will vote Tuesday morning on an omnibus medical marijuana proposal that would bring changes to the fledging and often-criticized MMJ program in the nation’s capital. The Medical Marijuana Reciprocity Amendment Act of 2015, introduced last year by Councilmember Yvette Alexander, would allow patients to finally patronize more than one dispensary in the District. The Act would also eliminate the cap on the number of plants cultivators can grow.