Grandmother sprinkles cannabis on cheese on toast to battle Multiple Sclerosis

Federal Medical Marijuana Protections Temporarily Extended

Cautious Texas Among Last States To OK Medical Marijuana

Here's why marijuana gives you the munchies

Medical Marijuana May Have Long-Term Advantages For Pets

HOW JEFF SESSIONS PLANS TO END MEDICAL MARIJUANA BEFORE THE YEAR IS OVER

We took a scientific look at whether weed or alcohol is worse for you — and there appears to be a winner

How Should an Aging Patient Start With Edibles?

Study Finds Marijuana Consumption Can Minimize Risk of Stroke

Scientists Question the Indica-Sativa Designation of Strains

Veterans Groups Push for Medical Marijuana to Treat PTSD

Marijuana being trimmed at a farm in California. The American Legion asked Congress to remove the drug from the list of Schedule 1 narcotics. Credit Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Among critics of the federal prohibition of marijuana — a diverse and bipartisan group that includes both criminal justice reform advocates and Big Alcohol — the American Legion and its allies stand out.

Sex and drugs: U.S. study links marijuana use to more intercourse

Image Source: CHECKTHESCIENCE

Where there is smoke, there tends to be fire, say medical researchers who found frequent marijuana users have about 20 percent more sex than those who abstain.

Legal marijuana is saving lives in Colorado, study finds: VIDEO

Marijuana legalization in Colorado led to a “reversal” of opiate overdose deaths in that state, according to new research published in the American Journal of Public Health.

“After Colorado’s legalization of recreational cannabis sale and use, opioid-related deaths decreased more than 6% in the following 2 years,” write authors Melvin D. Livingston, Tracey E. Barnett, Chris Delcher and Alexander C. Wagenaar.

The authors stress that their results are preliminary, given that their study encompasses only two years of data after the state's first recreational marijuana shops opened in 2014.

While numerous studies have shown an association between medical marijuana legalization and opioid overdose deaths, this report is one of the first to look at the impact of recreational marijuana laws on opioid deaths.

Marijuana is often highly effective at treating the same types of chronic pain that patients are often prescribed opiates for. Given the choice between marijuana and opiates, many patients appear to be opting for the former.

From a public health standpoint, this is a positive development, considering that relative to opiates, marijuana carries essentially zero risk of fatal overdose.

Now, the study in the American Journal of Public Health suggests that similar findings hold true for recreational marijuana legalization. The authors examined trends in monthly opiate overdose fatalities in Colorado before and after the state's recreational marijuana market opened in 2014. They attempted to isolate the effect of recreational, rather than medical, marijuana by comparing Colorado to Nevada, which allowed medical but not recreational marijuana during that period.

They also attempted to correct for a change in Colorado's prescription-drug-monitoring program that happened during the study period. That change required all opioid prescribers to register with, but not necessarily use, the program in 2014.

Overall, after controlling for both medical marijuana and the prescription-drug-monitoring change, the study found that after Colorado implemented its recreational marijuana law, opioid deaths fell by 6.5 percent in the following two years.

The authors say policymakers will want to keep a close eye on the numbers in the coming years to see whether the trend continues. They'd also like to see whether their results are replicated in other states that recently approved recreational marijuana, such as Washington and Oregon.

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Don't let Sessions turn back the clock on medical marijuana: VIDEO

Image Source: 420MAGAZINE

Sessions warned four governors in letters released last week that he had “serious concerns” about the effects of legalization and suggested the states’ drug detente with the Justice Department was at risk.

How ironic is it that conservatives who routinely criticize the federal government’s allegedly heavy-handed intrusions into state and local affairs seem to have no problem with such interventions when the overreach happens to advance policies dear to their own hearts?

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Considering cannabis for pain relief? Include your MD in decision-making.Shutterstock; David Mack\Getty Images

Medical marijuana is legal in more than half the states in the US, and it is commonly used to treat chronic pain. Here’s how to discuss this treatment option with your doctor.

Have you ever discussed cannabis with your doctor? Despite the fact that 29 states plus the District of Columbia have decriminalized the use of marijuana for the treatment of certain medical problems, research published in the September 2017 journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence found that nine out of ten doctors were unprepared to prescribe it to their patients. “Most doctors don’t know much about it, even in the states where it is legal,” says Rav Ivker, DO, a holistic family physician in Boulder, Colorado and author of Cannabis for Chronic Pain: A Proven Prescription for Using Marijuana to Relieve Your Pain and Heal Your Life.

Why Medical Marijuana Research Is Gaining Support From the GOP

There's currently a lot of roadblocks to researching medical marijuana – and a growing number of people in Congress want that to change. James MacDonald/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Members of Congress from across the political spectrum are pushing for pot research – but can they change Jeff Sessions' mind?

Some Utah residents are working overtime to get medical marijuana on the state’s ballot next year. They seem to have just gotten a surprising new Republican ally in their effort – Senator Orrin Hatch.

DC Lawmaker Wants To Let People Get Medical Marijuana Without Doctor Approval

MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

Under the laws of 29 states and Washington, D.C., patients seeking medical marijuana must get official recommendations from doctors. But a local lawmaker in the nation's capital is looking to change that.

Top Republican senator introduces a medical marijuana research bill, says it's 'high time' to address in pun-filled statement

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) speaks to reporters. Thomson Reuters

Senator Orrin Hatch introduced a bipartisan bill  Wednesday to facilitate medical marijuana research in an especially pun-filled manner. 

House Committee Blocks Medical Marijuana Protections

Two days of lobbying by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (left), seen here with Rep. Jared Polis, couldn't save his amendment.

In a significant blow to medical marijuana advocates, patients, and cannabis companies around the nation, the House Rules Committee has blocked protections for MMJ patients and banks that want to serve state-legal cannabis businesses.

American Veterinarian Group Gets Behind Cannabis Rescheduling

A leading veterinary organization is joining the fight to reschedule cannabis in an effort to speed research into the plant’s effects on our furry friends.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AMVA) approved a resolution at its conference last month to begin exploring how to advocate that cannabis be rescheduled federally, moving it from Schedule I to Schedule II. The move would increase opportunities to research cannabis for therapeutic use among both animals and humans.

The Great Pot Monopoly Mystery

Some very powerful people are trying to corner the market on legal weed and turn their company into the Monsanto of marijuana. Who are they? And can they be stopped?

The search for the hidden forces that might soon control the marijuana industry began, as many wild journeys do, in Las Vegas. It was last November, and I was party-hopping at the biggest weed-business gathering of the year, a week of overlapping conferences and decadent soirees. I was a few blocks off the Strip, celebrating a new line of bongs and pipes in a penthouse with chandeliers and dark-wood furniture, when I happened to meet a faunlike 40-something man named after a character from The Jungle Book: Mowgli Holmes.

White House anti-drug office asks Mass. for medical marijuana data

An arm of the White House’s antidrug office has asked Massachusetts and several other states where medical marijuana is legal to turn over information about registered patients, triggering a debate over privacy rights and whether state officials should cooperate with a federal administration that appears hostile to the drug.

Medical marijuana bill on its way to Indiana legislature — and a Republican is behind it

A Republican lawmaker plans to introduce a bill during the upcoming legislative session that would legalize medical marijuana.

First medical marijuana dispensary opening in Hawaii

This undated photo provided by Maui Grown Therapies shows medicinal cannabis grown in the dispensary's production centers in Upcountry Maui, Hawaii. Dispensary sales of medical marijuana in Hawaii are beginning after patients waited 17 years for a legal way to purchase the drug. Maui Grown Therapies was the first dispensary in the state to sell medical marijuana to patients. (Maui Grown Therapies via AP)

Maui Grown Therapies received approval from the Department of Health to begin selling medical cannabis Tuesday.

The Biology of Cannabis vs. Opioids for Pain Relief

(GeorgeManga/iStock)

Cannabis and opioids are both known for their analgesic, pain-relieving effects. However, opioids are highly addictive—between 1999 and 2014, sales of prescription opioids in the United States quadrupled, with staggering increases in overdoses. In the healthcare system, 49% of patients seeking treatment for pain leave with a prescription. Because the risk of addiction and overdose associated with opioids is so great, finding a drug substitute with less abuse potential is critical.

HIPAA-Compliant Online Chats For Medical Marijuana Come to New York -- Deliveries Too

Legal Medical Marijuana Products From NY's Columbia Care

It can be hard for medical marijuana patients to get to a dispensary if for example they are homebound, elderly or suffer from seizures and can’t drive. A patchwork of delivery services has been expanding around the country, based on each state, county or city’s laws.

How Medical Marijuana Could Help John McCain With Glioblastoma

Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, doctors said Wednesday evening.
Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons

Should U.S. Senator John McCain get an Arizona medical-marijuana card, now that he's been diagnosed with glioblastoma?


He qualifies for the right to possess and use cannabis under Arizona law, and cannabis is well-known for its effectiveness in helping patients cope with chemotherapy.

You Can’t Fire Cannabis Patients Just for Using Cannabis, Massachusetts High Court Rules

In what appears to be a first-of-its-kind ruling, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Monday said that employees can’t be fired simply for using medical cannabis. Such terminations, the court said, violate state antidiscrimination rules.

This Texan’s daughter needed medical marijuana, so he moved to Colorado: VIDEO

Listen to Emmanuel Garza explain why he wanted House Bill 2107 — which would've expanded the use of medical marijuana — to pass. 

Emmanuel Garza moved from Texas to Colorado so his baby daughter could get the medical marijuana treatment she needed. Legislation to legalize the same treatment in Texas failed to pass during the regular legislative session. 

Madelynn Garza had her first seizure at three months old.

She was born with Aicardi Syndrome, a disease affecting nearly 4,000 people worldwide that caused her infantile spasms and made her legally blind. Now that Madelynn is almost two, her parents say they’re not sure whether she’ll ever walk or speak, or how long she'll live.

Psychiatrists Say Cannabis Medicine Has Psychedelic Properties

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Cannabis is currently not classified or typically thought of as a psychedelic, but some mental health professionals say they would like to change that. It has been suggested that psychedelics – such as mushrooms – could also treat depression, PTSD, alcoholism, and so on. And psychiatrists also now believe that cannabis has some psychedelic properties that could be beneficial in treating various mental disorders. While this is certainly not news to anyone privy to the vast benefits of cannabis medicine, the study put out by these mental health professionals raises some interesting points.

Jon Huntsman Sr., four-time cancer survivor, says he’d ‘love to’ try medical marijuana

(Leah Hogsten | Tribune file photo) Huntsman Cancer Institute founder Jon M. Huntsman Sr. and his wife, Karen Huntsman, celebrate the opening of the Primary Children's and Families' Cancer Research Center in June. Huntsman, a cancer survivor, on Thursday endorsed legalizing medical uses of marijuana.

Utah philanthropist and cancer survivor says cannabis is much less destructive than opioid-based painkillers.