patients

THE QUESTION My father is 84 and has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The medication he has been prescribed for pain isn't working. He wants to try medical marijuana. But getting a doctor to prescribe cannabis is like pulling teeth. His doctor says there isn't enough scientific evidence...

Four months into New York State's medical marijuana program, you'll find praise tempered by concern. Promise is countered with worry. "There's hope where there was none before," said Linda Ryszka, whose children Taylor and Caden both suffer from seizure disorders. "There's still more to do." 2...

The state's second medical marijuana dispensary will open its doors today. The Temescal Wellness dispensary in Dover was certified by the state Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday and will start operating today. The announcement came a week after the first dispensary opened...

Dear Gov. Steve Bullock, Montana Senate President Debby Barrett, House Speaker Austin Knudsen, Senate Minority Leader Jon Sesso and House Minority Leader Chuck Hunter: On behalf of Montana Families United, I am writing urging you to call for a one-day special session! Due to the implications...

Paraplegics and MS patients can heave a sigh of relief: doctors will soon be able to prescribe medical marijuana to relieve pain or symptoms. Berlin gave the go-ahead to relax rules on therapeutic cannabis use. The German government has agreed to legalize cannabis for medical purposes about a...

Although Pennsylvania has legalized medical cannabis — the bill was signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf on April 17 — some health practitioners and patients are wondering how the industry will evolve here. The business community and other stakeholders gathered in Philadelphia last weekend to...

Cannabis will be available to seriously ill German patients on prescription in drug stores and its use may be covered by medical insurance, German Health Minister Hermann Gröhe announced Tuesday. The law is expected to come into force in 2017. The draft relaxing the regulations on the use of...

The city of Bloomington, which once issued a one-year moratorium on medical marijuana, has opened its doors to the state's next dispensary. The City Council this week approved plans to open a medical cannabis care center by midsummer. The unanimous vote came after the city spent a year watching...

As a registered nurse working in trauma and rehabilitation centers in Kansas, Jennifer Shepherd cared for patients who weren't benefiting from the pain medications prescribed to them. She noticed a pattern that prompted her to detour from her 13-year career in the traditional medical field...

Catherine LaFond-Evans is still fighting to add mitochondrial disease to the list of debilitating conditions that can qualify a patient in New York to be certified for medical marijuana. In the meantime, she's happy her daughter, Brooke, can try it after months of pleading with state...

I suspect a lot of people who need medical marijuana for themselves or their families were asking themselves that question once the glow of Gov. Tom Wolf's long-awaited bill-signing began to fade. Yes, Senate Bill 3 finally was law after a long, sometimes frustrating battle. It means doctors...

There's new evidence to support the idea that marijuana legalization could combat America's opioid epidemic. A new report found that people are less likely to abuse prescription painkillers in states with legal medical marijuana systems. An analysis of healthcare claims from about one...

I was 13 the first time I tried smoking pot. Earlier that day I had tried my first cigarette and my first (half) beer. The afternoon culminated with me trying my first hit of acid, so the weed had little impact on me. I would engage with weed a few more times over the next two years but failed...

The demand for medical marijuana in the Bay State is reaching a new high, 
according to state data, which show that nearly 2,700 people registered as patients in March – the most for any month in the oft-troubled program's history – in a surge dispensary owners say could be driven partly by the...

On Tuesday, medical marijuana advocates requested lawmakers to permit home-growing for keeping the costs down and to offer a bridge for patients in nearly two-year-long time span between the passage of a law and the first lawful sale at a dispensary. With House Bill 523, there would be a...

The Supreme Court of Montana decided to delay the enforcement of restrictions on medical marijuana to Aug. 31. Patients and providers of medical marijuana are given a four-month reprieve before severe restrictions are imposed in the state. The court ruled in favor of the 2011 state law which...

Medical marijuana advocates Tuesday urged lawmakers to allow for home-growing to keep costs down and to provide a bridge for patients during the roughly two years between a law's passage and the first legal sale at a dispensary. House Bill 523 would limit patient access to pot to licensed...

For patients who have been buying marijuana illegally to relieve pain, improve appetite and alleviate other symptoms, it's been a long wait to come out of the shadows. Lawmakers passed a therapeutic cannabis bill in June 2013, and Gov. Maggie Hassan signed it into law effective that July...

Medical marijuana programs are gaining momentum across the country. Yet, while Pennsylvania just became the twenty-fourth state with a comprehensive medical marijuana program, the District of Columbia is working to roll back patients' rights and criminalize consumption. This week, the Council...

Law says they can open as soon as July 15. But will the state's medical marijuana patients actually see dispensaries by then? Some in the industry don't think so. Earlier this week, the state Department of Health said selections for Hawaii's first medical cannabis dispensary licenses will...