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In Sydney, Australia participants are currently being recruited for a CBD research study that will examine regular cannabis users to help researchers understand the role of the endocannabinoid system in pain perception. Regular marijuana users who participate in the study will be compensated for their time. I am not telling you this to suggest that the United States pay people to smoke marijuana so we can study them, but we should definitely be doing research on the…

The New Mexico Court of Appeals recently ruled that an employer must pay for an injured worker’s medical marijuana. This is the nation’s first appellate court ruling in a workers’ compensation case in which an employer has been ordered to pay for medical marijuana prescribed by an employee’s healthcare provider to treat a workplace injury.1 In 2000, George Vialpando injured his back at work in 2000 while he was employed by Ben’s Automotive Services in Santa Fe….

Senators Joe Manchin and David Vitter are concerned about what they call “pay-to-play” meetings in which pharmaceutical manufacturers allegedly paid thousands of dollars to meet with FDA officials who oversee safety regulations on painkillers. The senators suggest these meetings might have helped Zohydro get approved by the FDA despite an advisory committee voting against it. Zohydro was approved by the FDA even though many doctors believe the drug is deadly! Manchin and Vitter have requested the…

According to the Supreme Court, an important virtue of our federalist system ofgovernment is that “a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory;and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Starting a business in an industry that is still illegal under federal law requires someone daring enough to assume risks, but humble enough to avoid undue attention from…

History was recently made in the Florida Senate, when legislators for the first time passed a bill to legalize low-THC medical marijuana that treats intractable epilepsy in children. The marijuana must contain less than .3% THC (the compound responsible for the high feeling) and 15% or more CBD (the part of the plant used to get the oil needed to treat epilepsy). This bill recently won in the Senate with a 36-3 vote. Most…

April 29, 2014The federal government’s official position is that marijuana, as a Schedule 1 substance, has no medical value. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even many of the most ardent critics of medical marijuana do not agree with the Schedule 1 classification, because it has impeded the ability to conduct research on the plant’s potential therapeutic uses. Every U.S. commission or federal judge who has studied the evidence has agreed that cannabis…