Ask your legislators to stand up for medical cannabis patients.On Tuesday, the North Carolina General Assembly convened in Raleigh for its 2020 legislative session. But — due to the coronavirus — it will operate very differently from prior years. Only about 20% of lawmakers were present. Committee meetings will be held online, and floor votes will be staggered to allow social distancing.While the legislature’s operations have changed to protect public health, there’s no reason it can’t do the people’s…

Ask your lawmakers to reject the THC cap amendment to HB 713! On Thursday, March 5, the Florida House approved a 10 percent THC cap on medical cannabis for patients under 21 years old. The cap was submitted as an amendment to HB 713, which is a larger healthcare package. This THC limit would leave younger patients behind who respond best to medical cannabis with higher proportions of THC. Please take a minute to ask your lawmakers to reject this amendment! THC has proven medical benefits, including…

Contact your senator now in support of adding inhalation to the medical marijuana program! Yesterday, a bill was barely defeated that would allow for inhalation of medical marijuana. Right now, patients are severely limited on how they can use medical marijuana. But there's still hope! The legislature is back in session this weekend, and there is a chance to reconsider the bill and have another vote as soon as TODAY. Please write your senator right now in favor of allowing patients to use medical…

The Minnesota medical cannabis program is now accepting petitions to add qualifying conditions. Once again, MPP is teaming up with local advocate group Sensible Minnesota to petition to expand the program. Post-traumatic stress disorder — which was added as a result of last year’s petition process — qualifies starting on Aug. 1, and the year before we were successful in efforts to add intractable pain. This year we are looking at adding several new conditions. They are: nausea, autism, dementia,…

Breast cancer kills. Even mentioning the term can be a little creepy. However, thanks to slow but steady scientific progress, it’s not the killer it once was. We’re starting to understand that genetics plays a role in a minority of cases. We’ve found clear links to obesity, high-fat diets, and cigarette smoking. Lack of exercise probably plays a role, too. Regular screening seems like a good idea, but, like many ideas in science, it has some controversy. Treatments are markedly better than they once…

In an interview Wednesday, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said that he had been tempted to use medical marijuana while undergoing treatment for cancer. He cited many of the reasons other medical marijuana patients do for wanting to use this treatment, including intense pain and being unable to keep anti-nausea medication down long enough for it to work. Unfortunately, medical marijuana is not legal in Utah, so Shurtleff was unwilling to use it, even when offered it by a friend. This experience…