MLB and players’ union mull testing for opioids while easing marijuana penalties

When healthy, Kyle Blanks could crush a baseball. In the final 32 games of 2009, his rookie season with the San Diego Padres, playing in a home field so cavernous it was known as Petco National Park, Blanks hit 10…

Veterans urge Congress, VA to catch up on expanding access to medical marijuana

When he was deployed to Iraq in 2005, Army Sgt. E-5 Steven Acheson was assigned to the security detail of a high-ranking officer, driving a Humvee over IED-infested roads on more than 400 missions, as the violent insurgency tore the…

5 things to know about the expanded medical marijuana law in Illinois

llinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed into law a measure that stands to create a new class of medical marijuana users. Here’s a look at what the change will mean: 1. More access … The new law allows medical marijuana to be…

Illinois Lawmakers Approve Measure To Allow Medical Marijuana As Prescription Painkiller Substitute

Illinois lawmakers have approved a measure not only to allow medical marijuana to be used in place of prescription painkillers, but to eliminate requirements for patients to get fingerprints and criminal background checks. The change would allow all new applicants to buy…

People with opioid prescriptions could get medical marijuana instead under Illinois Senate plan

Patients with a prescription for opioids would temporarily qualify for the state’s medical marijuana program under a bill the Illinois Senate passed Thursday. Supporters say the idea is to give those in pain alternatives amid the ongoing opioid addiction epidemic. Opponents suggested the bill…

An Open Letter From Dr. Sanjay Gupta To Jeff Sessions On Medical Marijuana

Dear Honorable Jeff Sessions, I feel obligated to share the results of my five-year-long investigation into the medical benefits of the cannabis plant. Before I started this worldwide, in-depth investigation, I was not particularly impressed by the results of medical…

Martellus Bennett Says ’89 Percent’ Of NFL Players Use Cannabis

Recently retired NFL player Martellus Bennett has a rough estimate of how many of his former compatriots smoke marijuana. It's pretty high. "I want to say about 89 percent," Bennett told Chris Simms and Adam Lefkoe on their Bleacher Report podcast this week after…

Democratic Senator Calls Out Big Pharma For Marijuana Opposition

February 24, 2018
AggregatedNews
Organizations & Associations, Policy & Legal
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A prominent Democratic U.S. senator is slamming pharmaceutical companies for opposing marijuana legalization. "To them it's competition for chronic pain, and that's outrageous because we don't have the crisis in people who take marijuana for chronic pain having overdose issues,"…

Doctors From Illinois Are Fighting For Medical Marijuana To Replace Opioids

November 18, 2017
AggregatedNews
Illinois
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As a prominent Chicago surgeon, Dr. Charles Bush-Joseph sees them all too frequently: people who endure severe injuries or multiple surgeries, only to become addicted to prescription painkillers. One patient who pleaded for help was on such strong drugs already…

Study: Legal Marijuana Linked to Decrease of Opioid Deaths in Colorado

October 17, 2017
AggregatedNews
Colorado
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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…

Former Big Pharma Exec Makes the Switch From OxyContin to Marijuana

John Stewart used to run the pharmaceutical company behind the narcotic painkiller OxyContin. Now he is banking on medical marijuana. Mr Stewart does not know which is more controversial these days, OxyContin or pot. He guesses the average person would…

Study Shows Opioid Use Down in States With Medical Marijuana

Fewer people are using opioids in states that have legalized medical marijuana, according to a study published Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health that bolsters advocates' claims that marijuana can substitute for more deadly drugs. The study, which…