At a Friday press conference in Mangilao, officials from Guam’s Public Health department present what they learned during a trip to Arizona and California to research medical marijuana laws. From left: Cynthia Naval, planner IV; Michelle Razo Lastimoza, environmental public health officer III; and Rosanna Rabago, environmental public health officer.(Photo: Maria Hernandez/PDN)

A three-person team from the island's public health department visited Arizona for about a month to learn more about the state's medical marijuana program, which Guam will be using as a foundation for its own program.

Alex Renton, the Nelson teen in a coma whose supporters fought to grant him access to cannabis oil medication, is responding to treatment, his mother says.

Alex, 19, has now received two doses of Elixinol, a cannabidiol (CBD) product from the United States, and mother Rose Renton told ONE News he was "calm and settled" following the second treatment.

The family hopes an electroencephalogram (or EEG - a test to measure electrical brain activity) with show positive progress later this week, and that Alex's sedation can be reduced further.

Alex is suffering from a prolonged form of seizure, known as epilepticus, and has been in Wellington Hospital since early April.

Doctors have tried more than 20 mediations to treat him, but none have worked.

The Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Bill is still pending with the House committee on health, more than a year after it was filed in 2014

MANILA, Philippines – Is it time to legalize the medical use of marijuana in the Philippines?

Debaters from the Ateneo de Manila University Law School and the University of Sto Tomas (UST) Law School discussed the issue at "The Law and Policy Debate: An Inter-university Dialogue" held at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, June 9.

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Should medical marijuana be legalized in the Philippines?

This was the question that several law students from two universities in the country tried to answer on Tuesday (June 9) during a Law and Policy Debate at the House of Representatives.

Ambassador Manuel Teehankee, a medical and law expert, recognized the need for public discussions on the legalization of marijuana.

He noted that debating on a topic is a healthy method of testing ideas and proposal, and "a good way by which the legislative process can be vetted with various ideas being exchanged."

There is growing pressure on Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne to relax the rules around medicinal marijuana – but any proposed changes won't have the Prime Minister's backing.

Nineteen-year-old Alex Renton has been in an induced coma at Wellington Hospital for more than a month, and his doctor and parents believe cannabinoid oil could improve his condition.

Protestors turned out yesterday to urge Mr Dunne to sign off on it in Wellington and Nelson, including Labour's West Coast MP Damien O'Connor.

Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly, who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer, says it's unfair to string families along.

Authorities made more than 110,000 drug arrests in the 2013-14 financial year and seized 27 tonnes of illicit substances

More drugs have been seized than at any other time in Australia and authorities make a narcotics-related arrest an average of once every five minutes, a new report by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) has said.

The illicit drug report pulls together data from state and territory police units, as well as the Australian federal police (AFP) and the Customs and Border Protection Service.

It finds authorities made more than 110,000 drug arrests in the 2013-14 financial year and seized a record 27 tonnes of illicit substances.

Global patterns of cannabis cultivation have followed a fascinating development, from highly concentrated production in certain developing countries to decentralized production in almost every country around the world (UNODC, 2014). Historically, the spread of cannabis cultivation across the globe reflected the industrial utility of hemp; the widespread use of cannabis as a recreational drug did not appear until much later (Abel, 1980, Booth, 2003). It is with the emergence of modern patterns of cannabis use in the developed world that we have seen major changes in patterns of cannabis production. As demand for cannabis increased globally, fuelled by the developments of the “counter-culture” of the 1960s and 1970s, so cultivation in the developing world began to take on new dimensions.

The Tasmanian Opposition has called on the Government to do more to ensure medicinal cannabis becomes available for patients.

About 50 people gathered at a Hobart rally calling for the legalisation of the drug.

Many of those attending had personal stories to tell about how the drug had helped them deal with the side effects of cancer treatment, the impact of seizures as well as chronic pain.

Natalie Daley, who was diagnosed with a rare cancer two years ago, said taking cannabis oil had significantly improved her health.

"Within an hour of taking cannabis oil my nausea started to lift and within a week I was up off the couch," she said.

"I was back to being myself, being a normal mother and housewife - it was amazing."

LILY Poulter vividly remembers the last time her shoulder popped out of its socket.

The nine-year-old was at school, engrossed in a test, when the slightest wrong movement caused the serious pain.

It wasn’t the first time it happened without warning and it will not be the last.

With her gap-toothed smile it would be easy to mistake Lily for a normal girl who adores learning and painting.

Yet she relies on opiate based medications every day to stay on top of her chronic pain caused by Ehlers-Danos Syndrome- a disorder which causes her points to regularly pop out of place.

She also suffers from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, which overstimulates the nerves, making even the slightest touch painful.

THE South Australian opposition has called on the state to join the national research effort on medicinal cannabis.

OPPOSITION Leader Steven Marshall said SA was the only state not engaged with the clinical trials being conducted in NSW.

The trials are looking at providing medical cannabis to children with severe, drug-resistant epilepsy, adults with a terminal illness and adults with chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

"The tardiness of the government in joining this national effort to improve the lives of people suffering a range of severe afflictions is disappointing," Mr Marshall said on Tuesday.