Alexis Bortell, a 9-year-old girl from Texas, has had to move to Colorado in order to seek treatment for her seizures through medical marijuana. She had been on her new medicine for 33 days without experiencing any seizure symptoms.

The streak ended after a minor three minute seizure the other morning. It happened while Alexis had a cold.

Her father, Dean Bortell, says that her longest good ‘streak’ on pharmaceuticals was a couple of days. “We thought if we could get down to one ‘episode’ a week it would be a miracle. Monday marks four weeks and zero symptoms. We are completely amazed,” Dean states. “It is important to note that this ‘symptom elimination’ has been achieved using Haleigh’s Hope and THC oil with zero side effects.”

Legislation that would prohibit welfare cards at Colorado marijuana dispensary ATMs or strip clubs has been sent to Gov. John Hickenlooper for action.

The Senate passed the bill Tuesday on a 23-12 vote.

Many dispensary ATMs are already set up to decline the electronic benefit cards, known as EBTs. But lawmakers say legislation is needed to ensure there’s no misuse and to avoid possible federal sanctions.

Some Democrats opposed the bill, saying it’s not clear that the misuse of the cards is widespread.

The bill doesn’t give the state a way to monitor ATM use for compliance. But a separate pending bill that also seeks to restrict the use of welfare cards does have an enforcement mechanism.

No one can accuse the Stanley Brothers of Colorado of not pushing the envelope in the development and availability of medical cannabis in the U.S.

Over the last year, they have single handedly changed the game.

With the passage of the federal Farm Bill in February of 2014, containing an amendment to legalize hemp production for research purposes – and the approval by the Colorado Department of Agriculture to grow hemp for commercial or research and development purposes, the Stanley brothers set in motion plans to grow their high-CDB / low-THC strains of cannabis outdoors on a 40-acre Colorado family farm.

Sue Sisley is still having trouble getting her ground-breaking work on the effects of cannabis on veterans with PTSD recognized in Arizona, where she is based — and lost three state contracts last summer. But she's found much more success in other states, including Colorado,  which approved her grant application for $2 million to further her research late last year.

North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple (R) signed a bill into law on Friday that lays the groundwork for a commercial hemp industry and explicitly cuts the federal government out of the state's licensing process.

House Bill 1436 establishes guidelines for the state's industrial hemp program and allows people to apply to grow the plant for either research or commercial purposes. With its provision for commercial hemp, the law goes beyond the federal Farm Bill, passed by Congress last year, which allowed some states to cultivate the plant, but only for research purposes and in more restricted pilot programs.

The New Jersey Assembly is rebuking the Christie administration's handling of the state's medical marijuana program.

Lawmakers voted Thursday to approve a resolution, ACR224, that says Gov. Chris Christie's Health Department has placed "arbitrary and unnecessary" restrictions on the program.

The vote comes a day after Christie criticized the notion of legalizing marijuana in order to gain a tax windfall, calling it "blood money."

TARPON SPRINGS — Bob Clayton’s first encounter with hemp was at a health food store where the fibrous plant was sold in bottles as an ideal source of protein and omega acids.

At the time, he had no idea of the many uses for the tall cannabis plant, which Florida farmers are banned from growing due to its association with its psychoactive relative, marijuana.

The two happen to come from the same plant, but industrial hemp’s chemical makeup doesn’t produce a high.

What its fibrous stalks can produce is durable clothing, paper and even car dashboards.

Clayton, a retired engineer, also saw its potential as an Earth-friendly fiber for construction.

The same day Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law, paperwork was also submitted to register The First Church of Cannabis Inc. as a non-profit organization.

The church, founded by Bill Levin, promoted the filing with the Secretary of State via Facebook, and pointed out,

“Cannataerians… would seek love, understanding and good health.”

 

The recently enacted controversial law prevents the state (Indiana) government from “substantially burdening” a person’s right to exercise religion only if it can demonstrate that it is the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling governmental interest.

The wheels of state government can grind slowly, especially when it comes to medical marijuana implementation.

In regulated states where dispensaries are open for business, it took an average of 25 months for the very first licensed dispensary to open after the state’s MMJ bill or ballot passed.

However, many regulated states don’t have any dispensaries open for business yet. Would-be dispensaries in those states have been waiting an average of 20 months now to be able to open their doors. They are probably still looking at another 4-6 months of waiting, at best, before launch.

Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried, a Democratic sponsor of the medical marijuana legislation, criticized "senseless burdensome restrictions" on the program.

ALBANY — When New York State’s lawmakers were mulling legalizing the medical use of marijuana last summer, some proponents feared that the proposed law was so restrictive that it would prevent many patients from receiving the drug.

Now, with the state’s Health Department close to issuing final regulations about the new program, the law’s supporters say their fears may soon be realized.