A Wisconsin committee is taking up a bill that would allow the legal use of a marijuana extract to treat severe seizure disorders, but it’s hitting new roadblocks.

It’s called CBD oil and right now, it’s legal in Wisconsin, but that doesn’t mean it’s available. The oil is still illegla under federal law unless doctors get an FDA waiver to prescribe it and so far, none in Wisconsin have been willing to get one.

“She was on everything, Depakote, every pharmaceutical you could imagine to treat her seizures,” said Steve Figi of Menasha, “[her seizures] were at a rate of 20-40 grand mal seizures a day, when she was 4-and-a-half-years-old.”

A report in the March/April issue of the Journal of Addiction Medicine finds that the costs of treatment for babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS)—symptoms and complications related to withdrawal from the opioid pain medication to which they were exposed in utero—have increased dramatically as more infants are born to mothers with dependence on prescription pain medications. The authors cite the findings in support of their recommendations for more intensive screening of pregnant women for substance abuse.

Researchers from the University of Toronto report the discovery of the biological basis that may illuminate the observed connection between pain and anxiety. The study focused on the connections between neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) region of the brain. Pain can become chronic as neurons become more efficient at transmitting pain signals via repeated use, a process called “long term potentiation” or LTP. Previous work in animal models of chronic pain demonstrated that LTP occurs in the ACC, and that inhibiting LTP reduces chronic pain. However, how LTP in the ACC differs in chronic pain and anxiety was not known, nor why the 2 would interact to result in more pain in anxiety sufferers, and more anxiety in pain sufferers.

In the past two years Gov. Andrew Cuomo has come a long way in amending his once unsupportive views about medical marijuana, but it is not far enough.

New York has become the 23rd state to legalize medical marijuana in some form, and this should help those New Yorkers suffering from cancer, glaucoma and other serious illnesses. But if the program works as intended, it should be expanded.

Friday was the deadline for businesses to apply for only five licenses that will be granted to manufacture and dispense the drug statewide.

Alex Renton, 19, of Nelson is in an induced coma in Wellington Hospital while his family fights to get him medicinal marijuana.

The bureaucratic delay in treating a teenager in an induced coma in Wellington Hospital is bordering on unethical, Labour MP Damien O'Connor says.

Alex Renton, 19, of Nelson, has been in hospital since early April and remains in "status epilepticus",  a kind of prolonged seizure.

Capital & Coast District Health Board decided late on Friday to apply to the Ministry of Health for approval to use a marijuana extract to treat him.

His mother, Rose Renton, is begging the Government to approve treatment for her son, who has already endured more than 20 medications that have not worked.

A recent study, announced at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) annual meeting in Washington DC, indicated that there was a mean reduction of over 50 percent in seizures among some patients with epilepsy who took the main, non-psychoactive cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), over a three month period.

The study indicated that a multicenter trial of a liquid 99% CBD, provided seizure relief in children with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) who had been resistant to at least eight existing antiepileptic pharmaceuticals.While the study was focused on patients with Dravet or LGS it also included patients with ten other conditions, some of which were genetically related.

An herbal remedy made from the marijuana plant is now being sold legally in South Carolina.

Governor Nikki Haley signed the bill legalizing cannabidiol or CBD oil last June.

Palmetto Harmony, a South Carolina-made CBD product, is now for sale without a prescription at three locations in the state, including Natural Health Pharmacy in Socastee. 

Advocates say the oil shows amazing results for treating things like chronic pain, glaucoma and epileptic seizures.

"We've had a little girl that had 200 seizures a day. She's down to two, which are like twitches now," said Erika Erhenford, co-owner of Natural Health Pharmacy.

The oil contains small amounts of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, but it won't cause anyone to get high.

It's hardly a new concern as many as a dozen studies have been done that show an increased risk for mental health issues among teens. Reporter Sue Bailey of the Canadian Press has produced the latest story and it includes interviews from front-line workers who deal with the teenage victims of marijuana. It's not pretty and it's a message some medical practitioners, like Canadian child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Sinthu Suntharalingam, say needs to get out there. Dr.

In 2010, when the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, we knew that new opportunities were emerging for drug users who were disconnected from the traditional healthcare system. Long-ignored and marginalized by a fragmented "sick care" system that has historically profited from their episodic, crisis-oriented care, our participants are finally starting to get the attention of reformers.

A recent review of medical literature, courtesy of the Headache Center at the Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute in Cleveland, Ohio, has shown that cannabis has potential therapeutic effects for the treatment of headache disorders, including migraines.