Cannabis could play a role in preventing serious diseases. Plant cannabinoids are well-known to be quite safe and to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and neuroprotective properties. (Nicholas Belton/iStockphoto) Preventive medicine is a hot topic these days – everyone is looking for ways to stay healthy and avoid illness. Until recently, the mainstream medical community would hardly even consider the idea that cannabis could have a role to play in preventing serious dis

Live music. Free T-shirts. A "Fweedom" celebration with mystery prize boxes, and a shot at a behind-the-scenes tour. California's legal pot market opens for business on January 1 2018. Marijuana legalisation arrives on January 1 in California with lots of hoopla, but only a handful of cities will initially have retail outlets ready to sell recreational pot. By Thursday afternoon, California had issued only 42 retail licenses. Another 150 applications were pending and regul

[Editorial opinion] The shocking news today that the driver suspected of causing the horrific triple-fatal crash on the NSW south coast this week was likely under the influence of methadone throws the NSW police’s drug-testing regime into sharp focus. Methadone and other opitates, whether legally obtained or not, are not tested under the police’s high-profile roadside drug-testing yet are known to cause driver impairment. In fact many on methadone (to wean heroin users

Doctors are finding it “near impossible” to subscribe medicinal cannabis to patients. Barry Lambert, Australian businessman and medicinal cannabis advocate, tells Ross Greenwood patients are waiting too long to get their medication. “Doctors trying to subscribe [medical cannabis] just give up on it. I met a doctor last week and she said it took 22 hours to go through the paperwork for one patient. “It’s a disgrace, Ross. Something’s got to be done about it.” Mr Lambert

Professor Jennifer Martin, Chair of Clinical Pharmacology at The University of Newcastle. A GP hotline NSW Health claims will “cut the red tape” for medical cannabis will take advice from a doctor who has said we should “stop the hype” around the drug and there is “no rush” to legalise it. Medical cannabis advocates are concerned at the involvement of Professor Jennifer Martin in the $6 million statewide advisory service aimed at helping doctors get quicker access to the

Information booklets on medicinal cannabis, which aim to make it easier for doctors to prescribe the controversial drug, have been released. Advocates have placed part of the blame on the low adoption of medicinal cannabis products on most doctors having little knowledge about it. Information pamphlets on medicinal cannabis are now available. Photo: Max Mason Hubers While experts believe up to 100,000 Australians are using cannabis to treat their medical conditions, only

Doctors have been given new guidelines on how effective medical cannabis treatments are. Picture: AP Photo/ Eric Gay AUSTRALIAN doctors have been given official guidelines on how effective medical cannabis is for treating patients with chronic pain and epilepsy. New guidelines released today also provide advice about whether patients with multiple sclerosis or chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting could benefit from the controversial treatment, as well as if it could p

Medicinal marijuana is legally available in Queensland, but its use must be prescribed and approved by medical professionals. A BEACONSFIELD man busted by police with a bag of marijuana told a court he was using the drug for pain relief following surgery for prostate cancer. While medicinal marijuana was legally approved for use in Queensland earlier this year, it must be prescribed and approved by medical professionals. John Barrington Parry, 71, faced Mackay Magistrat

Rosemeadow resident Thomas Griffin outside the Campbelltown Civic Centre. Picture: Chris Lane. (Inset of a marijuana plant). A Rosemeadow man has been left disappointed after his bid to host a event spruiking the benefits of medicinal cannabis and hemp products was quashed by Campbelltown Council. Thomas Grfifin said he wanted to hold the event – which aimed to promote only what was “legal and available” – at Campbelltown Council’s Civic Centre. However, his request was

Psychiatric patients treated with a substance found in cannabis, cannabidiol, showed a significant reduction in psychotic symptoms and were also more likely to be rated as “improved” by their psychiatrist, our latest study shows. Psychotic disorders affect two to three per cent of the population. They usually begin in early adulthood and the symptoms can be lifelong. Patients typically experience paranoia, hallucinations and a lack of motivation. The main treatment for p