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 diseases. That is slowly changing, as researchers are uncovering some of the plant's lesser known, but potentially quite powerful, preventive medical applications. One of the most crucial roles of preventive medicine is t

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 regulators planned to work a second straight weekend to review them. Los Angeles and San Francisco were late to approve local regulations, meaning no recreational pot shops there will open their doors on Monday. The lucky

[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 off the illegal substance) have been known to ’nod off’ or go to sleep at the wheel and crash their cars. Not even heroin is tested for, a known sleep inducer. So too amphetamine users, who tend to drive for too long

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 says if his six-year-old granddaughter is taken off her medication she will experience regular epileptic seizures. “She would go back to having seizures. If we did that to greyhounds or live cattle we’d be on Four Corn

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 drug. It comes after GPs told The Daily Telegraph they’d “given up” trying to prescribe medical cannabis more than a year after it had been legalised because they were continuously “being blocked” by NSW Health. NSW

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 about 150 are doing so legally. The Turnbull government on Friday released five disease-specific booklets based on the most up-to-date evidence for doctors when considering the treatment. Five-year-old critically ill

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 provide relief to terminally ill Australians in palliative care. The guidelines show medical cannabis can provide some relief to patients with chronic pain from nerve damage. They warn that, for many people, the pain

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 Magistrates Court on December 12, and pleaded guilty to possessing 13 grams of marijuana on November 29 at Andergrove. He admitted to police that he was carrying the bag during a traffic stop, prosecutor Shelby Larcombe told Ma

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 refused. Council general manager Lindy Deitz said the council “was not comfortable” with holding that type of event at the centre. “While council is sympathetic to the needs of those living with chronic or terminal

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 psychosis is antipsychotic drugs, which have been the first line of treatment since the 1950s. These drugs are usually partially effective, but in around a third of patients they don’t work at all. They also can have sign

A WA company has begun cultivating its first plants at a facility south of Perth. react-text: 254 Picture: /react-text react-text: 255 /react-text react-text: 256 /react-text react-text: 257 File image /react-text THE first crop of medical cannabis is being grown in WA by a company that has a former director-general of health as an adviser. Perth phytopharmaceutical company Little Green Pharma is cultivating its first plants at a secure hydroponic growing facility south of Perth. The company said it was the first time medical cannabis had been grown locally and it expected to have product available for patients within the first few months of next year. Dr Neale Fong, a former

LOSING HOPE: Les McLean fears NSW Health is making it harder for regional patients like his wife Kathy to access medicinal cannabis. Picture: Tumut and Adelong Times A family are at their wits' end after NSW Health twice rejected their application for medicinal cannabis, despite having already been granted federal approval for the drug. Kathy McLean, 69, suffers from Lewy Body dementia, a debilitating brain disorder that causes her extreme pain and anxiety. Kathy was granted federal approval to use medicinal cannabis by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in September, however, NSW Health are continuing to block her access to the much-needed drug. Lex McLean, Kathy's husband and ful

PUF Ventures Australia has announced plans for a major medicinal cannabis research partnership. THE company planning to build a $100 million medicinal cannabis facility near Casino has announced plans to enter into a major research partnership. PUF Ventures Australia has filed an application with the Australian Office of Drug Control to obtain a medicinal cannabis license and a cannabis research license in collaboration with the National Institute of Complementary Medicine. This health research institute is based at the Western Sydney University in New South Wales. PUF Ventures Australia aims to conduct medical research with academic input from the institute at its proposed Northern

"We don't have time to wait." Anna Mendoza for BuzzFeed News The mother of Australia's first patient to receive approval for schedule 9 medicinal cannabis products is finding it just as hard to legally obtain the drug as anyone else attempting to source it. Lanai Carter and her 19-year-old son, Lindsay — who has a brain tumour and epilepsy — have been told the Canadian supplier that was selling them medicinal cannabis products will no longer be shipping to Australia. Lanai and Lindsay are set to travel overseas for treatment, and were hoping to fill a prescription for a cannabis oil tincture for their flight overseas, so as to avoid Lindsay possibly having a seizure during the flight.

PUF Ventures Australia (PUFA) the group seeking to set up a medical cannabis farm and extraction plant near Casino, has filed application with the Australian Office of Drug Control to obtain a medicinal cannabis licence and a cannabis research licence in collaboration with the University of Western Sydney based National Institute of Complementary Medicine (NICM) PUFA says it will conduct medical research ‘with NICM’s academic input’ at its proposed ‘Northern Rivers Project’ in a 10,000-square foot dedicated laboratory, training centre and research facility. When complete, it claims the facility will include a 1,200,000 square feet medicinal cannabis cultivation greenhouse and extraction

PREVIOUSLY | Man charged with supplying 'legally grown' cannabis AN OLDER out-of-towner told his lawyer he definitely wouldn't be bringing in any more illegal drugs into Gladstone after he was caught driving around Gladstone with almost half a kilogram of marijuana. Milan Pero Tomljenovic, 64, only just made it to the Gladstone Magistrates Court on time when his connecting flight from Canberra was delayed in Brisbane on Friday morning. The court was told the Australian Capital Territory man had been intercepted by police on a previous visit to Gladstone, where they found 460g of cannabis inside his car. Defence lawyer Cassandra Ditchfield told Magistrate Melanie Ho her client had no cr

EDUCATION authorities have refused to say whether a Weipa-based teacher charged with drug possession has been suspended. Lisa O’Malley, 37, was working as a deputy principal at the Western Cape College when her home was raided in late October with police allegedly locating a quantity of cannabis. She has been charged with one count each of possession of dangerous drugs and possession of a utensil and appeared in the Weipa Magistrates Court for the first time on November 14. The case is due to return to court on December 12. A spokesman for the Department of Education and Training said they were aware of a matter before the courts involving a staff member from the College. But he refu