Victoria’s first inquiry into cannabis will soon be underway, after the Legislative Council voted 27 to 11 in favour of the inquiry yesterday. The inquiry will examine the state’s eight billion dollar illegal cannabis industry, assessing the health and social impacts of marijuana use and considering measures for harm reduction. Fiona Patten, leader of the Reason Party and strong supporter for marijuana legalisation, was behind the motion which spurred the inquiry. She told 3A

Tamworth's Peter O'Rourke using medicinal cannabis against terminal lung cancer Mother flower: Peter O'Rourke defied the odds with the help of medicinal cannabis, or as he calls it 'the mother flower'. Photo: Peter Hardin Peter O'Rourke claims the "mother flower", or medicinal cannabis saved his life, four years after being diagnosed with stage 4 terminal lung cancer, and given just one month to live. Mr O'Rourke's story features in the Tamworth based documentary High as Mike

AFL 2019: Garry Lyon urges Paddy McCartin to seek clarity from AFL about alternative concussion treatments Paddy McCartin’s young AFL career has been hampered by constant concussion setbacks. Picture: Alex CoppelSource: News Corp Australia Melbourne great Garry Lyon has urged sidelined Saint Paddy McCartin to approach the AFL about the possibility of exploring alternative concussion treatments to deal with his debilitating issues. McCartin on the weekend opened up on his issu

Photo: Kerrie-Ann Trembath Forster says cannabis alleviates some of her suffering. (ABC News) Kerrie-Ann Trembath Forster has lived with agonising chronic pain for the best part of a decade, and despite medicinal cannabis being legal in Canberra, she sometimes has to turn to street drugs to relieve her suffering. Key points: AMA says GPs lack training in medicinal cannabis prescription Canberra grandmother reports unwillingness amongst doctors to prescribe Chronic Pain Austr

Photo: Police officers take saliva swabs from drivers as part of the roadside drug driving tests. (ABC North Coast: Gemma Sapwell) Related Story: Calls to relax Canberra's drug-driving laws as the ACT looks to legalise cannabis Related Story: Medicinal cannabis driving plan 'inconsistent' with road safety objectives External Link: Magistrate questions NSW drug driving testing program The accuracy of drug driving tests has been called into question after a landmark court rulin

Could cannabis change the lives of dogs? (Getty) Many people already swear by cannabis extract CBD, claiming it can treat anything from anxiety to cancer – but could it be a revolutionary treatment for epileptic dogs? A pilot study of dogs has found that it is ‘promising and exciting’ as a treatment for dogs with epilepsy, said Dr. Stephanie McGrath of Colorado State University. Dr McGrath’s team found that 89% of dogs who received CBD in the clinical trial had a reduction in

Imagine being diagnosed with a rare disorder which sees your own immune system damages your nerve cells, causing severe pain, muscle weakness and even paralysis. Now imagine if you found out cannabis could greatly improve your quality of life by reducing the debilitating symptoms. Would you be considered a dangerous criminal in the eyes of police and self-medicate with cannabis or would you continue to suffer long-term problems to stay within the confines of the law? For Crai

We celebrate when my 12-year-old daughter Rebecca puts her school uniform on without refusing, when she doesn’t swear at her teachers or peers, and doesn’t lift up her dress to seek attention. A good day is when Rebecca doesn’t throw herself on the ground in a tantrum or say she won’t go to her weekly after school therapy sessions. Most mornings, I feel like I have run a marathon before we get out the door. Rebecca is more than a handful and that is okay, I love my daughter,

Medical professionals want more information about medicinal cannabis before they start prescribing it to patients, a new study has found. Researchers from the Queensland University of Technology conducted a wide-ranging review of 26 published studies across Australia, the United States, Canada and Ireland. Health professionals support medicinal cannabis as a treatment option but many don't know enough about it. Credit: Alamy QUT pharmacy PhD candidate Kyle Gardiner led the an

Double Windsor Films | The Dwyer family. When Danielle and Brian Dwyer’s son Waldo was six months old, he was diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer that required chemotherapy. After starting chemo, Waldo couldn’t sleep, had trouble eating and going to the bathroom, and kept vomiting. In search of a solution, the Philadelphia-based family went to California to get CBD oil for Waldo, which was illegal in their home state at the time. “We gave him a drop the size of a grain o