CHICAGO (AP) — Patients must have a doctor's signature to buy medical marijuana in Illinois, but some health systems are forbidding doctors from putting pen to paper because the drug is still illegal at the federal level.

Others are cautiously allowing doctors to participate in the pilot program, even conducting training sessions to make sure doctors know their legal responsibilities as gatekeepers.

Illinois is among 23 states that permit marijuana for medical use, but the program has been slow to start since the law was enacted two years ago. Seven cultivation centers have been green-lighted to start growing cannabis; sales will begin later this year.

There is a growing trend in Florida. Local governments are voting to decriminalize marijuana. Florida lawmakers may not be willing to step up and decriminalize marijuana, but that hasn’t stopped local governments in Southeastern Florida from taking matters into their own hands. Key West, Florida is the latest local government to decriminalize marijuana. Per The Joint Blog:

Let me not be hypocritical and claim that as a graduate university student in the 1970s, I did not smoke (and inhale) marijuana! But as a lifetime non-smoker, this was a very brief flirtation. Today I am ambivalent toward cannabis issues with my reference largely focused on the Israeli research that seems to be balanced, authoritative and ongoing. Their researchers admit that many questions remain as to the efficacy of various chemicals in cannabis oil and possible deleterious side-effects.

The San Francisco-based dispensary, Trees, wants to hook you up with a cannabis kit, so all of your needs are taken care of in one place. The company acknowledges that - with technology like vaporizers, dabs, and so on, cannabis has become pretty complex (especially after a dome straight to the head). So for that reason, Trees stocks the latest tech and glassware for your blazing pleasure and packages in a convenient form.

Medicinal use of cannabis in California has been legal since 1996. While in Colorado and Washington cannabis is recreational, in California, the legalization of recreational is on the ballot for next year. The medical industry have allowed a booming medical marijuana industry to grow.

Marijuana edibles should be able to be identified when they are outside of their packages, and thestate is finally closing in on a solution to what has been a vexing problem for too long.

The Marijuana Enforcement Division is proposing a new pot symbol — an octagon stop-sign shape with the letters "THC," for pot's psychoactive ingredient — be affixed to individual items, not just to packaging labels.

This is close to being a good solution. But the symbol should lose the stop sign. Edible marijuana is legal in Colorado, and a stop sign is akin to asking the industry to put a skull and cross bones on items.

The inspiration for this 2008 comedy, according to producer Judd Apatow , was Floyd, the stoner played by Brad Pitt in True Romance: “I thought it would be funny to follow that character out of his apartment and watch him get chased by bad guys.” Seth Rogen plays Dale, James Franco is his dealer, Saul Silver, who has a rare new strain of marijuana, pineapple express. “It’s almost a shame to smoke it,” says Saul. “It’s like killing a unicorn. With, like, a bomb.” The movie was a massive hit, even inspiring the creation of a real variety of weed called pineapple express.

Colorado-based Wana Brands got its start making edible marijuana products. When using pot became more and more socially acceptable across the United States, the company recognized that there was a large percentage of the population that would be interested in trying the drug, but not smoking it. The company's edibles make marijuana less intimidating for non-smokers and appeal to a wider range of customers.

FLINT —

The Auto City Speedway in Clio is being transformed into the Cannabis Cup for this weekend's trade show.

Dan Skye, Editor/Chief at High Times Magazine says, "We're show casing the cannabis industry here. Michigan is on the verge of something really, really special."

It's the third time the cup has been held in Michigan and each year it's gotten bigger, with nearly 6,000 people expected to show up.

Skye says, "This is a chance for the entire Cannabis Cup industry to network and find out about the industry. It's a great place for the public to find out what the industry is really about as well."

Medical experts have planned seminars and more than 175 vendors will be on hand.

Congratulations to Oday Aboushi on his one-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substances of abuse policy. Police arrested the Jets offensive lineman in January and charged him with driving while suspended, careless driving, and possession of a controlled dangerous substance after they found “a small amount” of weed in his car. This would usually be a good opportunity to rag on the Jets, but this punishment seems like bullshit.

SAN FRANCISCO — The federal government’s decision to try to seize the property of a large medical marijuana dispensary cannot be second-guessed by a court, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday as it rejected a lawsuit by a California city that wants to keep the dispensary open.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said prosecutors have discretion to bring the type of civil forfeiture action they are pursuing against Harborside Health Center in Oakland, and a separate procedure exists to challenge those decisions.

The court affirmed a lower court ruling dismissing the city’s lawsuit against the attorney general and U.S. attorney for Northern California.