Chronic pain is a debilitating condition that predisposes humans to long years of pain. Now, scientists have found a way to reverse the condition as they discovered the molecular pathway for chronic pain in laboratory animals. Thus, it has opened doors and gave light to the treatment for Americans.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke,chronic pain is now believed to be a chronic disease condition just like other diseases like asthma and diabetes. It varies from acute pain in the sense that it lasts longer and it is more resistant to many medical treatments.

As she approached the Finney County Sheriff’s Office Monday, Shona Banda, the local medicinal marijuana advocate who gained national attention after the state took custody of her son, was surrounded by supporters, including Jennifer Winn, the Republican candidate who challenged Gov. Sam Brownback in last August’s primary.

Banda, accompanied by her attorney Sarah Swain and several others, turned herself in at the Law Enforcement Center at 2 p.m. Monday. Several local media outlets gathered outside along with other supporters.

Shona Banda, a Garden City mom who faces five charges related to marijuana use, appeared in court for the first time on Tuesday.

Those charges came after her 11-year-old son made comments about Banda using pot during an anti-drug program in his fifth-grade class at Bernadine Sitts School.

Eleven days after the incident, Garden City police and the Department for Children and Families questioned Banda’s son at school and raided Banda’s home in Garden City. Authorities took her son away and put him in protective state custody.

Curtis Jacobs, Finney County court administrator, said Banda’s first-appearance court records were still being processed as of Tuesday afternoon but should be released Wednesday.

Co-authored with David Walker

On November 6, 2012, voters in Washington and Colorado voted to support what was previously considered a radical experiment in social policy: the legalization of marijuana. More recently, Oregon, Washington DC and Alaska joined these two pioneering states. Though 23 states have legalized medical marijuana, the ballot victories in Colorado and Washington broke a long string of losses for full legalization efforts at the ballot box, including the prominent failure in 2010 of Proposition 19 in California.

What changed to break the pattern? The key was the ability to convince voters who haven't used and don't like marijuana to support legalization.

A new report finds that 'disproportionally harsh laws and policies' surrounding drug offences are preventing families from living together

Drugs offences that are either decades old or so minor they have incurred little to no prison time are responsible for tearing thousands of US families apart through detention and deportation, according to a report released today.

The report, from the international non-governmental organisation, Human Rights Watch, found that “disproportionally harsh laws and policies” surrounding drug offences can result in deportation for unauthorized immigrants as well as lawful and permanent US residents.

ALBANY, N.Y. --  With time running out in Albany, the Senate and Assembly approved a bill to give quicker access to medical marijuana for patients who need it, even before the Compassionate Care Act is scheduled to go into full effect -- but there is still one more hurdle before advocates start celebrating. 

"This is a huge win. You have a situation where you have bipartisan strong, strong bipartisan agreement," said Gabriel Sayegh, of the Drug Policy Alliance.

"If these kids who are having in some cases dozens of seizures a day have to wait until the system is up and running, optimistically sometime in 2016, that's an awful lot of torture to these children," said Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan.

CAVE CREEK, AZ--(Marketwired - Jun 15, 2015) - Endexx Corporation's (OTC PINK: EDXC) subsidiary, CBD Health Solutions LLC., will be attending and selling products at the NorCal HIGH TIMES Cannabis Cup in San Francisco, CA, the weekend of June 20-21st. CBD Health Solutions will enter its hemp-based Cannsumable© product Canna Flakes© into the 2015 HIGH TIMES NorCal Medical Cannabis Cup as part of a partnership withAqua Blitzed™, an established maker of premium zero-calorie infused sparkling water.

By a margin of 20 percent, a majority of Michigan voters supports legalization of small amounts of marijuana for adult recreational use, as two competing groups race to put the issue on the November 2016 ballot.

Support for legalization topped 56 percent in a statewide poll conducted June 9-11 by the Glengariff Group Inc. and released exclusively to The Detroit News and WDIV-TV.

Among 600 likely 2016 general election voters, opposition to ending Michigan's decades-old cannabis prohibition was just under 36 percent.

"The issue is in a position to win," said pollster Richard Czuba, president of the Chicago-based Glengariff Group. "This has a chance, but it's not an easy campaign."

In the days leading to his death, former Marine Cpl. Jason Simcakoski sent a text to his dad from the inpatient psychiatric ward at the Tomah, Wisconsin, Veterans Affairs hospital.

"I slept horrible last night," Simcakoski wrote Aug. 27, 2014. "I tossed and turned sweating … then I just stayed up. I couldn't take it. I'm worse now than before I came in."

Simcakoski had checked himself into the hospital for chronic drug misuse, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. He was taking 14 medications, including antipsychotics, muscle relaxers, antidepressants and tramadol — a powerful opioid painkiller prescribed to him by Tomah doctors.

In their op-ed article against cannabis legalization, former drug czar William J. Bennett and Seth Leibsohn yearn for a time when fear-mongering, not facts, drove the marijuana policy debate in America. Those days are over.