Medical marijuana patients in Maryland will soon be able to finally actually access medical marijuana as the state approved medical cannabis rules Thursday.
But it has taken the state forever – and left patients languishing – to get this far. And patients will still have to wait until 2016 to access any buds.

October 8, 2013 was a bad day for Scott Waselik. After being stabbed in the chest by his roommate, Kevin Rios, Waselik had to drive to a local police station for help. Once there, he gave the police his home address – reluctantly, he says – before being whisked off to a local hospital for treatment. Meanwhile, the cops were raiding his home, not only to arrest Rios but to charge Waselik with possession of marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia.
Thankfully, a judge this week has some common sense and ruled that the cops didn’t have the right to go into the home in the first place and has tossed out all of the evidence against Waselik.

The last we’d heard from Renee Petro, the Florida pot advocate whose story was highlighted in the Dallas Observer recent feature on medical marijuana refugees, the pint-sized parent was still fighting to obtain cannabis for her son, Branden, a FIRES sufferer. Branden’s debilitating seizures were spiraling out of control, and like the other parents in our story, Renee found herself caught between conflicting state laws and ideologies on medical marijuana. Traditional treatments weren’t working for Branden, and in Florida — much like Texas — when it came to matters of medical marijuana, her hands were tied.
Well, not anymore. After about three weeks on a cannabis protocol, Branden is now quite likely to test positive for THC — legally. More from Angelic Leicht at the Dallas Observer.

Iowa lawmakers seem rather slow to respond to outside stimulus. In 2010, the state Board of Pharmacy said lawmakers should consider allowing Iowans to access legal medical marijuana. The suggestion was completely ignored at the time, but the Board says they need to consider it now.
So once again, the Board of Pharmacy is going to take up the issue and will hold a hearing November 17 to get public input.