It seems that the medical marijuana movement is on the move!

After years of difficult encounters with state and federal legislation to get approval on a nationwide level, stories about the benefits of medical marijuana have been overwhelming the news cycles.

A recent story from Harvard declared that one of the active ingredients in marijuana cut tumor growth in common lung cancer in animals. I read another story that found marijuana use in the Seattle-area increased rates of testicular cancer. It seems science is all over the place, but many states are trying to amend their local laws in an effort to legitimize medical marijuana use among people that have medical necessity.

So I wonder how our new administration will tackle the issue. Are we going to see national guidelines for proper indication based on real science? Or are we going to end up with the same system we have today, which seems to be an unregulated service with poor checks and balances?

Certainly one thing that cannot be tolerated is for the federal government to look the other way. The medical community should have a strong voice, not only in science, but in the way the system will operate, since it is they who will most likely be responsible for any hiccups along the way.

Patients who have legitimate medical needs should also be heard so the system doesn’t become polluted with people trying to take advantage of the availability of medical marijuana.

Join the discussion on my Facebook page.

New York smokers have been sent outside in all kinds of weather, coughed at in disdain, and now they are burdened with the most expensive cigarette taxes in the nation.

Now, to add cost to injury, the state is declaring its highest-in-the-nation cigarette tax a success.

The number of calls to the state’s Smoker’s Quitline quadrupled to nearly 10,000 calls during the week of June 2, when the full $2.75-a-pack tax kicked in, New York Health Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines said. Fewer than 2,300 people called for help during the same week in 2007.

The disclosure of hidden tobacco money behind a big study suggesting that lung scans might help save smokers from cancer has shocked the research community and raised fresh concern about industry influence in important science.

Two medical journals that published studies by Weill Cornell Medical College researchers in 2006 are looking into tobacco cash and other financial ties that weren’t revealed. The studies reported benefits from lung scans, which the Cornell team has long touted.

It’s a crucial public health issue: Dozens of groups, including such anti-smoking crusaders as the American Cancer Society, have given the Cornell team money to see if routinely screening smokers with CT scans can spot the world’s most lethal cancer in time to prevent deaths.