Federal prosecutors warned landlords of the dispensaries that they have 45 days to end the sale of medical marijuana on their premises or they could face seizure of their property and prison time.

The increased enforcement comes on the heels of an announcement that the feds wouldn’t enforce federal drug laws against people using pot for medical purposes in states that allow it. After that announcement, the number of dispensaries increased dramatically in California.

We’ll keep you posted as this story develops.

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The good news is, the young boy — who was diagnosed with a Stage 4 optic nerve tumor that was expected to kill him — has bounced back, although there is still a chance the cancer could return.

To get healthy, the toddler underwent a grueling series of seven chemotherapy treatments which left him in septic shock and induced a stroke. The child went 40 days without eating.

That’s when his father, Mike Hyde, took matters into his own hands, slipping cannabis oil into his son’s feeding tube. Hyde credits the drug with helping his son regain his appetite. The marijuana was legally obtained in Montana for medical use, although the child was treated in Salt Lake City’s Primary Children’s Hospital. Hyde admits he didn’t tell doctors about the cannabis, for fear they would take it away.

The fact that doctors were unaware of a treatment being given to the child, and that no clinical trials have been done to gauge the effectiveness — or safety — of medical marijuana in children, has some medical experts concerned.

What’s your take? Is medical marijuana the kind of alternative treatment you’d consider for your child? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Last week, the city shut down 439 pot dispensaries. Roughly 130 remain open for now. The city council plans to tighten rules on where dispensaries can operate, which should reduce the number to about 70 in the city.

City leaders have had complaints about marijuana dispensaries opening near schools, parks, churches and libraries. The city plans to have dispensaries concentrated in areas like industrial/commercial parks, where they’re less likely to become nuisances to the neighbors.

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Problem is, researchers looking into medical uses for the plant are finding it hard to get access to it.

The New York Times recently reported that the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) which controls access to the nation’s only legal marijuana farm, tends to deny research requests from those hoping to prove the therapeutic effects of marijuana and THC.

And researchers whose requests are approved generally have to deal with significant red tape delays before they can actually begin their studies. As a spokesperson for NIDA told the Times, “…our focus is primarily on the negative consequences of marijuana use. We generally do not fund research focused on the potential beneficial medical effects of marijuana.”

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A recent story in the L.A. Times highlighted a model-turned-doctor who closed her family practice to focus on a more profitable niche. The practice now exists almost wholly as a place to get marijuana “recommendations,” which are then filled at local dispensaries. The practice also provides some other services, including Botox and a weight loss program (no word on whether it addresses weight gain from the munchies).

Did we mention the Caribbean-trained doctor in question, Sona Patel, bills herself as “Dr. 420” and uses her old modeling photos in her ads?

To be fair, Dr. Patel says she only recommends marijuana for patients with chronic diseases who have not seen improvement in six months or more under conventional treatment. She also claims to turn away two to five patients a day who don’t have a condition suitable for treatment with marijuana.

She concedes that moving from a traditional family practice to her current roster of services is much more profitable. But she says her main motivation was seeing patients with chronic diseases like diabetes get little to no relief from prescription drugs while often suffering serious side effects.

Regardless of motivation, Dr. Patel has plenty of company as a mostly-pot-based practice — there are several hundred in California alone. And there are an increasing number of claims that some of these practitioners don’t take the maximum care to ensure only patients with serious need get access to a controlled substance that has real street value.

Who watches the watchers?

There isn’t much downside to being a liberal dispenser of marijuana prescriptions. Despite the proliferation of pot dispensaries and marijuana-specialty practices, since 1996, there have been only 81 complaints against “pot docs” according to the Medical Board of California. (Then again, patients abusing the system probably feel too good to complain about much.)

Subsequent investigations of those complaints resulted in disciplinary action against only 10 physicians.

That concerns both folks who think it’s a bad idea to allow medical marijuana use as well as more traditional doctors who believe pot has a place in the pharmacy — when properly supervised.

Should medical marijuana use be more tightly controlled? Or does that simply make a useful pharmaceutical harder to get in the hands of patients who need it? And do practices that play up the recreational aspects of marijuana help remove a stigma, or are they just updated Dr. Feelgoods?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Attorney General Eric Holder told federal prosecutors in the 14 states that allow some medicinal use of marijuana to focus their resources only on heavy drug traffickers, money launderers or people who are using existing state laws as a ruse for recreational use.

Drug reform advocates argue that easing of enforcement could allow states to set up distribution centers for residents using the drug medicinally. But some advocates are  waiting to see if other federal agencies cease medical-marijuana-related raids or otherwise indicate that they’re willing to back off on enforcing the existing federal drug laws.

Do you think loosening the restrictions on marijuana is a good idea for the health care system? Sound off in the comments.

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