New medical marijuana products will soon be available in Maryland. Cannabis edibles, like cookies, brownies and various forms of candy, will be made and sold at authorized dispensaries.

Patients say it's a welcome option, but the state is scrambling to come up with rules and regulations to keep people, especially children, safe.

Ariana Foote is a medical cannabis patient. She puts it in a variety of foods, like pasta, butter, brownies and olive oil. She uses it to treat symptoms of depression and anxiety and to help her sleep.

The University of Maryland is now offering a master’s degree in cannabis that is being billed as the first in the nation. In the two-year program, students will study the basics of medical marijuana, including the clinical uses and adverse effects of cannabis. Course work will also cover public health considerations and state and federal policy and legislation. Students who complete the program will earn the Master of Science (MS) in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics from the university’s School of Pharmacy.

It looks as though many hemp farmers in the USA have been facing an uphill battle in protecting their crops from pests – the two-legged kind.

It wasn’t that long ago news of hemp theft wasn’t all that common, but with so many states now permitting cultivating the crop and harvest season in play, incidents are being reported daily.

Among the instances of plants being stolen reported across the country over the last few weeks:

The legal marijuana industry is budding before our eyes. What had once been considered a taboo industry that was swept under the rug by lawmakers has now become a front-and-center issue, as well as a big-time moneymaker for investors and companies involves in the pot industry.

CBD edibles and vapes spiked with a variety of synthetic marijuana compounds have found their way to consumers in Louisiana, Maryland and nearly a dozen other states, according to a nationwide Associated Press investigation into unregulated cannabidiol products. Synthetic marijuana, often marketed as K2 or Spice, has been linked to mass hospitalizations and other health emergencies across the U.S. and Europe.

Bob Dylan wrote his indelible classic “The Times They Are a-Changin’” at a moment of enormous political and cultural upheaval in the country. Nearly 60 years later, the lyrics have been invoked—in a court of law, no less—to capture the winds of change in marijuana policy.

Two men, one of whom is a Baltimore mail carrier, have pleaded guilty to smuggling marijuana into the city through the U.S. Postal Service. Both men face decades in federal prison as punishment for their convictions, according to a report in local media.

Michael Gray pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana this week and could spend up to 20 years in prison for his role in the smuggling operation. William McRae, an employee of the Postal Service, pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana and faces incarceration of up to 40 years.

The University of Maryland is launching a master’s degree program to instruct students on the science and regulation of medical marijuana. The new Master of Science (MS) in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics will “provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to support patients and the medical cannabis industry, add to existing research in the field, and develop well-informed medical cannabis policy,” according to a press release from the university.

Health professional overwhelmingly support the use of medical cannabis among patients in hospice care, according to data published in The Journal of Palliative Medicine.

Investigators from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy surveyed a nationally representative sample of 310 hospice professionals (primarily nurses) from 40 states.

Ninety-one percent of respondents endorsed the use of medical cannabis among hospice patients. Ninety percent of respondents said that they have fielded questions from patients regarding the use of medical cannabis, and 73 percent acknowledging having cared for a patient who has used it.