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Those searching for answers to the question " Is medical marijuana good medicine? " will find few in Dr. David Sack's Times Op-Ed article.   On the one hand, Sack concedes, "Marijuana can effectively treat neuropathic pain, and it has been shown to improve appetite and reduce nausea," an acknowledgment substantiating the plant's therapeutic utility. However, he later warns that cannabis' ability to provide relief for certain other conditions, such as lupus and anxiety, remains unproven.

Sexual misconduct allegations at Miramonte Elementary School sparked a surge of investigations of Los Angeles teachers, pushing the ranks of those in "teacher jail" to more than 300 - and prompting officials this week to consider the rights of accused employees. On Tuesday, the Board of Education will weigh a proposal designed to speed up and improve investigations, in hopes of quickly ousting the guilty and exonerating the innocent. "You don't need 300 days to figure out who's a monster," said Carpenter Elementary parent Julia Bricklin.

Auto leasing deals abound these days, with offers that often seem too good to be true. How about a well-equipped Honda Accord for $250 a month with no down payment or any other drive-off fees? Or better yet, $199 a month for a Chevrolet Malibu? So, what's the catch? There isn't any if you know what you're getting into. There are always details. You need top-tier credit to qualify. You pay a penalty if you turn that Honda in with more than 36,000 miles. And the payment is not $250 a month because of that little matter of tax. It is more like $275, depending on where you live.

NEW YORK - If there's one thing Gabriel Byrne has learned in recent years, it's the importance of a comfortable chair. After a marathon 106 episodes as psychologist Paul Weston on the HBO drama "In Treatment," Byrne stars in "Vikings," History's first full-length scripted series, as Earl Haraldson, a Norse chieftain with a flowing salt-and-pepper mane (all his own, thank you very much) and a taste for cruelty. Despite the considerable differences between the shows - one set almost entirely in a shrink's office in brownstone Brooklyn, the other in 8th century Scandinavia - they both left Byrne, well, uncomfortable.

The elliptical is gaining on the venerable treadmill in the race to be the No. 1 cardiovascular machine in the nation, with sales of $687 million in 2008 as compared with the treadmill's $870 million, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Assn. Small wonder. The flowing elliptical motion provides a similar cardiovascular workout to running but without the high impact, making it more friendly to those who have joint problems or are carrying a little extra weight. And with arm and leg stations, it delivers an all-body workout.

The world's best race horse is unbeaten Frankel, and the 4-year-old made an emphatic statement on Tuesday, winning by 11 lengths to improve to 11-0 in the Group I Queen Anne Stakes as part of the Royal Ascot Carnival. Trained by Henry Cecil and ridden by Tom Queally, Frankel has become Europe's wonder horse. If only Frankel would come to America to run in the Breeders' Cup, but Cecil told reporters afterward it was "very unlikely. " ALSO: Jockey Joel Rosario heading to New York Love Theway Youare wins Vanity Handicap Scramble begins to replace jockey Joel Rosario

The news from a comprehensive national survey of river and stream health is not good: Only about a fifth of the length of America's rivers and streams is in good biological condition, while 55% is in poor shape. The survey, which analyzed water samples taken in the summers of 2008 and 2009 at more than 1,900 randomly selected sites, was coordinated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The results, released Tuesday, found that of the three climatic regions discussed in the report, the West -- with its large swaths of undeveloped land -- was in the best shape: 42% of its river and stream length was in good ecological condition, 27% in fair condition and 30% in poor condition.

Telomeres -- those fancy structures that protect the tips of chromosomes -- have been a hot area of scientific study for some time. In 2009, three biologists shared a Nobel Prize for their telomere research. The gradual shortening of these structures could be one reason why cells age and die. (Here's a Times article about telomeres.) Now, in a study just published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., Austrian researchers reported that people with shorter telomeres are more likely to develop cancers.

Cryptoclearance took the lead from Lost Code in the stretch and won the $300,000 Pegasus Handicap at the Meadowlands Saturday night. Cryptoclearance, who ended a five-month victory drought, got to the finish line 3 1/2 lengths ahead of Lost Code, who had a 1 1/2-length margin over Templar Hill. The victory was the first for Cryptoclearance since April 4 in the Florida Derby. The colt, carrying 122 pounds, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48 3/5 and returned $5.60, $2.60 and $2.40.

Renee's Titan rallied to win the $150,000 Santa Ynez Stakes by three-quarters of a length as a 20-1 longshot on Monday at Santa Anita. Ridden by Tyler Baze, Renee's Titan ran 61/2 furlongs in 1:16.14 and paid $43.80, $7.80 and $4.20 while ending a six-race skid. Beholder, who the Eclipse Award as champion filly last weekend, wound up second in her 3-year-old debut. She returned $2.20 and $2.10, and Dawn's Charm was another nose back in third and paid $3.20 to show. Baze rallied Renee's Titan from six lengths behind at six furlongs despite losing his whip in the upper stretch.

In offices that once housed Google, four computer geeks pursue their quest for a killer mobile app. Their technology incubator, with its angular, modern furniture and shared kitchen and conference rooms, would be recognizable to any Silicon Valley entrepreneur. But this start-up space was found in Silicon Beach. The Santa Monica offices provided the backdrop for "Betas," one of 14 series pilots put into production by Amazon Studios, the production arm of Amazon.com. PHOTOS: Hollywood Backlot moments The show, which will also film at a house in Encino and other locations around L.A., is the latest in a wave of digital productions that have taken off in recent years, as YouTube, Yahoo, AOL, Hulu and others have invested millions of dollars in developing original programming for the Web. Most of the new digital shows are produced locally.

The news from a comprehensive national survey of river and stream health is not good: Only about a fifth of the length of America's rivers and streams is in good biological condition, while 55% is in poor shape. The survey, which analyzed water samples taken in the summers of 2008 and 2009 at more than 1,900 randomly selected sites, was coordinated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The results, released Tuesday, found that of the three climatic regions discussed in the report, the West -- with its large swaths of undeveloped land -- was in the best shape: 42% of its river and stream length was in good ecological condition, 27% in fair condition and 30% in poor condition.

SAN YSIDRO - Two eternal truths about crossing the Mexican border: It's worth the drive to Rosarito Beach for Tacos El Yaqui. And coming back is hell. In the last several years, crossing the border from the Mexican side has become a test of nerves. Two-, three-, even four-hour waits are typical. As you burn gas, jockey for position in the lanes and swerve to avoid the vendors and begging children who weave on foot between cars, you are consumed by feelings of helplessness and rage that cannot be assuaged by all the striped blankets, Sponge Bob piñatas and plaster Last Suppers in the world.

You could say that Carpenter Elementary in Studio City owes its survival to students from other neighborhoods. A generation ago, their presence kept the campus from being shut down, after local families fled to private schools to avoid Los Angeles Unified's mandatory busing program. By the time busing ended in 1981, fewer than 50 of Carpenter's 450 students were children from the neighborhood. Former Principal Joan Marks spent years going door-to-door, luring locals back with the promise of a school they could be proud of. Today Carpenter Community Charter has almost 1,000 students.

In spite of its name, How to Destroy Angels is Trent Reznor taking the violence out of his music, then examining in painstaking detail what remains. The Nine Inch Nails frontman, who last month announced the upcoming return of that groundbreaking industrial-rock outfit after a four-year break, is still obsessed with control and how it functions. But in this project he's no longer dramatizing the struggle against it. The songs - cool and collected even when they carry titles such as "And the Sky Began to Scream" - suggest submission more than resistance.

Have the Vikings gotten a bum rap? At least according to popular imagination, they were fearsome barbarians in horned helmets who pillaged their way across Northern Europe during the Dark Ages. And while it's true these seafaring Norsemen were hardly a bunch of peaceniks, the new History scripted series "Vikings" will attempt to bring some nuance to the caricature of the bearded brutes when it premieres Sunday. "The great thesis is, 'You think you know the Vikings, but you don't," said series creator Michael Hirst.

There were expressions of relief instead of elation in the Santa Anita winner's circle Saturday by 70-year-old trainer Mike Harrington even though his talented 3-year-old, Creative Cause, emerged victorious in the Grade II $300,000 San Felipe Stakes, beating Bodemeister by three-quarters of a length in the 1 1/16-mile race. That's because Harrington has much bigger prizes in his sights - the April 7 Santa Anita Derby and the May 5 Kentucky Derby. And Creative Cause, a son of Giant's Causeway, is very much in the upper echelon of Derby contenders.

When Walter De Maria considers how large a sculpture should be, a frequent answer is: 1 kilometer long. That's a dimension of "The Lightning Field" (1977), a grid of 400 stainless steel posts 1-mile wide and 1-kilometer long, arranged in the New Mexico desert. It's the length of " Vertical Earth Kilometer" (1977) and " The Broken Kilometer" (1979), two sculptures formed from long brass rods -- one sunken into the ground, the other broken up into pieces and laid out in rows.

With rehearsals for this year's Oscars show clocking in at nearly four hours, some wondered if the telecast could give 2002's record four-hour,  23-minute marathon a run for its money. Thanks to some judicious, last-minute trimming, the Seth MacFarlane-hosted Academy Awards ended up finishing at the three-hour, 35-minute  mark, well under the top five longest shows from the past two decades. FULL COVERAGE: Oscars 2013 | Winners For those with misty, water-colored memories, let us recap the dishonor roll: 1. 2002: Four hours, 23 minutes (host, Whoopi Goldberg; best picture winner: "A Beautiful Mind")

Steven Spielberg was inspired by Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation. Ben Affleck was provoked by a Middle Eastern hostage tale. Adam Pesapane wanted to transform a hand grenade into an avocado. All three directors will walk the red carpet at Sunday's Academy Awards, but for Pesapane, 39, the shot at Oscar gold for his 1 minute, 46-second stop-motion animated film represents more than a chance to add a fancy statuette to his mantelpiece. The English major-turned-commercial director, who goes by the professional moniker Pes, is hoping the Oscar attention for his "Fresh Guacamole" movie, made for less than $100,000 by Showtime Networks, can help him climb the show business ladder and give him a chance to direct his first full-length feature film.