YAKIMA, Wash. - As a cousin to marijuana, hemp has long been banned despite a huge potential for use in a wide range of products, including clothing, building materials and even shampoo. But Yakima will soon be at the forefront of the state's efforts to develop a research program that could lead to a commercial hemp industry. The state Department of Agriculture plans to hire a Yakima-based program specialist to help draft and adopt rules needed to create the program, which is expected to launch in time for the 2017 growing season. [continues 855 words]
Ventura Police Chief Ken Corney, who is also president of the California Police Chiefs Association, has come out swinging against marijuana legalization in order to save our citizens from the evil weed. Especially the children. But let's be real for once: Maintaining marijuana prohibition and the status quo not only doesn't protect our children, it does the opposite. The unregulated black market puts children at grave risk every day from drug dealers who don't verify age, don't care about regulations on potency and purity, and don't have any scruples about offering kids various assortments of far more dangerous drugs than weed, such as cocaine and heroin. [continues 510 words]
First Seeds Are Being Planted Since the 1950s. For the first time in generations, Minnesota farmers are planting hemp. "We're the first ones putting seeds in the ground since the 1950s," said Ken Anderson, watching as a bottle-blue tractor trundled across a field near Hastings on a sunny Friday afternoon. The 8.5-acre tract is the first of at least half a dozen hemp fields to be cultivated this summer under the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's new industrial hemp pilot project. [continues 681 words]
After Grant Scott-Goforth's parting shot last week debunking the racist connotations of the word "marijuana," it seemed only fitting to follow up with another column blatantly pandering to the etymology nerds in our readership. We were initially intrigued by the word "bong," which, according to an online etymology dictionary, comes from the Thai word "baung," meaning "cylindrical wooden tube," and came to the United States along with returning Vietnam War veterans. As we dug deeper into the words that surround cannabis connoisseurship, a pattern developed. [continues 680 words]
The City's Texture Is Dulled by the Passing of One of Its Most Colourful Characters This city's election campaigns will never be the same without Michael Baldasaro, who sadly died this week at age 67 after a brief bout with cancer. For decades the pot-smoking bushy-bearded Church of the Universe minister was the undisputed king of Hamilton's political fringe, a forerunner in a field which in recent years has become much more crowded. Whether sporting his towering Cat in the Hat stovepipe or crocheted Rasta skull cap, Baldasaro's presence and off-beat commentary provided a welcome touch of comic relief which never failed to entertain voters at town halls and candidates' debates. [continues 500 words]
They Find Trace of Marijuana Ingredient Janet Fazen and her family run a vape shop in West Allis, but a recent visit by police has left them feeling like dope dealers. Officers seized their entire inventory of CBD liquid, which is said to come from industrial hemp plants. "The original vape additive. Add to your favorite liquid or vape alone," the package says. Customers who buy it have told Fazen that it gives some relief from pain, fibromyalgia, anxiety and other maladies. There is a trace of THC, the ingredient that gives weed its buzz, but not enough to make anyone high, she said. Minors are not allowed in the store without a parent. [continues 692 words]
Did you know that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence on paper made from hemp? Or that Christopher Columbus used hemp ropes and sails on his ships? Van Gogh and Rembrandt painted on hemp canvas, and until the early 1800s, most legal tender in the Americas was made from cannabis hemp. Maps, Bibles, log books and clothes have been made in part from hemp. It's been around since at least 8000 B.C. We know this because the oldest relic of human history dates from that time. [continues 491 words]
I'm so glad that there are small-minded people and ones that don't see the big picture. In Butte County, I'm sure people don't want fracking, but you want gas for your cars and plastics. Oh, and to feel safe, you will vote yes on Measures G and H. If you open your mind and read The Emperor Wears No Clothes by Jack Herer, you will find out that marijuana (hemp) was a crop in America that not only powered cars and farm equipment, but also was used for canvas in the covered wagons and ships that sailed. [continues 82 words]
Dear Stoner:I'm going to Vegas in October and wonder if I can use my Colorado medical card to pick up a little medicine while I'm there. Rich Dear Rich: Nevada is one of the few medical marijuana states with a reciprocity law that allows out-of-state patients to possess and purchase cannabis while they're visiting. Although the state might not have as many dispensaries or options as you'll find in Colorado, Nevada has become a haven for patients coming from states with more restrictive regulations - and those coming from states with no MMJ. A February article in the Las Vegas Sun detailed how pre-screened tourists with a valid California ID or U.S. passport boarded a California-bound bus in Vegas and were connected with a doctor, who evaluated the tourists for a California medical card. If the tourists were approved, a medical marijuana recommendation was printed on the bus in Vegas, where the new patients were then free to visit dispensaries and carry and consume cannabis. [continues 274 words]
A Look at the Cannabis-Friendly North Fork 53 Homestead IN A FUTURE COLUMN, we'll take a closer look at the seemingly schizophrenic rules being issued by city and state agencies that are making it damn near impossible to find anyplace outside your home to consume cannabis. (Spoiler alert: It's not going to be a feel-good column.) But for now, let's talk about something that will be a feel-good experience, namely the multifaceted gem North Fork 53, just down the road a piece on Highway 53 by Manzanita. [continues 619 words]
Stop Arresting South Africans for Low-Level Use, Write Myrtle Clarke and Julian Stobbs THE cracks in the policies that prohibit the use, cultivation and trade in cannabis in South Africa are beginning to show. Fields of Green for ALL representatives attended the recent UN Special Session on Drugs in New York as civil society delegates. Minister of Police, Nkosinathi Nhleko, and Deputy Minister of Social Development, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, were there in their official capacity. But South Africa's comments on the outcome document were as bland as the majority of other countries, and a report that described the whole special session as a "damp squib" was quite accurate. [continues 1023 words]
First, We Need to Stop the Arrests for Low-Level Use, but Decriminalisation Doesn't Go Far Enough; We Must Push for Legalisation, Write Myrtle Clarke and Julian Stobbs THE CRACKS in the policies that prohibit the use, cultivation and trade in cannabis in South Africa are beginning to show. Fields of Green for All representatives attended the recent UN special session on drugs in New York as civil society delegates. Our minister of police and deputy minister of social development were there in their official capacity. [continues 1276 words]
Trial of the Plant to Lay Foundation for Future Policy THE CRACKS in the policies that prohibit the use, cultivation and trade in cannabis in South Africa are beginning to show. Fields of Green for ALL representatives attended the recent UN Special Session on Drugs in New York as civil society delegates. Our minister of police and deputy minister of social development were there in their official capacities. But South Africa's comments on the outcome document were as bland as most of the other countries, and a report that described the whole special session as a "damp squib" was quite accurate. Dagga couple Myrtle Clarke and Julian Stobbs seem to be making headway in their fight for the legalisation of cannabis. [continues 1126 words]
SA Can Join Countries in Showing Shortcomings and Deciding on Policies THE CRACKS in the policies that prohibit the use, cultivation and trade in cannabis in South Africa are beginning to show. Fields of Green for ALL representatives attended the recent UN Special Session on Drugs in New York as civil society delegates. Our Minister of Police and Deputy Minister of Social Development were there in their official capacity. But South Africa's comments on the outcome document were as bland as the majority of other countries, and a report that described the special session as a "damp squib" was quite accurate. [continues 1243 words]
The Debate on Medicinal Cannabis Needs the Major Parties to Grow Up. I think I am the only member of parliament in Australia to acknowledge my recreational use of cannabis. In fact, I have enjoyed the many blessings that cannabis can bestow for a lot of my adult life and have not lost my mind or become a serial killer. Indeed, I became a politician and some have even said I would not have been elected without it! Jokes aside, I'm declaring my usage or non-usage of cannabis, just so everyone knows where I'm coming from. This debate would be far more informative if every journalist, every politician and every commentator on the subject of cannabis law reform did the same, instead of hiding their drug use, drug abuse or their nonuse in the closet. [continues 620 words]
Ceo Expects Texas to Be Major Center for a Strain of Cannabis That Can Ease Epilepsy Without Getting Patients High About 60 miles north of Dallas, amid green fields in the town of Gunter, population 1,486, Texas Cannabis CEO Patrick Moran has optioned to buy a former cotton gin, where he plans to grow the Cannabis sativa plant, known more commonly as marijuana. The businessman and attorney is positioning himself at the forefront of what he estimates will be a $900 million a year industry in Texas - - the recently legalized market for treating intractable epilepsy with a strain of marijuana that eases seizures without getting patients high. [continues 1796 words]
Re: Toronto police raid marijuana dispensaries, May 27 Justin Trudeau really should go down the hall and elbow his way into former Toronto police chief and MP Bill Blair's Parliamentary office and tell him he wants to fast track the legalization of cannabis to the end of June 2016. Then Justin might call current Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders and ask him to politely to drop the 257 charges and release any of the 90 arrested in last week's cannabis dispensary raids who might still be lingering in one of his steel cages. [continues 431 words]
THE GOVERNMENT is targeting annual revenue of US$2 billion from the ganja industry when regulations to govern the sector are finally in place. Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Dr Andrew Wheatley told The Sunday Gleaner of the revenue target, indicating that plans are on in earnest to establish the legal ganja industry, with regulations to govern the trade having been sent to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel by the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA). But Barbara Brohl, executive director of the Colorado Department of Revenue, which is responsible for the regulation and oversight of the ganja industry in that American state, is warning that before Jamaica begins to count the dollars from the industry, it needs to establish clearly why the industry is being legalised and gather data on the sector. [continues 640 words]
TRINIDAD, Humboldt County - Pot politics are nothing new to Sunshine Johnston, who has been cultivating cannabis on her organic farm near the famous Avenue of the Giants for many years. But the emergence of land speculators in the Emerald Triangle is threatening to ruin her bucolic buzz. Johnston, her friends, neighbors and fellow growers are perturbed by hordes of high rollers who are snapping up every old ranch, logging tract and forested parcel that goes on the market. The scramble for land in Humboldt County and, to a lesser extent, Mendocino County, is an apparent attempt by entrepreneurs to cash in on the possible legalization in November of recreational pot peddling in California. [continues 1850 words]
A new Edmonton professional group wants to help local women rise high in the blossoming Canadian cannabis industry. While mention of someone working in the pot field might bring up images of stoners selling dime bags, Women Grow Edmonton chair Alison McMahon says the city has medical marijuana clinics, smoke stores, hemp shops and the headquarters of Alberta's only licensed grower, Aurora Cannabis Enterprises Inc. "This is an industry that's changing so rapidly and becoming mainstream quickly," she says. [continues 402 words]
