Other states allow medical marijuana. Judge asks why Kentucky shouldn't join them. A Franklin Circuit Court judge on Tuesday asked attorneys for the state why Kentucky should not make medical marijuana available to patients who believe it might help them, given that "we've pretty much decriminalized" the drug around much of the nation and even in parts of the state. Judge Thomas Wingate is considering motions by Gov. Matt Bevin and Attorney General Andy Beshear to dismiss a lawsuit filed in June by three Kentuckians who want the legal right to use marijuana as medicine in the state where they live. Wingate said he expects to hand down a decision on the motion in the near future. [continues 649 words]
The largest survey on cannabidiol or CBD usage to date found that women were more likely than men to use CBD and once they started using it, were likely to drop their traditional medicine. A new survey from Brightfield Group and HelloMD covered 2,400 of HelloMDas community of 150,000 members and did a deep dive into the usage of CBD products and their effectiveness. HelloMD is an online community that brings together doctors and cannabis patients. [continues 633 words]
Now the state is taking steps to increase the crop. "We want to be the nation's leader in hemp production,'' Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday shortly before signing legislation intended to boost the commercialization of industrial hemp, which is used in some 25,000 products from cosmetics and animal feed to clothing and biofuels. The state is also pumping $10 million into research for the now-fledgling industry, State Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball said, after the federal government in 2014 relaxed rules governing the growing of the crop. Industrial hemp, unlike its marijuana cousin, contains no or minimal levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, the ingredient that gets users high. [continues 325 words]
Tens of thousands of people use cannabis in Fresno every day. Hundreds of people work in the cannabis industry, though few will admit it publicly -- and for good reason. Cannabis business is booming in Fresno and Fresno County, even though cultivation and retail sales are banned by local ordinances. The biggest pipe dream in Fresno is that cannabis bans work. In reality, they don't. Even so, the Fresno City Council just voted to prohibit dispensaries and other "recreational" businesses made legal by the passage of Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act. This is disappointing but not surprising. Medical cannabis has been legal since Proposition 215 passed in 1996, but City Hall has never bothered to draft local regulations. [continues 701 words]
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Most of Nevada's recreational marijuana retailers are optimistic an emergency regulation that state officials are expected to approve will help keep them from running out of pot supplies, but some are "running on fumes," an industry official said Tuesday. The State Tax Commission is scheduled to vote Thursday on an emergency measure Gov. Brian Sandoval endorsed late last week in an effort to allow the state to issue pot distribution licenses currently banned by a court order. [continues 448 words]
TEMPLE TERRACE -- Dropping a giant joint in favor of the "USS Maryjane" seemed to smooth the waters for a pro-marijuana entry in this year's Temple Terrace Fourth of July Parade. The new float designed by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws featured the flag-festooned ship crewed by some military veterans and painted with the slogan, "Hemp for Victory." The theme plays off a World War II film from the Department of Agriculture that praised the nation's hemp farmers for their work in creating strong ropes from the stalks of marijuana plants for the armed forces. [continues 227 words]
The organizer behind Northern Ontario's longest running hemp festival is pulling the plug. Robert Neron, a Moonbeam resident and longtime activist in support of freer access to medical marijuana, made the announcement through a posting on social media on Sunday. He said unless someone else comes forward to take over managing the event, the cancellation of Hempfest is likely permanent. In his announcement, Neron also revealed his intention to "retire completely from any activism" in the future. "My health will no longer permit me to do so," he told Postmedia Network in an interview Sunday night. "As for Hempfest, lack of money from sponsors killed the festival I can no longer sustain myself, my health, little less a not-for-profit festival." [continues 351 words]
Dear Editor: In response to Shelley Eberle's letter of May 20, "marijuana legalization is a bad idea." Contrary to popular belief, usage rates among teenagers were monitored the last few years by Scientific American. After Colorado legalized the recreational use and sale of marijuana, they found rates decreasing from 30 per cent of teens using in 2011 to 21 per cent in 2015. This has also been the case in Washington state as well as Portugal, as after marijuana was decriminalized, both usage and addiction rates decreased. [continues 136 words]
Organizer cancelling event due to lack of sponsorship and declining health The organizer behind Northern Ontario's longest running hemp festival is pulling the plug. Robert Neron, a Moonbeam resident and long-time activist in support of freer access to medical marijuana, made the announcement through a posting on social media on Sunday. He said unless someone else comes forward to take over managing the event, the cancellation of Hempfest is likely permanent. In his announcement, Neron also revealed his intention to "retire completely from any activism" in the future. [continues 398 words]
Editor: In response to Shelley Eberle's letter to the editor on May 20, marijuana legalization is a bad idea. Contrary to popular belief, usage rates among teenagers were monitored the last few years by Scientific American. After Colorado legalized the recreational use and sale of marijuana, they found rates decreasing from 30 per cent of teens using in 2011 to 21 per cent in 2015. This has also been the case in Washington state as well as Portugal, as after marijuana was decriminalized, both usage and addiction rates decreased. [continues 137 words]
Editor: This is in response to D. Simpson's letter in The Daily Courier on Monday, May 15, citing Matthew 15:11, "It's not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth." I'm sure that if God looks around the way the world works now, He would have more pressing matters than worrying about a little cannabis, which is a plant and not a drug, as it requires no tampering or time in a lab, unlike grains to make alcohol or poppies to make opium. [continues 173 words]
In the 1960s, the city's pro-pot counterculture faced fierce opposition from RCMP narcs and a notoriously hippie-hating mayor These days, most Vancouverites don't think twice about smoking a joint in public. But ask former concert promoter and '60s wild child Jerry Kruz what the climate around cannabis was like when the very first issue of the Georgia Straight hit the streets and a very different Vancouver comes to mind. "People thought it was evil, that it was going to kill you, that if you smoked it you'd never live to your old age," Kruz says during an interview at the Straight offices, recalling claims made by authorities at the time. [continues 1321 words]
Dr. Caroline MacCallum wants doctors to know that cannabis "isn't the taboo medicine" they might think it is. Not only has she used it successfully to treat more than 50 conditions, she has also seen how it has helped her patients stop using prescription opioids. MacCallum, a specialist in complex pain and cannabinoid medicine, is the medical director at Green Leaf Clinic in Langley, where she assesses patients for their eligibility for Canada's Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations program. [continues 922 words]
Adults in their 70s, 80s and 90s are trying medical marijuana for the first time, hoping it will ease chronic pain, insomnia and depression after pharmaceutical drugs have failed. Businesses are noticing - and they are all in, Adriana Barton reports. Around this time of year, Hope Bobowski can't wait to garden in the flower beds outside her home near Keremeos, in the hills of southern Interior British Columbia. The petite 79-year-old loves card games and cooking for her great-grandchildren, but the only thing that keeps her on her feet is her daily dose of cannabidiol (CBD), a potent extract of cannabis or hemp. [continues 1448 words]
Upcoming weed expo at Stampede Park expected to match Edmonton trade show Taboos over marijuana are going up in smoke, supercharging cannabis expos in Alberta, including one taking seed in Calgary next month, say organizers. Fuelled by a buzz over impending national legalization and eight U.S. states that have dropped pot prohibition, an Edmonton trade show held in early April exceeded attendance expectations, said Kevin Blackburn of organizer Canwest Productions. "We were hoping for 3,000 to 5,000 people and we doubled that," he said. [continues 471 words]
Last week the federal government announced it will move forward with its highly-anticipated and contentious pledge to legalize recreational marijuana. What might possibly be the most memorable piece of legislation undertaken by the Justin Trudeau Liberals will most certainly result in polarizing political and personal stances. Social media and online reactions range from cheers to fears - including criticisms that the whole movement is nothing short of a government tax grab that has parent and landlord advocates up in arms. "I've witnessed Justin Trudeau try to manage the economy, electoral reform I'm not sure I have faith in his ability to protect kids from pot," said Banff-Airdrie Conservative MP Blake Richards. [continues 624 words]
Editor: One must ask the lawmakers and backers, "Whose side are you on?" Each time a cop busts a compassion club, they hand power back to the underground economy. I don't believe this is the effect they were aiming for. What does kicking in the door of compassion say about our laws and their views on medical care? Under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPRR), a patient can acquire any source of cannabis material, but recently only from licensed producers (LPs). There are currently almost 130,000 Canadians registered in the program. When these doors are shut, patients are left out on the street at risk of purchasing contaminated or spiked cannabis to treat their condition. [continues 585 words]
Emerys, Magder deserve medals (my dad, too) Maybe one day Marc and Jodie Emery will be on a postage stamp. As opposed to in jail. There's a fine line between heinous criminal and heroic pioneer, eh? Unless you've been in a coma, or totally wasted, you know the Emerys are Canada's prince and princess of pot. They were busted last month for trafficking and possession - 20 charges between them - as they were about to depart Toronto's Pearson airport for a pot festival in Spain. [continues 572 words]
A Chemainus dispensary reopened less than 48 hours after North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP raided three cannabis retailers in North Cowichan late Friday morning. Officers entered Leaf Compassion and Green Aura in Chemainus with a warrant at around 11 p.m. on Friday and were still on scene in the early hours of the evening. "They went ahead and arrested all of our staff that were on site and began their search and seizure," said Leaf Compassion's regional manager Justin Gurinskas outside the store just minutes after owner Kyle Cheyne was arrested and taken into custody. [continues 571 words]
Since 2000, the state of Hawaii has had a medical-use-of-marijuana program to provide patients with chronic illness a safe and effective treatment option. As we progress through 2017 and in anticipation of opening dispensaries, it is now the appropriate time to remove the inconsistent treatment of cannabis as an illegal substance from Hawaii law. It would seem the state Legislature agrees, as there are over 10 bills seeking to decriminalize marijuana; over 10 bills expanding the current dispensary program (even though dispensaries haven't opened yet); over five bills trying to open the state in some way to industrial hemp; and several bills claiming portions of the tax revenue from still unopened dispensaries - all alongside two or three bills with a more "boogeyman" and much less science-based approach. For example, House Bill 922 points out that 90 percent of the state's medical marijuana certifications are issued by just 10 doctors, then asserts this is due to some abuse ! of the system instead of the fact that most doctors feel their license will be in danger if they issue marijuana certifications, or the fact that many people choose to seek marijuana certifications from doctors who specialize in cannabis rather than their regular doctor. [continues 406 words]
