Monday 31 March 2014
Shepton Mallet couple in court for growing cannabis
Shepton Mallet couple in court for growing cannabis
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A SHEPTON Mallet couple ruined their reputation and had an expensive lesson when police discovered cannabis growing in their home.
Officers who raided the home of Paul Haslehurst and Joelle Eeckles in High Street, Shepton Mallet, found five cannabis plants and special growing apparatus in a cupboard and they also had cannabis resin and £6,125 in cash, Taunton Crown Court was told.
Haslehurst, 65, admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply and producing cannabis. Eeckels, 57, pleaded guilty to possessing the drug.
Haslehurst said he used cannabis for medicinal reasons and Eeckels was “only here because of her connection to him”, said William Hunter, prosecuting.
Judge David Ticehurst ordered confiscation of the £6,125 cash and told the couple, now of Lodge Street, Bristol, “What a ridiculous thing to do.
“It’s cost you an awful lot of money, you’ve lost your home and reputation – all for the sake of producing some cannabis and making a bit on the side.
“Miss Eeckles, you should know better. You were his apprentice in growing and learning how to do it”
Haslehurst was handed a 12 month community order with 200 hours unpaid work and Eekles, said to have played a lesser role in the offences, was given a conditional discharge for 18 months.
Shepton Mallet couple in court for growing cannabis
Mar 31 - Police: Teen had loaded gun, marijuana, $6M in foreign money - Boxden.Com
When a Wilmington teen was arrested by New Castle County police officers in a car late Sunday near the Harbor House Apartments, he had in his possession a loaded handgun, marijuana and more than $6 million in Iraqi dinars, police said Monday.
The 17-year-old boy, who lives in the 200 block of W. 36th St., was charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited juvenile, possession of a firearm by a person prohibited, carrying a concealed deadly weapon, criminal impersonation, marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, Officer Tracey Duffy said.
The traffic stop occurred about 11 p.m. in the 200 block of Harbor Drive, where officers stopped the vehicle because it was suspicious.
When the officers approached the car and occupants, they detected an odor of marijuana, Duffy said.
A search of the vehicle uncovered a loaded handgun, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and $6,575,000 in Iraqi dinars, or $5,646.19 in American currency, suspected to be drug money, she said.
New Castle County police could not explain why the teen had so much foreign money, which was seized.
“I don’t know where he got the money,” Duffy said. She said the teen was not of Middle Eastern decent.
The teen was committed to the New Castle County Juvenile Detention Center after failing to post $26,500 cash bail.
Police: Teen had loaded gun, marijuana, $6M in foreign money
Mar 31 - Police: Teen had loaded gun, marijuana, $6M in foreign money - Boxden.Com
Marijuana abuse program working with individuals
IMPACT marijuana program serves students in one-on-one basis unlike IMPACT alcohol abuse groups
Senate Bill 1556, which would legalize marijuana for anyone 21 and older, remains frozen in committee discussions after the 2013 short legislative session ended.
Around 18.3 percent of undergraduate students reported marijuana use within the last 30 days, according to a spring 2013 National College Health Assessment reference group summary.
People at Oregon State University admitted usage was around 23.7 percent in 2012, according to Robert Reff, OSU substance abuse coordinator.
Primarily for students who have been sanctioned due to violations of the law, the Student Health Services IMPACT program focuses on substance abuse recovery and awareness. Guided by Reff, the $115 seminars consist of two sessions, one week apart and function based on the student’s overall needs.
Despite discussions involved with legalizing marijuana in Oregon, Oregon State University Student Health Services plans on maintaining its focus around alcohol abuse.
“Alcohol is going to be our number one priority, with or without the legalization of marijuana,” Reff said.
In addition, Reff said he has not seen any evidence that marijuana helps anxiety or cures terminal illnesses.
“I think people make assumptions that marijuana cures diseases,” Reff said. “It’s really not this cure-all people perceive it to be.”
In some cases, Reff said marijuana could actually increase anxiety levels depending on the personal effects experienced by an individual. Reff did, however, say it has been shown to affect pain and provide relief as a potential treatment.
“There are a lot of individual differences in how people process marijuana and how it affects them,” Reff said.
Jenny Haubenreiser, executive director of SHS, also served as director of health promotion at Montana State University. During her time there, Haubenreiser said Montana became one of the first states to legalize medical marijuana.
“What was happening in that state was really interesting,” Haubenreiser said.
Haubenreiser said repeated use of marijuana could lead to damaging psychological effects and missed classes.
Haubenreiser said most of her concerns stem from little information available on the properties of various marijuana types and different levels of THC within them. In addition, she said a continuing lack of control leads to higher potencies.
“When things aren’t controlled, you really don’t know what you’re getting,” Haubenreiser said.
According to Reff, a lack of funding toward continuing research efforts makes it harder for organizations to release more conclusive studies.
“The sciences behind marijuana aren’t as good as others,” Reff said. “If there’s no profit behind the research, you don’t have a lot of research.”
Reff said the IMPACT marijuana program services students on an individual one-on-one basis to account for unique psychological effects and the potential of academic shortcomings because of abuse.
“If they’re not doing well academically, I really encourage them to discontinue use of marijuana,” Reff said.
Sean Bassinger
Higher education reporter
managing@dailybarometer.com
Marijuana abuse program working with individuals
Nevis Capital Corporation Narrows Cannabis Acquisitions Candidates
DALLAS, April 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ –Nevis Capital Corporation (OTC: OCEE), announces that the company is in the screening process of vetting potential cannabis investments. Currently management has short listed businesses in Sonoma County (California), Riverside (California), and Denver (Colorado). With Investor interest in the cannabis sector growing, the company intends to distinguish itself from other companies in the cannabis space by investing in revenue producing businesses. The short listed businesses all have an existing revenue base with immediate potential for accelerated growth. Furthermore, these potential candidates all have cannabis industry veteran management teams that will give Nevis the expertise and direction needed for growth in the industry. The company expects to make an announcement of a completed letter of intent by mid-April, with the first acquisition projected for the end of April. As a standard operating procedure of Nevis Capital, all prospective acquisitions and/or investments will be strictly governed by all applicable state and federal laws relating to the sphere of activity of the companies targeted.
Nevis Capital is also pleased to announce that investors can expect to see Nevis become more visible in traditional and online media with the management’s public relations strategy focused on communicating the company’s long term investing approach in its core target businesses including cannabis and online gaming. Nevis Capital Corporation Inc. is committed to building a greater value for shareholders on a short and long term basis.
FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER
The statements contained herein may include statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. In addition to statements which are forward-looking by reason of context, the words “may”, “will”, “should”, “expects”, “plans”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “estimates”, “predicts”, “potential”, or “continue” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.
Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to, without limitation, (i) general economic conditions, (ii) performance of financial markets, including market volatility, liquidity and credit events (iii) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, including from natural catastrophes and including the development of loss expenses, (iv) mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (v) persistency levels, (vi) the extent of credit defaults, (vii) interest rate levels, (viii) currency exchange rates (ix) changing levels of competition, (x) changes in laws and regulations, (xi) changes in the policies of central banks and/or foreign governments, (xii) the impact of acquisitions, including related integration issues, (xiii) reorganization measures, and (xiv) general competitive factors, in each case on a local, regional, national and/or global basis. Many of these factors may be more likely to occur, or more pronounced, as a result of terrorist activities and their consequences.
The matters discussed herein may also be affected by risks and uncertainties described from time to time Nevis Capital Corporation filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and/or OTC Markets. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
SOURCE Nevis Capital Corporation
/CONTACT: Keith Alexander, 713-817-9187, kalexander51@gmail.com
The Wall Street Journal news department was not involved in the creation of this content.
Nevis Capital Corporation Narrows Cannabis Acquisitions Candidates
Don't be fooled by myths about cannabis as legalization spreads
Published: Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Updated: Tuesday, April 1, 2014 01:04
Someday soon, marijuana will be legal everywhere. Prohibition, which has ruined the lives of millions of innocents, will be brought to an end. Over a trillion dollars has been wasted prosecuting a “War on Drugs,” which, according to the Washington Post, has led to the quadrupling of United States’ prison population since 1980. The public has turned against this abhorrent practice. In fact, a Gallup poll taken in October 2013 showed that 58 percent of Americans favor the legalization of marijuana; in 1969, 84 percent supported prohibition.
Despite the recent political sea change towards marijuana, there is still meaningful opposition to its reintroduction to legality in American society. This stems mainly from a prohibitionist disinformation campaign that warped the public’s view of marijuana from the 1930s until very recently.
The most conspicuous misconception is the word “marijuana” itself—the plant now known as marijuana is actually called cannabis. In order to gain popular support for outlawing the plant, Harry Anslinger—the lead prohibitionist—popularized its Mexican Spanish name “marijuana” to evoke xenophobic reactions toward a new, foreign-sounding drug.
In fact, however, cannabis was anything but foreign; it was frequently found in doctors’ medical bags and was ubiquitous as a home remedy to many Americans.
Cannabis even remained in the U.S. pharmacopoeia until 1942, five years after its effective prohibition; it was regarded like any other plant with known medicinal properties.
Now, cannabis’ medical benefits are constantly making news. While its analgesic effects have been known for centuries—Queen Victoria used cannabis to relieve menstrual cramps—many new uses for the plant have come to the forefront. The plant’s dual abilities to prevent nausea and stimulate hunger create a powerful tag-team to fight eating disorders and chemotherapy-induced vomiting.
A shocking case this year involved Charlotte Figi, an eight-year-old girl, whose violent and life-threatening seizures were effectively treated by cannabis. More shocking, yet, are Harvard and Stanford Medical School studies which have shown that cannabinoids—the active chemicals in cannabis which get people high—seem to make cancer cells kill themselves.
To prevent patients from accessing a medicinal plant this versatile is barbaric. Many advocates of prohibition have recognized this, and have directed the remainder of their effort toward the continued prohibition of recreational cannabis use. The prohibitionists have no scientific grounds to attack cannabis as a deadly toxin. According to the Schaffer Library of Drug Policy, cannabis is 10,000 times less toxic than alcohol, and no one has ever overdosed from it. Instead, the tip of their argumentative spear is to demonize cannabis as a “gateway drug,” which, upon ingestion, leads users to experiment with new drugs like cocaine or heroin, which are both addictive and deadly.
This argument is misleading. Cannabis has never been shown to cause the use of other drugs, by chemical means or otherwise. Cannabis use and usage of other drugs are correlated, but there are legitimate outside causes for this. Jacob Sullum of Reason Magazine, in a piece called “High Road,” explains these. First, he states that pot users are already forced to be lawbreakers, so they are not risking anything further by breaking the same law in a new way. Sullum also emphasizes that after people uses cannabis safely, they will realize that the propaganda they have been fed is wrong, and distrust what they were told about the real dangers of other drugs. Lastly, he explains that since people are buying cannabis on the black market, it is likely that their dealers will have no qualms about selling them more dangerous drugs.
Note that all of these causes which contribute to the “gateway drug” theory are artifacts of cannabis prohibition and its supporting propaganda—not cannabis itself.
Prohibitionists will still point to cannabis’ main effect, getting people high, as a problem itself. They worry that American youth will turn into drug-addled bums. This boils down to a fear of a Cheech & Chong sort of caricature of stoners, with no regard to the actual reality of this situation. According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, over 14 million Americans consume cannabis regularly; many of these people are working professionals who function normally. Burnout stoners, who make up a small portion of this group, should be viewed the same way that alcoholics are—as substance abusers. The vast majority of cannabis users, similarly, should be looked at the same way that Friday night drinkers are—as innocent people seeking enjoyment.
Many other problems, such as the issue of drivers being impaired by cannabis, will have to be solved over time. Recent studies performed by CBS Seattle and Fox Denver, in collaboration with their local police authorities, attempted to explore what it means to be “too stoned to drive.” They found that it varied tremendously between person to person, with novice smokers being impaired by just a small quantity of cannabis, and medical patients able to drive satisfactorily at well over 12 times the legal limit of five nanograms per milliliter of urine.
Despite the growing pains that will come from learning how to properly manage things like high driving, there will be many great things to come out of the end of cannabis prohibition. We will witness the rebirth of an entire industry. Entrepreneurs will create interesting new products, and will employ many people in the process. Organized crime will be cornered out of the cannabis market by legitimate businesses. Most importantly, innocent and peaceful people will no longer be thrown into cages for ingesting a plant.
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Don't be fooled by myths about cannabis as legalization spreads
Anyone seen this before - Roll It Up
it’s under 600 watt light , it’s in it’s Transtion phase ,using gh 3 part plus cal-mag, it’s in a dwc 5 gallon bucket black I mix up nutes every 7-10 days topping off with ro-water and cal-mag when needed , keeping ppms around 1000-1200 , It is on about 50% of new and older growth. Thanx for any in put.
Anyone seen this before - Roll It Up
New Jersey State Municipal Prosecutors Association endorses marijuana legalization
A helpful reader alerted me to this notable article from the Asbury Park Press, headlined “It’s high time to legalize pot, N.J. prosecutors say.” Here is how it starts:
Proponents of legalizing marijuana in New Jersey received a boost from an unlikely source — the very people who prosecute pot users. The New Jersey State Municipal Prosecutors Association in Hamilton, N.J., has come out in favor of legalizing possession of marijuana. The support of the prosecutors association comes as two bills were introduced this month in the New Jersey State Legislature and as polls show a majority of Americans favor legalization.
One of the bills, introduced March 10, calls for a referendum asking voters to legalize the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. Assemblymen Reed Gusciora, a Democrat from Trenton, N.J., who also is municipal prosecutor in Lawrence Township, N.J., and Michael Patrick Carroll, a Republican from Morris Township, N.J., are its sponsors.
“If it were up to me, I would make all quantities legal,” Carroll said. “Why should the government be in the business of criminalizing marijuana? All it does is create administrative Al Capones and puts the power in the hands of gangsters.” From the government’s perspective, Carroll said legalizing marijuana would be a huge benefit. Government could save money by hiring fewer police and parole officers. Carroll also noted that getting an arrest record has ruined many people’s careers.
On March 24, Sen. Nicholas Scutari, a Democrat from Linden, N.J., who also is municipal prosecutor there, introduced another bill. Scutari’s bill does not call for a referendum. Instead it would legalize the cultivation, sale and possession of marijuana; set up an agency to oversee the industry; and then funnel the sales tax revenue to the state Transportation Trust Fund, drug prevention and enforcement efforts and women’s health programs….
The board of trustees of the municipal prosecutors association voted Feb. 21 to endorse legalization, said its president, Jon-Henry Barr, who is municipal prosecutor in Kenilworth and Clark Township, N.J. “The board was not unanimous, but a clear majority of municipal prosecutors favor the idea,” Barr said.
Of the 10 members of the board of trustees, seven were in favor of legalization, Barr said. Two members were opposed to legalization, and one member of the board abstained from voting, Barr said. He said the association is made up of 150 prosecutors. Among the reasons the municipal prosecutors favor legalization is the damage a prosecution for marijuana possession has on a person’s reputation and the growing acceptance among Americans that marijuana should not be criminalized, Barr said….
“The time has come to understand that this particular offense makes about as much sense as prohibition of alcohol did,” Barr said. “It is time to stop the insanity.” Barr said prosecutors are spending time prosecuting marijuana cases when they could be attacking more pressing problems.
Some municipal prosecutors were unaware of the association’s position on marijuana, and not all agree with it. “I was not at the meeting,” Municipal Prosecutor Bonnie Peterson said. She is prosecutor in Seaside Park, Ship Bottom and Harvey Cedars, three communities on the Jersey Shore. “They sent an e-mail. I was surprised. … I would find it very hard to believe the municipal prosecutors association would come out with a blanket endorsement of legalization of marijuana.”… Steve Rubin, prosecutor in Long Branch and West Long Branch, N.J., was one of the municipal prosecutors association’s board of trustees who voted to endorse legalization. Still, he said he has some concerns, especially during a transition to legalization. He said he fears some marijuana trade would remain in the hands of criminals. “There still are people who are bookmakers,” Rubin said. “We thought they would have been eliminated with OTB (off-track betting) and the lottery.”
But Rubin said legalization would eliminate many of the court cases he has to present. “I would no longer have to prosecute a bunch of 18-year-olds who went to a frat party,” Rubin said.
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New Jersey State Municipal Prosecutors Association endorses marijuana legalization
Medical Marijuana Inc. moving to Poway | Weed Blog - We Love The Herb
Medical Marijuana Inc. is moving from its San Diego headquarters to Poway, the corporate stated Monday, thanks to “exponential progress” in its distribution arm.
The 5-yr-previous publicly traded penny-inventory firm stated the transfer was prompted by speedy progress in its subsidiary HempMedsPX, which distributes hemp-based mostly merchandise for each Medical Marijuana and one other main cannabis firm, CannaVest.
Thanks partially to new legal guidelines legalizing using cannabis in each Washington and Colorado, HempMedsPX posted income of $1.four million within the fourth quarter, up from $248,859 within the third quarter.
Its mum or dad firm reported $5 million in annual gross sales for 2013.
Medical Marijuana disclosed in August that it had acquired an inquiry from the Securities and Trade Fee about present and former administration, however Chief Working Officer Michelle Sides stated this week the inquiry has been closed.
Marijuana Enterprise Every day editor Chris Walsh stated the agency’s transfer is simply one other signal of the business’s brisk progress, and lots of cannabis corporations throughout the nation have made comparable strikes to bigger areas.
“Medical Marijuana Inc. and HempMedsPX have been notably aggressive as of late in making an attempt to develop nationwide manufacturers, and that is probably a mirrored image of that technique,” he stated.
Sides stated the HempMedsPX division launched a number of new product strains in current months, constructing on its flagship chewing gum that retails for $one hundred twenty five per 32-piece field. It was additionally helped alongside final quarter by a brand new distributor, and elevated efforts to educate shoppers about cannabidiol-wealthy merchandise.
“The cannabis business is rising and altering at mild velocity,” she stated in a press release concerning the transfer. “As a quickly rising cannabis-based mostly enterprise in a market that’s predicted to develop quicker than the smartphone business did, it’s essential to productiveness that personnel have a central location to collaborate from on this quick-paced setting.”
Administration workplaces will relocate to the brand new multi-constructing campus within the Scripps Poway Parkway space this week. By June, the complicated will home customer support, warehouse, distribution and advertising providers, and the present headquarters in Clairemont will probably be transformed to administration workplaces for Medical Marijuana’s portfolio, which continues to broaden into areas like cannabis-based mostly meals.
The corporate plans to actively develop HempMedsPX international gross sales this yr, based mostly on elevated manufacturing capabilities at industrial-based mostly hemp oil provider PhytoSphere, one other subsidiary.
Medical Marijuana presently employs sixty four, up from forty six at the start of the yr, and plans to rent a further 50 staff within the subsequent few months.
“We’re enthusiastic about our enterprise goals, the product strains, the progress the corporate continues to make in educating the general public, its outreach packages, present and impending partnerships and now having the ability foster financial prospects for the Metropolis of Poway,” Sides stated.
Source
Medical Marijuana Inc. moving to Poway | Weed Blog - We Love The Herb
edible perspective - Home - Hemp Seed Dressing with a Spring Salad
Lately, there have been more batches of brownies and pizza [coming soon!!] over here than I can count on both hands. While I have loved creating and eating these recipes my body is screaming for salad. And with the warmer weather and spring produce starting to roll in it’s going to be an easy transition to make.
This salad is loaded to the brim. You’ll find three different types of greens, broccoli sprouts, radishes, spring onions, fresh peas, and salty pistachios. I love adding some type of salty crunch and pistachios were just the right fit.
But with this veggie loaded salad I needed a dressing that could hold up to all the flavors and textures but also not overpower the freshness. A simple vinaigrette could have gotten the job done, but I wanted something with a bit more body. A dressing thick like ranch dressing but not ranch dressing. Enter, hemp seed salad dressing.
Ohhh, how I love hemp seeds. They’re incredibly nutty in flavor with a slight bit of earthiness and a soft but slightly crunchy texture. They are amazing on top of pretty much anything, sweet or savory, or blended into smoothies. Beyond their flavor these little seeds are a nutritional powerhouse. They’re a complete protein packing 10 grams in just 3 tablespoons, as well as healthy omega-3’s, and nearly half your daily intake of magnesium. After joining Costco when we moved back to Denver I was shocked to see that they carry hemp seeds for a fraction of the cost at other stores. The same goes for hemp oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, chia seeds, quinoa, EBF greens, and frozen organic fruit [just some of my favorite Costco finds].
Anyway. This salad. It’s a no-fuss, total body reboot. The dressing is blended together in about 30 seconds and thickens as it sits.
Then you can add anything and everything you want into the salad. Clean your fridge out, use some fresh springy veggie goodness, or keep it super simple by massaging the dressing into curly kale leaves and throwing a handful of salted nuts on top.
In the days after making this salad I found myself snacking on carrots dunked in the leftover dressing, which I believe is better than my recently acquired habit of eating cold pizza from the fridge followed by brownies straight from the freezer.
Print this!
Hemp Seed Dressing and Spring Salad gluten-free, vegan // yields ~12oz dressing
- 1/2 cup shelled hemp seeds
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 medium cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt + pepper
- small handful fresh basil, or parsley
Place all ingredients [except basil] in a high-powered blender and blend on low working to high until smooth. Scrape the sides and blend again. Taste and add more lemon juice/zest or s+p if desired. Add in basil and blend for another 5+ seconds until finely chopped and incorporated. The dressing will seem thin but thickens after sitting for 5-10 minutes and even more once chilled. Store in a jar in the fridge sealed for 4-5 days. Stir before using and thin out with a bit or water or lemon juice if needed.
For the salad: I used a mixture of chard, kale, and red leaf lettuce as the base then added in radishes, spring onions, fresh peas, broccoli sprouts, and salted pistachios.
This week is going to be a crazy one, so a fridge full of greens and dressing ready to go is the exact thing I need to keep me going.
Ashley
edible perspective - Home - Hemp Seed Dressing with a Spring Salad
NoCo Hemp Expo: Lots of hemp food, beer and goodies on tap for event | Weed Blog
Hemp is nothing brief of a miracle crop, in response to New Mexico writer Doug Effective.
In his new ebook “Hemp Sure: Dispatches from the Entrance Strains of the subsequent Agricultural Revolution,” Positive argues that as a result of hemp can revive moisture-drenched farmland and offset the creating world’s dependence on fossil fuels, the crop is poised to turn into monetary gold.
“People spent shut a billion dollars on hemp (merchandise) final yr,” High-quality says in a promotional video (above) concerning the new e-book.
Extra hemp goodness: From yarn to espresso, shampoo to salve, physique butter to wooden end — learn our hemp product review archives.
Along with making a collection of promotional stops across the state in coming weeks, Effective would be the keynote speaker on the NoCo Hemp Expo, occurring eleven a.m.-6 p.m. April 5 at Ricky B’s Sports activities Bar and Music Venue, 522 Foremost St., Windsor. Organized by the Colorado Hemp Firm, this ticketed event is the newest in a collection of native hemp-themed gatherings and consists of dozens of hemp product exhibitors together with audio system, music and refreshments.
Hemp is the botanical cousin of cannabis however lacks the latter’s thoughts-altering properties. Edible hemp is protein and antioxidant-wealthy. Industrial hemp can be utilized to supply paper, oil, resin, material and gasoline.
Till this yr, cannabis prohibition meant that American hemp producers needed to import that exact uncooked materials. Canada and Nice Britain are among the many worldwide leaders in hemp exportation. These are two nations that additionally use hemp in business and residential constructing supplies, in accordance with Effective.
Butane-free bowls: How does this beeswax-dipped hemp twine hold butane out of your bowls, lungs?
“Colorado is in an ideal place to actually be a pacesetter on this business,” says Morris Beegle with the Colorado Hemp Firm. He views Saturday’s Hemp Expo as a networking alternative for businesspeople and aspiring entrepreneurs — and an opportunity for hemp shoppers to study and store.
“This event will present rather a lot of good info along with hemp meals, hemp beer and reside leisure,” says Beegle, who provides that attendees will vie for a quantity of hemp door prizes. “Individuals are going to stroll away with rather a lot of hemp of their palms.”
Tickets for the NoCo Hemp Expo are $15-$25 at nocohempexpo.com.
Source
NoCo Hemp Expo: Lots of hemp food, beer and goodies on tap for event | Weed Blog
Heroin, marijuana found in car with kids
WILKES-BARRE — City police pursuing two men after a hand-to-hand exchange on South Main Street found heroin and marijuana in a vehicle with three young children.
Police said heroin packets in zip-lock bags were found in an open can of Natty Daddy beer and a bag of marijuana was found in the console of the car driven by 29-year-old Tyrell Lee Dunbar, according to charges filed.
Dunbar said the three children, ages 1, 3 and 5, inside the car were his kids. The children were turned over to their grandmother, police said.
Dunbar, of Sambourne Street, Wilkes-Barre, was charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of children and one count each of driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
A passenger in the car, Jamil Mitchell, 28, of Philadelphia, was charged with two counts of possession of marijuana and one count each of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and tampering with evidence.
Dunbar and Mitchell were arraigned Saturday by District Judge Rick Cronauer. There were no records of Dunbar and Mitchell jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility on Monday.
According to the criminal complaints:
Police spotted two men in a Cadillac parked in the 200 block of South Main Street talking to a pedestrian Friday night. A hand-to-hand exchange was made with the occupants of the car with the pedestrian, who entered a business.
Police pursued the Cadillac, which accelerated at a high rate of speed to Sambourne Street.
An officer approached the car and detected “an overwhelming smell of burnt marijuana,” the complaint says.
Only one of the three children was properly buckled in a safety seat, police said.
Police removed an open can of beer from the front passenger floor where Mitchell sat. Inside the can, police allegedly found a zip-lock bag with heroin packets, according to the complaints.
Police obtained a search warrant for the car and found three cellphones and marijuana in the center console.
Court records indicate Dunbar is facing drunken driving charges filed by state police at Dunmore on Nov. 29, and owes $1,279 in fines for a 2009 drunken driving conviction and $655 in fines for a drug conviction in Lackawanna County.
Preliminary hearings are scheduled on April 8.
Heroin, marijuana found in car with kids
VIDEO: The Cannabis Oil Invention Shona Banda Wouldn't Hold Secret (BenSwann.Com) | Peace ...
Shona Banda – Live Free or Die
Video:
http://youtu.be/4cQrT0sDxyc
Politics By Evan Mulch Mar 30, 2014
Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN has recently blown the doors wide open on medical marijuana and the people in America are acting fast. Even while cannabis remains a Schedule I substance under federal law, politicians are quickly changing state laws to allow people to use the plant.
So who is it that should get credit for the medical marijuana momentum that we are experiencing right now? Dr. Sanjay Gupta definitely deserves credit but who inspired him to take a deeper look at benefits of medical marijuana?
We may never know exactly who or what inspired Dr. Sanjay Gupta to report many of the fascinating facts about medical marijuana but the discovery of the Charlotte’s Web oil can be linked to two people that have never had the spotlight in the mainstream media.
Shona Banda – Live Free or Die
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cQrT0sDxyc
Read more: http://benswann.com/the-cannabis-oil-invention-shona-banda-w…
VIDEO: The Cannabis Oil Invention Shona Banda Wouldn't Hold Secret (BenSwann.Com) | Peace ...
Marijuana petition seeks to lower fines/jail time
Are the penalties for possessing marijuana too stiff in Kansas? One group thinks so, and it’s starting a petition in Wichita to change that.
Kansas for Change needs 4300 more signatures to get the question before city leaders, and potentially on the November ballot.
“It’s David and Goliath,” said Kansas for Change Co-Founder Esau Freeman.
Freeman feels a lot like the lesser character in the fairy tale when it comes to changing marijuana laws in Kansas, but he says it’s worth the fight.
“This keeps people from getting jobs, this keeps people from getting financial aide,” Freeman said. “This really wrecks peoples lives.”
That’s why his group is starting a petition to decriminalize possession of marijuana. Right now, anyone caught with the drug in Kansas faces a year in jail and a $2500 fine. Kansas for Change wants the fine to drop to $25 with no jail time. Other groups in kansas agree.
“50% of our incarcerated prisoners are there because of marijuana, and it just seem counter productive,” said Carl Williams with KS Silver Haired Legislature.
Even if the petition gets enough signatures and Wichita voters approve it on the ballot, it won’t be enough to change state law. Only legislators can do that.
Any bill dealing with marijuana has failed to get out of committee in the past few years, which is why Freeman’s group is pushing for change through city governments
“We understand this will be trumped by state law, but it sends a message to legislators,” Freeman said. “We will be back up there in January, and we will have more supporters and they will get more phone calls.”
Freeman knows of similar petitions being started in Lawrence and Wyandotte county. He hopes more will join in because he feels it will eventually force lawmakers to look at changing marijuana legislation.
Kansas for Change hopes to get enough signatures by late July, because the City has to verify the petition before it can end up on the ballot.
Marijuana petition seeks to lower fines/jail time
Marijuana grow trailer busted
Roy Lee Groce, 52, and Leanne Martin Groce, 49, both of 3111 N.C. 54, both face felony charges of growing marijuana in their trailer.
According to warrants from the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office, the Groces had 2,111 grams, or about 4 1/2 pounds, of marijuana when they were arrested Monday. Inside the trailer, deputies say, there were lights, timers and watering systems for growing marijuana. They face additional charges because they live within 100 feet of Creative Learning Daycare at 3216 N.C. 54.
While warrants gave the same address for both Groces, the warrant for Roy Groce gave a Graham address, and the warrant for Leanne Groce listed the address as Haw River.
Both face charges of felony manufacturing marijuana; maintaining a dwelling to keep and sell a controlled substance; possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana; manufacturing, selling, delivering and possessing a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school; and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
Roy Groce’s bond was set at $100,000. Leanne Groce’s’ bond was set at $10,000.
Marijuana grow trailer busted
Medical Marijuana Inc. moving to Poway
Medical Marijuana Inc. is moving from its San Diego headquarters to Poway, the company said Monday, thanks to “exponential growth” in its distribution arm.
The 5-year-old publicly traded penny-stock company said the move was prompted by rapid growth in its subsidiary HempMedsPX, which distributes hemp-based products for both Medical Marijuana and another leading cannabis company, CannaVest.
Thanks in part to new laws legalizing the use of cannabis in both Washington and Colorado, HempMedsPX posted revenue of $1.4 million in the fourth quarter, up from $248,859 in the third quarter.
Its parent company reported $5 million in annual sales for 2013.
Medical Marijuana disclosed in August that it had received an inquiry from the Securities and Exchange Commission about current and former management, but Chief Operating Officer Michelle Sides said this week the inquiry has been closed.
Marijuana Business Daily editor Chris Walsh said the firm’s move is just another sign of the industry’s brisk growth, and many cannabis companies across the country have made similar moves to larger spaces.
“Medical Marijuana Inc. and HempMedsPX have been particularly aggressive as of late in trying to develop national brands, and this is likely a reflection of that strategy,” he said.
Sides said the HempMedsPX division launched several new product lines in recent months, building on its flagship chewing gum that retails for $125 per 32-piece box. It was also helped along last quarter by a new distributor, and increased efforts to educate consumers about cannabidiol-rich products.
“The cannabis industry is growing and changing at light speed,” she said in a statement about the move. “As a rapidly growing cannabis-based business in a market that is predicted to grow faster than the smartphone industry did, it is critical to productivity that personnel have a central location to collaborate from in this fast-paced environment.”
Management offices will relocate to the new multi-building campus in the Scripps Poway Parkway area this week. By June, the complex will house customer service, warehouse, distribution and marketing services, and the current headquarters in Clairemont will be converted to administration offices for Medical Marijuana’s portfolio, which continues to expand into areas like cannabis-based foods.
The company plans to actively grow HempMedsPX global sales this year, based on increased production capabilities at industrial-based hemp oil supplier PhytoSphere, another subsidiary.
Medical Marijuana currently employs 64, up from 46 at the beginning of the year, and plans to hire an additional 50 employees in the next few months.
“We are excited about our business objectives, the product lines, the progress the company continues to make in educating the public, its outreach programs, existing and impending partnerships and now being able foster economic possibilities for the City of Poway,” Sides said.
Medical Marijuana Inc. moving to Poway
Medical marijuana deal near
Determined to revamp the state’s defunct medical marijuana program, key state lawmakers have begun hashing out differences between the different programs approved by the Senate and the House.
Del. Peter A. Hammen, a Baltimore City Democrat, said Monday he would “fully anticipate” a compromise to be found by the end of the week.
At issue is how many growers would be allowed to operate in the state, and whether the patients could get marijuana directly from growers or instead through a system of independent dispensaries.
Maryland lawmakers passed a medical marijuana program in 2013 that relied on academic centers to distribute the drug, but none volunteered to administer the program. In the year since, patients have not had access to legal medical marijuana.
House lawmakers approved a bill that would limit the state to five growers who would also distribute the drug directly to patients with a prescription. The Senate, worried that system would create a monopoly, set no limit on growers and called for nearly 100 dispensaries across the state, none of which would have financial ties to growers.
Hammen said he and Sen. Jamie Raskin of Montgomery County, also a Democrat, reached some preliminary agreements on how to bridge the differences.
Under the tentative compromise, Hammen said there could be some growers who could also operate dispensaries, but that there should be – at first – a limit on the number of growers in the state.
ecox@baltsun.com
Medical marijuana deal near
Man Searched for Marijuana Because of Colorado License Plate Sues Cops - The 420 Times
Are the cops “license plate profiling” in the state of Idaho? Unfortunately, all signs point to “yes”!
According to a 25-page complaint, back in January, Darien Roseen was traveling along a stretch of I-84 while driving in between his two homes in Colorado and Washington state, and had just crossed the Idaho-Oregon Border, when Idaho State Trooper Justin Klitch decided to pull Roseen over for an apparent traffic violation.
“Immediately after Mr. Roseen passed his location, Trooper Klitch pulled out from the Interstate median, rapidly accelerating to catch up with Mr. Roseen’s vehicle,” the complaint reads.
The 70-year-old Roseen says he changed lanes and exited the interstate to pull over in a rest area. He said Trooper Klitch followed him, which Roseen says made him feel “uncomfortable,” though “he did not perceive that he had done anything wrong.”
Mr. Roseen claims that due to the trooper being there, high winds, precipitation and snow-covered ground, caused him to bump the curb when he parked his vehicle.
That alleged accidental action persuaded Klitch to turn on his overhead lights, engulfing Roseen’s car with illumination.
The officer didn’t initially offer an explanation as to why he “pursued and initiated” contact with Mr. Roseen, but afterward proclaimed he made the stop based on Roseen’s failure to signal while exiting the interstate and because he bumped into the curb.
Mr. Roseen attempted to tell the trooper that he pulled into the rest area to use the men’s room, but Klitch wasn’t buying it.
“Trooper Klitch rejected Mr. Roseen’s reason for pulling into the rest area – that he had to use the bathroom,” so reads the complaint.
“Trooper Klitch stated, ‘You didn’t have to go to the bathroom before you saw me. … I’m telling you, you pulled in here to avoid me. That’s exactly what you did,’” the complaint states.
Klitch proceeded to badger Roseen by asking him why his eyes “appeared glassy” and blaming him of “having something in his vehicle that he should not have.”
According to the complaint, after Klitch asked for Roseen’s drivers license (but didn’t run it until later), and identified his possession of valid prescription medications, “Trooper Klitch asked him, ‘When is the last time you used any marijuana?’ thereby assuming that Mr. Roseen had, in fact, used marijuana and inferring that he had used it recently.”
The complaint says that Klitch repeatedly asked to search Roseen’s vehicle while continuing to question him about what he was “hiding.”
Roseen refused to give him permission to search, which caused Klitch to typify his behavior as “consistent with a person who was hiding something illegal.”
After idle threats to summons a drug-sniffing dog by Klitch (but never followed through), Roseen finally sanctioned a search of “parts” of the vehicle, if “it got him back on the road faster” and began unpacking its contents.
In the meantime, Klitch finally ran a background check on Roseen which turned up clean.
“Trooper Klitch claimed he could smell the odor of marijuana,” the complaint states. “Mr. Roseen stated that he could not smell the odor of marijuana that Trooper Klitch claimed to be coming from the trunk compartment.”
The alleged whiff of weed apparently gives cops the right to do an entire search on your vehicle in Idaho, and that’s just what happened.
Roseen was detained while a second officer joined Klitch in order to drive the vehicle to the station for an all out search-a-thon.
After a multi-cop mega-search was conducted with nothing to show for it, Roseen was issued a citation for “inattentive/careless” driving.
Enter lawsuit!
Roseen’s federal lawsuit seeking punitive damages alleges that Klitch, the second officer Christensen, Payette County Sheriff’s Deputy Webster (first names unlisted), and the Idaho State Police violated his Fourth, Fifth and 14th Amendment Rights and claims the search of his car was unjustified.
Damn straight!
“At no point did Trooper Klitch’s line of questioning relate to Mr. Roseen’s alleged improper driving pattern,” the complaint states. “Instead, Trooper Klitch immediately accused Mr. Roseen of transporting something illegal.”
Roseen’s attorney, Mark Coonts, told Courthouse News that his client’s constitutional rights were given no regard.
Ya think?!? Storm trooper mentality, plain and simple! Shameful!
Man Searched for Marijuana Because of Colorado License Plate Sues Cops - The 420 Times
Branstad meeting on medical marijuana Tuesday
DES MOINES | Gov. Terry Branstad is set to meet Tuesday with parents of epileptic children who will lobby the governor for greater access to cannabis oil.
But the governor struck a cautious tone when reporters asked about marijuana legalization during his weekly news conference Monday.
“I’m empathetic of the people that have medical problems, and I want to see us address those in an appropriate way, without creating problems for drug abuse by people that are not suffering from diseases,” Branstad said.
Meanwhile, state Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, said a bill allowing certain people to possess medical marijuana in the state could be introduced as soon as this week in the Iowa Senate.
“We’re looking at it in a very narrow way,” Bolkcom said Monday during a live broadcast of Iowa Public Radio’s “River to River” show.
The Iowa City senator is the leading advocate for medical marijuana in the Legislature.
He’s working on a bill with Republican Sen. Charles Schneider of West Des Moines to allow Iowans who have a doctor’s prescription to buy cannabis oil in states where it’s legal and possess it in Iowa without getting in legal trouble.
“Four months ago, I thought medical marijuana was a sham for recreational use,” said Schneider, who changed his mind after talking to medical marijuana advocates.
“This is an issue that deserves some study,” he said. He said cannabis oil has such low concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, users can’t get high ingesting it.
“It has no street value,” Schneider said. “There really may be something to medical marijuana.”
Maria LaFrance, a medical marijuana advocate from Des Moines, said patients pushing for legalization of cannabis oil have run out of options.
“Other states are leading the way, and Iowans need to have these same options,” she said. “In addition to the 21 states, plus D.C., across the nation, there is pending or approved legislation for allowing low-psychoactive cannabis oil for epilepsy in another 13 states … Iowa is not yet on that list.”
Bolkcom said he is unsure how his bill will fare even if it passes the Senate.
“We do need to see some signs of life from the Iowa House,” he said. “At the end of the day, do have to have a governor willing to sign this thing?”
Branstad meeting on medical marijuana Tuesday
Medical Marijuana for New York Seen as Next Battle for Cuomo
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, fresh off a deal with lawmakers on a $137.9 billion budget, now confronts a battle over medical marijuana.
After at least four Republican senators signaled support, the legislature is poised to pass a bill creating a medical pot program that would monitor the drug from seedling to sale. Cuomo, a 56-year-old Democrat, instead wants to use an executive order to revive a 1980 law that created a marijuana research program run by hospitals. His plan, which limits pot to patients approved by the health department, doesn’t allow it to be grown in New York.
“I applaud the governor, but I do think you need a comprehensive plan that this legislation works toward,” said Joseph Robach, a Rochester Republican who supports the medical marijuana bill.
The measure, called the Compassionate Care Act, would make New York the 21st U.S. state to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana. The Democrat-led assembly has repeatedly passed it, only to have it die in the Republican-controlled senate. A February poll by Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, found that 88 percent of New York voters support legalizing pot for medical use.
The shift in the senate started that same month after WGRZ, a Buffalo television station, aired a story on Anna Conte, an 8-year-old with Dravet syndrome, a form of epilepsy. The disease can cause hundreds of seizures a day starting in infancy, and an oil derived from pot has been shown to be an effective treatment, according to the Landover, Maryland-based Epilepsy Foundation.
Colorado Move
The report described a plan by Anna’s mother, Wendy, to move with her daughter from western New York to Colorado, where pot is legal, and leave behind her husband, 15-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter. All four Republican senators who support the bill come from the region surrounding Anna’s home in Orchard Park, a Buffalo suburb.
The family traveled to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, last month on a Make-A-Wish Foundation trip for Anna. The child suffered a seizure at their hotel and her brother had to help her breathe with a respirator bag, Conte said. A mix of sedatives she takes wasn’t helping.
“These kids are dying, and every seizure wipes out brain cells and cognitive function,” Conte said by phone. “She should be out playing with Barbies, and instead she’s in a drug-induced coma on the couch with the medications I can give her. It shouldn’t be a political issue.”
Defunct Program
The Compassionate Care Act would allow the particular pot plant that can help with the seizures to be grown in New York and the oil derived from it to be distributed to children like Anna. It’s low in the chemical that makes pot users high, and has others that may help prevent nerve damage, Conte said.
Cuomo, who faces re-election in November, has proposed reviving the 1980 law by having 20 hospitals prescribe pot to “monitor the program and evaluate the effectiveness and the feasibility of a medical marijuana system.” His plan would open the program to patients with cancer, glaucoma and other illnesses who are approved by the health department.
“Medical marijuana, I understand the upside — I also understand the downside,” Cuomo said at a January press briefing. “I’m not proposing a law, so it’s not the legislature telling me what I have to do, and that gives me great comfort because if it goes bad, we can correct or improve all within our own control.”
Cop Stash
The 198O law allows marijuana to be acquired only from a now-defunct federal program or from law-enforcement confiscations. That would make it almost impossible to get the plant that provides oil that helps people with seizures.
“Cuomo is conflating a research program with a patient-access system,” said Gabriel Sayegh, the New York state director for the Drug Policy Alliance, which supports medical marijuana. “It would not be sufficient to give access to medicine that many patients need.”
Sheldon Silver, the Manhattan Democrat who leads the New York Assembly, included the Compassionate Care Act in his chamber’s budget proposal. It didn’t survive closed-door negotiations with the governor and other legislative leaders.
“We just couldn’t get anyone interested,” Silver said yesterday in Albany.
In the senate, the bill is sponsored by Diane Savino. The New York City lawmaker is among five Democrats who broke away to form a coalition with Republicans to run the chamber. Under the power-sharing deal, Republicans must approve any bill that comes up for a vote. Dean Skelos, the Long Island Republican who co-leads the senate, has said he’ll consider allowing a vote.
On a March 29 conference call with reporters, Cuomo said, “There hasn’t been any serious discussion of any alternatives” to his plan.
That should change in the coming weeks, said George Maziarz, a Republican senator who supports the bill.
“There’s going to be some negotiating,” Maziarz said. “A deal will be brokered between the governor’s program and the Compassionate Care Act.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Freeman Klopott in Albany at fklopott@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at smerelman@bloomberg.net Mark Schoifet
Medical Marijuana for New York Seen as Next Battle for Cuomo
Documentary sparks conversation about industrial hemp
By Lubna Hindi–
A screening of the pro-hemp documentary “Bringing It Home” allowed campus to discuss the legalization of industrial hemp and its potential impacts.
Linda Booker, director and producer of the documentary, attending the screening on March 25 to talk about her work.
After reading a news story about Anthony Brenner, a father whose daughter was born with a genetic disorder that caused seizures from chemical exposure, Linda Booker and friend Blaire Johnson were inspired to explore the versatility of hemp and create a documentary.
“This was going to be a film that we wanted to really reach into communities, get it to farmers, builders, consumers, and legislators, the policy makers.” Said Booker. “Hemp offers so much in the way of being able to create thousands of sustainable and environmentally friendly products.”
In the documentary, Booker presented the uses of hemp. Some uses included fabric and clothes, building supplies for toxin-free homes, even a topping for things like yogurt and ice cream.
“The film was extremely insightful into the multiple uses and benefits, both environmental and economical.” said junior finance major Daniel King. “I had already been a strong advocate for the legalization of industrial hemp, the documentary simply reaffirmed this stance.”
Many states throughout the U.S. have already proposed the legalization of hemp, Kentucky being one of them. Many argue that legalizing hemp will create jobs and provide farmers with a product that is versatile.
Industrial hemp is currently legal in Kentucky, and state Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer believes farmers are preparing their fields for the first season for industrial hemp. State legislature is currently working on regulations for growing the plant.
Documentary sparks conversation about industrial hemp
New Toronto clinic to offer medical marijuana prescriptions
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A Georgian Bay area family physician is opening a clinic in north Toronto that will specialize in writing patients’ prescriptions for medical marijuana.
Capitalizing on a reluctance by doctors to prescribe cannabis as a medication, Dr. Danial Schecter will open Cannabinoid Medical Clinic, at the corner of Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. E. in May.
“It’s always exciting to be a leader in the field,” says Schecter.“It’s a great way to help people and it’s also, from a financial perspective, a good business opportunity.”
Under new medical marijuana regulations, which take full effect April 1, medical marijuana patients must be prescribed cannabis by a doctor or nurse practitioner, and buy their weed from a licensed commercial grower.
However, many in the medical profession are reluctant to prescribe cannabis and Schecter is not the only one who sees that as a business opportunity. Several referral and walk-in cannabis clinics are expected to open in the near future hoping to supply the demand for medical marijuana.
MORE ON THE STAR.COM
Timeline: A history of marijuana use in Canada
Medical marijuana growers warned to destroy pot or face police
Faces of Pot: Medical Marijuana User
Vancouver-based Medicinal Cannabis Resource Centre Inc. (MCRCI), which has for three years provided patients with guidance in marijuana use, is planning two walk-in clinics in Toronto and has future plans to open clinics in Halifax, Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton.
MCRCI president Terry Roycroft was recently in Toronto to attend a medical marijuana conference and scout possible locations for clinics. He wants to open the first within two months.
“Doctors are uninformed about the benefits of cannabis because it’s not taught,” says Roycroft. “Doctors who have been in practice for a while do not want to be in that role, they don’t want to be prescribing you something that they don’t know what it’s going to do.”
Under the old regulations, 37,800 Canadians were authorized to possess marijuana — authorizations that were signed by about 7 per cent of Canada’s doctors. More precisely, of Canada’s more than 74,000 physicians, only 5,363 doctors signed authorizations. Nearly half of those cannabis-friendly doctors — 2,228 physicians — are from Ontario.
Canadian Medical Association (CMA) president Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti says the reason so few doctors are comfortable prescribing cannabis is because medicinal benefits aren’t proven. The courts decided on marijuana’s therapeutic role and it didn’t undergo the same rigorous testing that’s customary with other medications.
“Physicians are concerned that this drug is on the market and we really don’t know anything about it,” says Francescutti.
On Monday, federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose released a media statement addressing concerns by the medical community.
“They want clearer guidance on safety and effectiveness and want authorizations to be monitored,” she said. “That is why I asked Health Canada to consult with provincial and territorial regulatory bodies, companies licensed to produce marijuana and other professional organizations to enhance information-sharing on how doctors and nurse practitioners are authorizing the use of marijuana.”
On Monday, the government also announced it will appeal a recent Federal Court order that granted a temporary injunction to medicinal users, permitting those licensed under the old law to keep growing pot beyond the March 31 deadline. New regulations banning personal production were to begin April1, but a B.C. judge ruled medicinal users could continue growing until a constitutional challenge of the new law was heard.
The injunction was good news for Schecter, who was worried his 2,000 square foot clinic at Yonge and Eglinton, which is currently under construction, would become inundated with patients.
The clinic will offer “cannabinoid therapy,” meaning suitable patients will be prescribed either marijuana or pharmaceutical drugs similar to cannabis, such as Cesamet and Sativex.
An annual fee of between $100 and $200 will cover an education session, where patients learn about different strains of cannabis and how to procure it. Schecter says some licensed producers have told him they will reimburse the fee amount to patients.
The clinic will also provide education sessions to physicians, says Schecter, a former research assistant to Montreal-based Dr. Mark Ware, who is a world-renowned expert on marijuana use for pain.
“There’s a lot of interest and a real desire for knowledge by physicians, but very few people out there are knowledgeable and have experience in prescribing and have the scientific background,” says Schecter.
Similarly, MCRCI charges $300 for a consultation, where patients are given an annual prescription. A tele-medicine consult, via Skype, costs $400. For its physicians, MCRCI has created a reference manual about dosages and strains, based on the 2,500 patients it has dealt with since first opening. It will also hold seminars to educate doctors.
While the opening of pot clinics was “bound to happen,” says the CMA president, he believes there will be consequences.
“You can rest assured,” says Francescutti. “There’s going to be more than one physician who’s going to get disciplined over this.”
Pot and public opinion
It appears about 30 per cent of Canadians may be active pot smokers. That’s according to a series of random public opinion samplings done by Forum Research, which surveyed by telephone 3,663 Canadian adults in late October 2013 and late March 2014. Results based on the total sample are considered accurate within 2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Here are some of the Forum Poll highlights:
13 per cent had admitted they had consumed marijuana in the past year
(17 per cent declined to answer that question)
Of those who said they had tried marijuana:
18 per cent use pot daily or more often
55 per cent consume pot recreationally
11 per cent use it for medical reasons
New Toronto clinic to offer medical marijuana prescriptions
Asians who were jailed over cannabis factory were trafficked here
Campaigners have claimed 24 Asian nationals jailed for cannabis cultivation in recent years are potential victims of human trafficking.
The Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland also claimed no investigation was carried out by gardaí into this and that all of them subsequently received, on average, a sentence of three years.
A MRCI report, which is part of a wider European project on trafficking for forced labour, found that:
-36 Asians have been imprisoned between 2011 and July 2013 for cannabis cultivation;
-They include 13 Vietnamese nationals and 11 Chinese nationals.
-24 are potential victims of human trafficking.
-19 claimed they were not paid, were not allowed to leave cannabis grow houses, had their passports/documents confiscated, were forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor, and had working conditions described as “horrendous”.
Virginija Petrauskaite, MRCI legal officer, said: “People have been found malnourished and terrified in houses locked from the outside, yet they were still treated as criminals and given heavy prison sentences.
“It is of deep concern to us that even where clear indicators of human trafficking are present in cases before the courts, no consideration is being given to the possibility that the person is a victim of trafficking. This report recommends that a multi-agency team of experts assesses all potential cases of trafficking for slavery in cannabis production immediately so that victims can be identified and protected.”
The report said it was “evident” that gardaí were unable to identify victims in such circumstances and there was an urgent need for potential victims to be formally identified by an agency like the HSE, with the assistance of MRCI.
The report said that, where there are indicators of human trafficking, the State has “an obligation” to investigate further.
“Last July, the Government introduced a law to protect victims of human trafficking who have been forced to commit crimes but, to date, this law has not been applied,” said Ms Petrauskaite.
“The Department of Justice and Equality along with An Garda Siochána are aware of this problem yet they have been unable to respond in a comprehensive way. There is a need for an independent rapporteur to combat human trafficking who can identify trends and bring all stakeholders together to implement appropriate responses — and avoid criminalising victims.”
www.mrci.ie
Locked up and fed once a week
A middle-aged man, struggling with debts, accepted an offer of a job in Europe as a gardener by a wealthy friend. He was introduced to a group of men who arranged for him to be brought out of Asia. He arrived at an industrial estate in rural Ireland and was taken to a barn. Inside, the barn was very hot.
He saw hundreds of plants being fed and watered by hoses under artificial lights. He was shown how to control the hoses, the heaters and lights and was told it would be his job to look after the plants. The men locked him in and threatened that he would be very sorry if anything happened to them.
He had an old mattress to sleep on and was brought food once a week. He had no idea what country he was in. When the police discovered the barn, they found him locked inside.
With the assistance of an interpreter, he told them he never received any money.
He was charged with possession of the plants and faces a presumptive minimum sentence of 10 years.
Although there were strong indicators in this case, gardaí did not identify the individual as a victim of trafficking.
In this case, the victim was charged and awaits trial for cannabis production.
-From MRCI report
© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved
Asians who were jailed over cannabis factory were trafficked here
Marijuana causing muscle tightness/spasms - Tokers Q&A - Grasscity Forums
HI, this is my first time posting on a forum because I haven’t really found a specific cause or cure for my problem…
Okay so basically every time I smoke weed my muscles seem to tense up a lot and it’s extremely uncomfortable and makes it hard to enjoy being high at all. I’ve had back problems for a long time because I have slight scoliosis and terrible posture which I’ve been trying to correct, but it’s never been this bad until about 6 months ago. I was smoking and all of the sudden my neck muscles tightened and tensed up A LOT, it was really scary and uncomfortable because my neck felt almost too weak and tense to even hold my head up. This, I believe, has also caused my back to feel really uncomfortable. After I had this neck “spasm” my neck felt super off and uncomfortable for weeks. I’ve been prescribed tons of anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxers, none of which worked, and I even went to physical therapy which barely helped at all. Yoga used to help but now I just seem to overstretch and hurt my muscles even more. My body now hurts all over and no matter what I try nothing helps. It’s really strange that this one time smoking (when smoking used to not bother me at all) hurt my body this much, and that every time I smoke now it makes it so much worse. I’m in pain constantly and it makes no sense. I don’t have a vitamin deficiency because I take a multivitamin every day and I always stay super hydrated so what’s up? I feel like I’m never going to be able to enjoy smoking weed again.
I know that was really long but I’m just confused why marijuana is giving me this adverse effect that’s lasting even when I’m not high. Please, if you have any info or ideas that would be great. Thanks.
Edited by bobshmob, Yesterday, 04:53 PM.
Marijuana causing muscle tightness/spasms - Tokers Q&A - Grasscity Forums
NoCo Hemp Expo: Lots of hemp food, beer and goodies on tap for event
Hemp is nothing short of a miracle crop, according to New Mexico author Doug Fine.
In his new book “Hemp Bound: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the next Agricultural Revolution,” Fine argues that because hemp can revive moisture-drenched farmland and offset the developing world’s dependence on fossil fuels, the crop is poised to become financial gold.
“Americans spent close a billion dollars on hemp (products) last year,” Fine says in a promotional video (above) about the new book.
More hemp goodness: From yarn to coffee, shampoo to salve, body butter to wood finish — read our hemp product review archives.
In addition to making a series of promotional stops around the state in coming weeks, Fine will be the keynote speaker at the NoCo Hemp Expo, happening 11 a.m.-6 p.m. April 5 at Ricky B’s Sports Bar and Music Venue, 522 Main St., Windsor. Organized by the Colorado Hemp Company, this ticketed event is the latest in a series of local hemp-themed gatherings and includes dozens of hemp product exhibitors along with speakers, music and refreshments.
Hemp is the botanical cousin of cannabis but lacks the latter’s mind-altering properties. Edible hemp is protein and antioxidant-rich. Industrial hemp can be used to produce paper, oil, resin, cloth and fuel.
Until this year, cannabis prohibition meant that American hemp manufacturers had to import that particular raw material. Canada and Great Britain are among the international leaders in hemp exportation. Those are two countries that also use hemp in commercial and residential building materials, according to Fine.
Butane-free bowls: How does this beeswax-dipped hemp twine keep butane out of your bowls, lungs?
“Colorado is in a perfect position to really be a leader in this industry,” says Morris Beegle with the Colorado Hemp Company. He views Saturday’s Hemp Expo as a networking opportunity for businesspeople and aspiring entrepreneurs — and a chance for hemp consumers to learn and shop.
“This event will provide a lot of good information in addition to hemp food, hemp beer and live entertainment,” says Beegle, who adds that attendees will vie for a number of hemp door prizes. “People are going to walk away with a lot of hemp in their hands.”
Tickets for the NoCo Hemp Expo are $15-$25 at nocohempexpo.com.
NoCo Hemp Expo: Lots of hemp food, beer and goodies on tap for event
Marijuana rally pushes for legalization, reform
Senate Bill 1182, which would legalize medical marijuana, has not moved from committee since its January introduction
By Mark Walters
For the Daily Record/Sunday News
Matt Sharrer, center, and wife Angie, center right, were among the supporters of cannabis reform at rally Monday at the Capitol rotunda in Harrisburg. The Sharrers have a 9-year-old daughter, Annie, who suffers from a form of epilepsy, a condition that cannabis oil can treat. (Jeff Lautenberger — For the Evening Sun)
Many families with children suffering from forms of epilepsy and other conditions attended a cannabis reform rally at the Capitol rotunda in Harrisburg on Monday. (Jeff Lautenberger — For the Evening Sun)
HARRISBURG — Angie and Matt Sharrer do not understand why kids in Pennsylvania are being denied access to natural medication.
And the Tyrone Township, Adams County, couple think it is a shame that they have to plaster pictures of their 9-year-old daughter, Annie, on a posterboard to prove a point.
But the pictures of Annie help tell a story, and that story — full of watching their daughter’s seizures, medication trials and errors and doctor visits — is one that has been frustrating for the Sharrers as they continue to lobby state lawmakers to legalize medical marijuana.
The Sharrers stood behind state Sen. Daylin Leach on Monday morning as the Montgomery County Democrat spoke to roughly 200 people in the Capitol rotunda at the Keystone Cannabis Reform Rally.
Along with Sen. Mike Folmer, a Lebanon County Republican, Leach co-sponsored Senate Bill 1182, which would legalize medical marijuana in Pennsylvania. The bill has not moved from the Senate’s Law and Justice Committee since its Jan. 15 introduction.
The Sharrers were joined at the rally by dozens of families of children who suffer from epilepsy, as well as adults suffering from chronic pain, all of whom think medical marijuana could be the ticket to a better life. Or at least one with less pain.
Courtney Parker, a 35-year-old Lancaster County woman, said she takes 10 medications for her back pain from a spinal injury she suffered when she was 15. Five days without it, Parker said, and she cannot walk.
Parker, who cares for six kids, said she does not want to spend the rest of her life on pharmaceuticals.
“I feel like medical marijuana would be a safer route than narcotics” she said. “But if I I used a safer medication, I’d be a criminal.”
Many lawmakers remain hesitant to vote for legalizing a drug that is heavily restricted by federal policies. Because of its Schedule 1 classification, marijuana is believed to be unsafe, have no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.
Dozens of supporters hold signs in support of cannabis reform Monday during a rally in Harrisburg. (Jeff Lautenberger — For the Evening Sun)
Derek Rosenzweig, a 30-year-old marijuana activist from Bucks County, said marijuana fails all three of the requirements to make it a Schedule 1 controlled substance.
“Marijuana should be fully regulated and legalized,” Rosenzweig said after the rally. “It doesn’t hurt anybody and it’s safer than caffeine.”
Rosenzweig said his father, Louis Rosenzweig, suffers from reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a chronic pain disorder that is not alleviated through a nerve block, opiate-based drugs or other inpatient treatments.
Rosenzweig would like his father to be able to use medical marijuana for pain treatment, but if the bill fails to move, Louis Rosenzweig will not be able to use it.
Leach said he is tired of seeing patients take a revolving cocktail of dangerous and addictive medications with horrible side effects.
“If this was a derivative of any other plant, it would be on the shelf of every CVS,” Leach said about marijuana.
Leach derided Gov. Tom Corbett for not being more aggressive in supporting marijuana reform.
Corbett has said he will look to the United States Food and Drug Administration as the entity that ensures the efficacy and safety of cannabidiol oil, or CBD, a non-psychoactive marijuana compound, said Jay Pagni, spokesman for the governor.
Corbett has directed the state’s Physician General to work with families in sharing information about what the FDA finds based on clinical trials, Pagni said.
But Leach said Corbett needs to stop hiding behind the FDA. He also took issue with the Republican governor’s stance on marijuana while pushing for alcohol privatization and expansion.
“One is addictive and one isn’t,” Leach said, comparing alcohol to marijuana. “One makes you want to drive fast and get in fights while the other makes you want to eat sour cream and onion chips and listen to the Doors.”
After the rally, the Sharrers met with state Sen. Rich Alloway, R-Chambersburg, to discuss a May 1 town hall meeting at Southeastern Adams Volunteer Emergency Services.
They stood in the quickly emptying Capitol rotunda with their 2-by-4 sign, the top half displaying pictures of their daughter smiling and looking healthy, the bottom half featuring pictures of her in the hospital or seizing.
“Childhood should look like this,” the top half read. “Not this …” the bottom half added.
Angie Sharrer used to be a teacher, but now is a stay-home mom. Advocating for her daughter to gain access to alternative medicine has become her full-time job.
Like the Sharrers, Les Stark was encouraged by the number of people who came out Monday morning in support of marijuana reform.
Stark, a 48-year-old Ephrata man, served as emcee for the rally. He spends all his time as a hemp and marijuana activist.
Actions like those taken at Monday’s rally will contribute to reaching a tipping point for marijuana reform in Pennsylvania, Stark said after the rally. He is confident that if that tipping point is not reached by the end of 2014, it will happen next year with a new governor.
“We’re bringing this to the halls of power in Harrisburg,” Stark said during the rally. “Change is coming to Pennsylvania. Victory is right around the corner.”
Mark Walters covers Adams County for The Evening Sun. Contact him at 717-637-3736 ext. 147.
Marijuana rally pushes for legalization, reform
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