By Milan Simonich / msimonich@tnmnp.com

by Christine Stuart
 

The Judiciary Committee will hear testimony Wednesday on a bill  to allow people with debilitating medical conditions to use marijuana legally.
The nearly-perennial proposal wasn’t introduced by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy this year, but lawmakers believe it has a good chance of passing.
“It’s gotten though the committee the last several years,” Judiciary Committee Co-Chairman Gerald Fox III said Friday.
Currently, 16 states and Washington D.C.  legalize small amounts of marijuana for patients with debilitating conditions, such as cancer,  HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, and multiple sclerosis.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/ctnj.php/archives/entry/high_hopes_for_medical_marijuana_bill_this_year

Here’s the link:
http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/201203#pg17

BY FRANCIS MCCABE
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

With an ever-changing need worldwide for different products over the centuries, agriculture moves on with demand. Some crops, for a variety of reasons, became less favorable to farmers and were not produced in many places; one of the victims was the Hemp plant, a once favorite crop by farmers worldwide due to its diversity of use. Since history has been recorded, hemp has been a popular crop grown by farmers from China across to Europe and Britain. Hemp production was banned in many countries and this resulted in a big gap in the fiber market, so other crops had to be found and cotton seemed to fit the bill.
Originally the issue was related to the psychoactive components of some types of marijuana. Without a clear direction and no way to lawfully distinguish the non-THC hemp from the psychoactive version marijuana there was confusion which caused many governments to ban the production of all types of hemp plants.
Hemp Turned Out to be a Lot More Benevolent than They Realized!
Hemp with a high psychoactive content turned out to be a good treatment for a number of the symptoms of some common disorders; and has not brought about the death and destruction that was once suggested it might. There are a range of other substances that in reality did fill these shoes as evil destroyers, including alcohol and tobacco. When cannabis was banned in the last century, opium, one of the most addictive substances known to man was still legally available!
There is a different view from the medical profession these days.
With government attitudes being changed by better education and research, hemp production is now actively encouraged again. With growing non-THC hemp legalized again, production has risen dramatically. With better research and more modern approaches, there has been much development in the hemp industry consequently this amazingly useful plant can be utilized in eco-friendly and sustainable building materials, plastics, fiber to make clothing and other soft products, and one of the most useful components of the plant – Hempseed.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.eco-business.com/press-releases/new-attitudes-to-hemp-enable-an-agricultural-comeback/

 
The Human Solution  is a non-profit grass-roots organization.  Our members are a diverse coalition of concerned citizens, united in our common goals of supporting medical marijuana defendants, patients, providers, and the community at large.
We attend court hearings, speak publicly at city council and town hall meetings, give classes to educate the public and remove the stigma of medical marijuana, and hold fundraising events with help with defendants’ legal expenses and assist patients in need.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.theweedblog.com/what-is-the-human-solution/

By Colin Leslie Beadon
 
In the Barbados Advocate on Saturday February 25, 2012 the front page headline read: “Take More Risks”.
That headline says it all. The island of Barbados is an advanced one in so many ways, yet there are areas where it falters far behind.
I’ll take on two right here and now:
One: In no other island in the West Indies is there such a lack of fruit trees. It is as though people hate the idea of growing a fruit tree in Barbados. Go into any garden in other islands and you’ll find mango and avocado, oranges, limes, breadfruit, bananas, and usually at least one or two coconuts trees. The coconut trees can be of the dwarf kind, just a few feet tall, but bearing large nuts. In Brunei, I saw coconut trees in gardens about four feet high, with huge nuts touching the ground, so no winds could blow that down and destroy a home.
Two: We are being stupid and backward about the 50 000 highly important and healthful uses of industrial hemp. Hemp-made products are used in just about everything you can think of, including human and animal foods, and fuels.  On top of that, we could get three crops a year, maybe four, instead of just one of sugar. Hemp-made shoes, clothes, and handbags last much, much longer than those made of other products. Hemp is a much stronger, longer lasting product than cotton and it can be mixed with cotton or anything else as a composite.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=letters&NewsID=23118

Michelle Tuzee
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — At 3 years old, Cash Hyde has spent most of his young life battling cancer.
In May 2010, he was diagnosed with a stage 4 brain tumor. Cashy, as he is affectionately called, spent 10 months at a Salt Lake City hospital enduring high-dose chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant.
His tumor was inoperable, inextricably wrapped around his optic nerve.
Cashy’s father, Mike Hyde, said he was so sick, he hadn’t eaten in more than 40 days. He was so sick, he was vomiting eight to 10 times a day and couldn’t lift his head off his pillow.
“They asked us six to seven times if we wanted to quit efforts and just let him go,” said Cashy’s mother, Kalli.
Cashy’s parents made a radical decision. They asked Cashy’s doctors to take him off his anti-nausea and pain medications.
Instead, Cashy’s parents turned to cannabis oil, made from marijuana. It’s a substance that is illegal under federal law.
Kalli Hyde, a registered nurse, and her husband began sneaking the cannabis oil into Cashy’s feeding tube. They did not inform Cashy’s oncologist.
Cashy’s appetite returned. The couple says Cashy slept more and appeared to be in less pain, all of which seemed to help the boy endure the grueling chemotherapy.
“Within 2 weeks time, Cashy was off all those drugs. He was sitting up in bed eating, he was laughing,” the father said. “The doctors and nurses told us that it was a miracle and amazing.”
 
See complete article and video here:
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news%2Fhealth&id=8564390

Rochester, MN–(ENEWSPF)–March 1, 2012.  Federal officials should reclassify cannabis under federal law and permit “long-stifled research into a potential trove of (the plant’s) therapeutic applications,” according to review published in the February issue of the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, a peer-reviewed journal sponsored by Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
The review, entitled “Blurred Boundaries: The Therapeutics and Politics of Medical Marijuana,” states: “Bureaucratic hurdles not erected for other potential pharmaceuticals continue to interfere with legitimate cannabis research. The federal government instituted its 1970 ban in the absence of scientific evidence supporting its position. It maintains the ban, despite scientific evidence suggesting that cannabis could have positive effects on the many organ systems endocannabinoid activity modulates.”
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.enewspf.com/latest-news/health-and-fitness/31309-mayo-clinic-proceedings-bureaucratic-hurdles–interfere-with-legitimate-cannabis-research.html