Posted by Jay Smoker
Rhode Island cannabis advocates have reason to cheer today as Governor Lincoln Chafee signed a bill to decriminalize marijuana possession into law.
The law will change the current law and possession of up to an ounce a civil violation with a $150 fine. The new law also dictates that three such violations within an 18 month period would be a misdemeanor with larger fines and and possible prison. The law will take effect April, 1st 2013.
Read complete article here:
http://www.theweedblog.com/rhode-island-gov-signs-marijuana-decriminalization-bill-into-law/
Month: July 2012
California pot research backs therapeutic claims
By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com
Nigel Duara / AP Photo
In this photo taken Thursday June 21, 2012, a marijuana plant grows in a greenhouse at a medical marijuana co-op in Ontario, Ore.
University of California medical researchers slipped an ingredient in chili peppers beneath the skin of marijuana smokers to see if pot could relieve acute pain. It could – at certain doses.
They monitored patients with AIDS and HIV as they toked on joints or placebos to determine whether marijuana could quell agonizing pain from nerve damage. It provided relief.
They tested a “Volcano Vaporizer” to see whether inhaling smokeless pot delivered healthier, low-tar cannabis. It did.
Over a dozen years, California’s historic experiment in medical marijuana research brought new science to the debate on marijuana’s place in medicine. State-funded studies – costing $8.7 million – found pot may offer broad benefits for pain from nerve damagefrom injuries, HIV, strokes and other conditions.
Read complete article here:
The Fallacy of the DEA: Why the Agency Needs to Concede to Legal Marijuana
Jamie Haase
Former Special Agent, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
There’s no denying the pressure that the Drug Enforcement Administration must be feeling lately. The popularity behind the marijuana legalization movement is at an all-time high, and prohibitionists are jumping ship at record rates to support cannabis reform. The drug agency has never been without opposition in its near 40 year history, but it’s hard remembering a time when there’s ever been this much heat on the narc outfit. The DEA is obviously still alive and well at present, but government bureaucracies are in no way immune from having to evolve with the times for lasting survival.
Looking back, 1973 was an epic year in the United States. The Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade in January, the Watergate hearings began in May, the legendary thoroughbred Secretariat won the Triple Crown in June, and then a month later in July, the world was introduced to the biggest narcotics police conglomerate ever known to man: The United States Drug Enforcement
Read complete article here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-haase/dea-marijuana_b_1660526.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=3354075,b=facebook
AZMC Arizona Medical Convention – Saturday, July 28, 2012 – Phoenix
AZMC ARIZONA MEDICAL CONVENTION
Sponsored by CANNAPAGES.COM
Saturday July 28th (11am – 7pm)
in Downtown Phoenix Arizona
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! No Medical Card needed to attend.
Please join us in recognition of the benefits of legal medical
marijuana and learn more about the business opportunities
that are available in the legal medical marijuana industry.
NETWORKING – VENDORS
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
GUEST SPEAKERS – FOOD
MEDICAL CARDS / CONSULTATION
(PLEASE BRING RECENT MEDICAL HISTORY)
BEGINNER/ADVANCED GROW CLASSES
GROWING EQUIPMENT – SOIL
HYDROPONICS – LIGHTING
ENTERTAINMENT – CLOTHING
PIPES – BONGS -PAPERS
JOINT ROLLING CONTESTS
BEST ADVOCATES PRIZES
and so much more
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
— AZMC Entertainment Provided by —
Cannabis Education Tour:
NO EXCUSES RADIO WAKE N BAKE w/THURLOW WEED SHOW
www.noexcusesentertainment
DJ’s DEUX YEUX
https://www.facebook.com/
DJ JAHMEK SELECTA
https://www.facebook.com/
ROSS BLAISDELL Acoustic Musician
https://www.facebook.com/
LASER WIZARDRY
www.LaserWizardry.com
LINZY MIGGANTZ Live Oil Paintings
www.wix.com/linzymiggantz/
ESTEE ARIE Photography
https://www.facebook.com/
…… SO MUCH MORE TBA …….
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Most Advocate Prizes:
Persons that display the most advocacy will get to choose
an item from our prize table donated by our vendors.
Joint Rolling Contest:
Sponsored by Rolling Paper Depot
Prizes Donated By:
AZMC, Grafitti Shop, Mary Jane Smoke Wear and Sugar Leaf
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
OFFICIAL AZMC AFTER PARTY
Sponsored by CANNAGES.COM
more about this to be announced
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
—AZMC Official Sponsors/Participants THANK YOU!—
CANNAPAGES.COM
www.Cannapages.com
GROWERS RESERVE
www.GrowersReserve.com
KEEF COLA
www.KeefCola.com
—Additional AZMC Participants—
MEDIBLE EDIBLES
www.facebook.com/
MARY JANE SMOKEWEAR
www.maryjanesmokewear.com
420 PATIENTS
www.420patients.com
AZ MED TESTING
www.azmedtest.com
NORML in GILBERT
https://www.facebook.com/
PHOENIX NORML
https://www.facebook.com/
CAMP 420
www.camp420.net
BUDDFLY
www.Buddfly.com
GRAFITTI SHOP
https://www.facebook.com/
WACKY WEENIES
non medicated munchies
MARY JANE”S SURVIVAL GUIDE
www.mjsurvival.com
ROLLING PAPER DEPOT
http://
DESERT FRESH INFUSIONS
SUGAR LEAF
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Event Location:
Madison Event Center
441 West Madison Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003
(s/e corner of 5th Avenue and Madison Street)
www.MadisonEventCenter.com
15$ General Admission at the door
12$ Presale Tickets (see locations below)
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC – no medical card needed to attend
18+ / children allowed if “supervised” by their legal guardian
EVENT PAGES: (please send invites to your Facebook friends)
www.facebook.com/
www.facebook.com/
CONTACT US:
www.facebook.com/
AzMedicalConvention@gmail.
Promotional Support Provided by:
www.420patients.com
www.PhoenixNewTimes.com
www.HempEvents.com
www.MeetUp.com
Arizona Prescribed Patient newsletter http://eepurl.com/l1vzn
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
—Limited Pre-sale Tickets Coming This Week—
VELVET ANTLER (TICKETS COMING THIS WEEK)
7146 E 5th Ave Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (480) 994-2242
10am – 6pm Monday through Saturday and closed Sunday.
GRAFFITI SHOP (AVAILABLE AT THIS LOCATION NOW)
414 S Mill Ave, Tempe, AZ 85281 (480) 921-8821
TRAILS Department Store (TICKETS COMING SOON)
300 E Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85012 (602) 265-6653
TRAILS Department Store (TICKETS COMING SOON)
3131 E Bell Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85032 (602) 482-1711
TRAILS Department Store (TICKETS COMING SOON)
2501 E Indian School Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85016 (602) 957-4587
TRAILS Department Store (TICKETS COMING SOON)
940 N Alma School Rd, Chandler, AZ
TRAILS Department Store (TICKETS COMING SOON)
1612 W Bell Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85023 (602) 938-0045
TRAILS Department Store (TICKETS COMING SOON)
24 W 5th St, Tempe, AZ 85281 (480) 968-6970
TRAILS Department Store (TICKETS COMING SOON)
5925 W Olive Ave, Glendale, AZ 85302 (623) 939-8634
TRAILS Department Store (TICKETS COMING SOON)
1423 S Country Club Road, Mesa, AZ
TRAILS Department Store (TICKETS COMING SOON)
1802 W Bethany Home Road, Phoenix, AZ
https://www.facebook.com/events/324493550959308/
Hep on hemp – Why industrial-grade hemp should be a vital part of our economy
By Larry Gabriel
The United States government has cried wolf about cannabis so many times that its credibility on the subject must be at an all-time low. Nowhere is that more apparent than when it comes to hemp.
Hemp is a strain of cannabis sativa, but is sort of the nerdish, boring, industrious cousin of the plants people use for medicine, and to just get stoned. Hemp doesn’t get you high at all, but it is useful in many other ways as textiles, paper, food, fuel and much more. A Jan. 19 paper from the Congressional Research Service titled Hemp as an Agricultural Product estimates that the global market for hemp includes some 25,000 products.
So why is this product prohibited rather than a vital part of our economy? As far as I can tell it’s because the government thinks people are stupid. The simple reason given for hemp prohibition is that law enforcement is too dense to recognize the difference between a field of marijuana and a field of hemp. It would probably take about 10 minutes to explain it to a 10-year-old. Marijuana is grown for its THC-rich buds, which form on the end of its leafy branches. The more branches, the more buds. Most marijuana growing operations feature shorter, bushier plants with lots of branches that are planted several feet apart so that the sun can get to its lower branches. These are created by pinching off the ends of the stems, causing them to branch out.
Hemp is grown for the fibrous main stem, its trunk, so to speak, and its seeds. In order to get the longest stem, hemp plants are sown a few inches apart so that the plants literally compete for sunlight by reaching up. Anybody who has visited a dense forest has seen the phenomenon of a canopy of tall, skinny trees with few lower branches and very bushy tops. That’s the way hemp is produced, in order to maximize the harvest of fibers. Pinching the ends to make the plant bushy is a no-no.
It’s true that the leaves are identical. However, cannabis is grown for the THC; hemp contains only negligible traces of the substance. As for any law enforcement officer who can’t figure it out, technology has advanced to the point where you can actually test the stuff. It’s not that hard. There is no need for cops to stand around in a field sniffing at a plant to try to figure out what it is.
You could come across a situation where a hemp farmer hides a few marijuana plants among the rest of his crop. It could happen. But by that standard it would be akin to prohibiting cars because some people drive too fast, or prohibiting alcohol because some people drink too much.
At the same time you have the weird situation of a vast, multibillion-dollar marijuana underground wherein people pretty much use pot with impunity in order to get high. Yep, a lot of people get arrested for marijuana use or distribution, but that doesn’t seem to stop much of the action.
Nobody is producing underground hemp — at least that I’ve heard of. There is not enough profit in it to risk running afoul of the law. Instead, we import piles of it from China, Canada and other countries where they grow it. Oh, yeah, we get a lot of marijuana from other countries too.
Read complete article here:
http://metrotimes.com/mmj/hep-on-hemp-1.1341612
Reef madness: New coral species named after Bob Marley
By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
By Adrian Boot, Island Records
It may not be as nice as being named for a little bird, but it’s better than nothing, I suppose: A new species of coral reef crustacean has been named after famed reggae singer Bob Marley.
Paul Sikkel, a marine biologist at Arkansas State University, discovered and just named the small parasitic crustaceanGnathia marleyi.
The tiny parasite infests certain fish in the coral reefs of the shallow eastern Caribbean.
“I named this species, which is truly a natural wonder, after Marley because of my respect and admiration for Marley’s music,” Sikkel says. “Plus, this species is as uniquely Caribbean as was Marley.”
Read complete article here:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2012/07/bob-marley-coral-reef-crustacean-new-species-name/1
The Tasmanian company, Envorinex, has a military contract and wants to use locally-grown industrial hemp in plastic-form armour.
ROGER HANSON
BULK EXPORT: Tasmanian company Hemp Australia Pty Ltd has exported more than 25,000kg of hemp seed that has been legally grown in the state.
THE State Government is contravening a UN Convention in its treatment of industrial hemp, it was stated under oath at a public hearing yesterday, with the findings to be reported to State Parliament.
The House of Assembly Standing Committee on Environment, Resources and Development heard the Government has appeared to blur the definitions of industrial hemp to that of the drug version.
In the committee’s first public hearing, in Hobart, it was stated in submissions that industrial hemp (Cannabis Sativa) has no drug consequences and the Government was breaching the UN Convention by applying the State Poisons Act as the controlling legislation for industrial hemp, and that it hindered the industry’s development.
The public hearing was told Article 28, Paragraph Two, of the UN Convention said: “This Convention shall not apply to the cultivation of the cannabis plant exclusively for industrial purposes, fibre and seed, or horticultural purposes.”
Read complete article here:
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/07/11/344931_most-popular-stories.html
Nevada medical marijuana group grows
BY ED VOGEL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU
CARSON CITY – The number of Nevadans with permission to use medical marijuana has skyrocketed to 3,430.
The state Health Division reported Monday that the number of people with medical marijuana cards who have the right to grow their own has climbed by 1,143 in the past year.
That number probably would increase dramatically again if Assemblyman Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, is successful in his attempt to change how marijuana is distributed in the state. Last week he announced he will introduce a bill next year to create marijuana dispensaries and farms to provide pot to patients and that he wants the state to tax the drug.
Read complete article here:
http://www.lvrj.com/news/nevada-medical-marijuana-group-grows-161866705.html
Oklahoma House to release list of approved studies
By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau
OKLAHOMA CITY – Senate Pro Tem Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, has approved more than two dozen interim studies ranging from legalization of medical marijuana to spending and management of the Grand River Dam Authority.
The list of House-approved interim studies is expected to be released this week, said John Estus, a spokesman for House Speaker Kris Steele, R-Shawnee.
Sen. Constance Johnson, D-Forest Park, said that for the last three sessions, she has carried some version of legalization of medical marijuana which wasn’t passed into law.
Each time, the issue gets more interest, she said.
She said the interim study will give supporters the opportunity to go to the Capitol and educate policymakers about the issue.
Her requests for interim studies on high-cost lenders and private prisons were also granted.
Johnson said she was concerned about the cost of and dependency on private prisons.
Read complete article here:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=336&articleid=20120708_16_A17_OKLAHO425178&r=8316
The five best foods you AREN’T eating
Image: Hemp seeds
Photographs: Ludek Kovar – ludek@kovar.biz/Wikimedia Commons
Hemp — available in seeds, nuts, protein powder, and oil — can easily be added to your favorite meals to skyrocket the nutritional value.
Why it’s healthy: Hemp oil is more loaded with essential fatty acids (omega-6 and omega-3) than any other oil. These ‘good’ fats can help reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and a host of other chronic diseases. Hemp is also packed with complete protein (again, the type with all nine amino acids), making it an excellent choice for vegetarians and vegans, says nutritionist Torey Jones, RD.
How to eat it: Toss two tablespoons of hemp seeds into your oatmeal or stir-fry. Or add them to a smoothie for an extra dose of protein.
Read complete article here:
http://www.rediff.com/getahead/slide-show/slide-show-1-health-the-five-best-foods-you-arent-eating/20120704.htm