Ladybud Admin

 
Beginning today, November 19th, 2014, the possession of 25 grams of less of cannabis in the city of New York, New York will be punishable by a court summons instead of arrest and a misdemeanor charge. For a city long notorious for its racially biased stop and frisk practices, this shift in policy could be a sign of good things to come.
 
Full Article:
http://www.ladybud.com/2014/11/19/new-york-city-decriminalization-of-cannabis-begins-today/

By Emily Wax-Thibodeaux

 
Every morning, former Air Force senior airman Amy Rising makes breakfast for her second-grader, drives him to school and returns home to prepare what she calls her medicine.
She suffers from severe anxiety after four years working in the frenetic global command center at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, coordinating bombings and other missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Rising says she has found a treatment that helps her cope. But her local Veterans Affairs hospital does not provide it — because her medicine is a joint.
 
Full Article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/more-veterans-press-va-to-recognize-medical-marijuana-as-treatment-option/2014/11/15/51666986-6a7b-11e4-b053-65cea7903f2e_story.html

Matt Sledge

 
California approved a major shift against mass incarceration on Tuesday in a vote that could lead to the release of thousands of state prisoners.
Nonviolent felonies like shoplifting and drug possession will be downgraded to misdemeanors under the ballot measure, Proposition 47. As many as 10,000 people could be eligible for early release from state prisons, and it’s expected that courts will annually dispense around 40,000 fewer felony convictions.
 
Full Article: 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/05/california-prisons_n_6070654.html?ir=Politics&utm_campaign=110514&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-politics&utm_content=FullStory

Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY

(Photo: Trevor Hughes/USA TODAY)
 
While Florida voters narrowly rejected a plan to legalize medical marijuana, voters in Washington, D.C., and Oregon both approved recreational pot use by adults and early returns gave a slight edge to Alaska’s plans to tax and regulate and recreational marijuana marijuana.
And in Guam, voters legalized medical marijuana use, according to initial returns showing Proposal 14A passing with more than half of the vote.
 
Full Article:
http://www.13wmaz.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/05/where-america-landed-on-marijuana/18521419/

by: Rita Teglas

 
Recently, more and more hemp products have reached the shelves of health food shops. The idea of consuming hemp might be surprising to some people, since hemp is actually a form of Cannabis sativa. It is not the same thing as marijuana, however. It is believed that hemp plants are actually very healthy. The controversial plant contains a complex plant protein with nine essential amino-acids. Hemp plants also contain healthy fats, such as Omega-3 (alpha-linolenic acid). The Omega-3 fats are well known for their help in the decrease of inflammation. Omega-3 also has beneficial effects on decreasing blood pressure.  Other nutrients which can be found in hemp products are: iron, phosphorus, magnesium and fiber.
 
Full Article:
http://www.iknowtoday.com/2014/11/04/health-benefits-hemp/

by David Down

ozarksfirst.com
ark
 
From raising the minimum wage, to legalizing alcohol sales in all Arkansas counties, there are five key issues on the 2014 November election ballot. One of those issues is not medical marijuana.
The measure fell short this year leaving two Northwest Arkansas families feeling helpless.
 
Full Article:
http://www.ozarksfirst.com/story/d/story/not-on-arkansas-ballot-families-still-desperate/17484/UKr4VZNOnkucLRF6oujBmg

By Ricardo Baca, The Cannabist Staff

(Kathryn Scott Osler, Denver Post file)
 
Did U.S. territory Guam just legalize medical marijuana? It looks to be headed that way, based on preliminary results being reported by Guam Pacific Daily News.
The news outlet shows about 56.4 percent of voters approving medical marijuana initiative Proposal 14A with 56 out of 58 precincts reporting. According to the newspaper, 18,674 voted yes and 14,453 voted no. Two precincts have yet to be counted.
If the numbers hold — and a number of other media outlets are already calling it a win — Guam will become the first U.S. territory to legalize medical marijuana.
 
Full Article:
http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/11/04/guam/22474/

by Allen Best

Center-pivot sprinklers spread Ogallala aquifer water over a crop near Holyoke, Colo. July 2014/Allen Best 
 
Hemp enthusiasts have a tendency to wax happily about hemp being the solution to just about everything. Michael Bowman certainly presents it that way.
“I hate to oversell something, but if you give me a problem, you can probably find a way to solve it with hemp,” he said at a meeting in Golden, Colo., on Oct. 30.
Bowman is a farmer turned activist. He’s in his 50s, with brown hair graying slightly at the temples. He speaks with confidence and skill, and he has had many opportunities to do so in the last decade as a founding board member of 25X’25, a group that advocates a more sustainable path for rural America.
 
Full Article:
http://mountaintownnews.net/2014/11/04/case-industrial-hemp-colorado/