Month: January 2015

Jamaica approves legal marijuana bill

Jeannie Herer

by Oscar Pascual

(Nine Mile, Jamaica)
 
Jamaica just took a long-awaited step towards legalizing marijuana with the approval of a new drug law bill.
According to an AP report, the Jamaican cabinet’s Justice Minister Mark Golding announced on Wednesday that they are expected to introduce legislation in the Senate later this week.
The bill would create a licensing authority that would regulate the cultivation, sales, and distribution of cannabis for medical, scientific, and therapeutic purposes.
 
Full Article:
http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetruth/2015/01/22/jamaica-approves-legal-marijuana-bill/

Major California newspapers evolve on marijuana

Jeannie Herer

by David Downs

(By Michael Macor, for SF Chronicle)
California newspapers have been leveled over the last 15 years by their lack of foresight and innovation with regard to the rise of digital media. Their thought-leadership regarding drug policy has been equally lacking.
Down but not out, The Los Angeles Times andSan Francisco Chronicle show they are capable of change with a raft of digital initiatives, and even some come-to-Jesus moments regarding one of the most salient public policy issues of our time.
It was simultaneously shocking and long-overdue that this week the Times argued for a change to the federal classification of marijuana and the Chronicle came out in support of industrial hemp. To think, it took until the year 2015 for this evolution to occur.
 
Full Article:
http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetruth/2015/01/21/major-california-newspapers-evolve-on-marijuana/

Medical marijuana vapour room set to serve veterans with PTSD

Jeannie Herer

Veteran and Marijuana For Trauma employee Cory Pike

Veteran and Marijuana For Trauma employee Cory Pike says many people who suffer from PTSD continue to hide their medical marijuana use because of the stigma. (Catherine Harrop/CBC)

Veterans Affairs Canada will now pay $300 toward the purchase of a vaporizer by a veteran with a prescription for marijuana.
 
Full Article:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/medical-marijuana-vapour-room-set-to-serve-veterans-with-ptsd-1.2920278

Oregon marijuana growers vie for real estate as they prepare for recreational market

Jeannie Herer


By Noelle Crombie | The Oregonian/OregonLive
 
Cannabis producers and out-of-state entrepreneurs are already looking well beyond Oregon’s robust medical marijuana market to the recreational one, where for the first time government regulators will scrutinize growers, their practices and their plants.
Nowhere is the trend more apparent than in the Portland area, where marijuana industry players are engaged in a modern-day land grab for warehouse and retail space.
Portland, home to more big medical marijuana growers than any other city or town in Oregon, is positioned to be a major producer of cannabis for the regulated recreational market.
 
Full Article:
http://www.oregonlive.com/marijuana/index.ssf/2015/01/oregon_marijuana_growers_vie_f.html

85,000 Sign Petition to Help Father Who Gave Cancer-Stricken Daughter Medicinal Cannabis

Jeannie Herer

By

 
When Adam Koessler discovered his two-year-old daughter Rumer Rose had Stage 4 Neuroblastoma — a cancerous tumor that develops from nerve tissue, usually in infants and children — he sought a solution to ease her pain and help with her treatment. Unfortunately, he had to break the law to do it.

 Koessler reportedly mixed cannabis oil with coconut and administered it to his daughter. It had allegedly delivered “miraculous” signs of improvement to her condition. This resulted in his arrest on January 2nd, because the supply and use of medicinal cannabis oil is currently a criminal offence in Australia, where the two live.
Full Article:

Variety of eco-friendly vehicles on display at annual auto expo

Jeannie Herer

BY

 
SANDY, Utah — The Utah International Auto Expo attracts those in the market for a new car–and even some of those who are not.
All of the top dealers bring out their newest and best models, and with air quality being such an important issue for Utahns, FOX 13 News took a look at some of eco-friendly vehicles on display.
 
Full Article:
http://fox13now.com/2015/01/18/variety-of-eco-friendly-vehicles-on-display-at-annual-auto-expo/

The Feds Just Restricted The Law That Lets Police Seize Stuff From Innocent People

Jeannie Herer

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder leaves after making a statement about the grand jury decision not to seek an indictment in the Staten Island death of Eric Garner during an arrest in July, in Washington December 3, 2014. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
 
State and local police in the United States will no longer be able to use federal laws to justify seizing property without evidence of a crime, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Friday.
Under the official law, the Justice Department’s Equitable Sharing Program, local police departments can keep 80% of the stuff seized during drug raids and other investigations.
 
Full Article:
http://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-attorney-general-bans-asset-seizure-by-local-police-2015-1

WeedHire Releases Q4 Cannabis Jobs Report

Jeannie Herer

for the National Edition

 
WeedHire today released an infographic that details the job growth in the cannabis industry in the year 2014. Between states with active medical marijuana laws and states in the process of implementing those, over 148 million Americans now live in pro-medical marijuana states. And after the 2014 mid-term election voting 17.5 million Americans live in states that have authorized retail marijuana.
 
Full Article:
http://tech.co/weedhire-q4-cannabis-infographic-2015-01