McConnell hemp amendment approved by Senate committee

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Ensures industrial hemp pilot programs can continue without federal disruption

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 11, 2015) — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced today that an amendment he introduced with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oreg.) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) regarding legal industrial hemp cultivation pilot projects was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee and is now included in the Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations bill.
The hemp amendment, which continues McConnell’s efforts from last year, provides that no funds can be used by federal agencies in violation of McConnell’s provision in the 2014 Farm Bill, which gave state agricultural commissioners and universities the go ahead to cultivate hemp for pilot programs.
 
Full Article:
http://www.lanereport.com/50049/2015/06/mcconnell-hemp-amendment-approved-by-senate-committee/

Senate Panel Votes to Protect State Medical Marijuana Laws

BY

 
In a strong bipartisan vote on Thursday, a key U.S. Senate panel acted to protect state medical marijuana laws from federal interference.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amendment that would bar the Department of Justice from spending any money to prevent states from implementing their own medical cannabis policies. The vote tally on the measure, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), was 21 – 9.
States with medical marijuana laws “need to know they’re safe from federal action,” Mikulski said in a debate before the vote. She introduced the amendment to “honor states’ rights and let the doctors do their job.”
 
Full Article:
http://www.marijuana.com/news/2015/06/senate-panel-votes-to-protect-state-medical-marijuana-laws/

Santa Ana Cops Caught On Camera Eating Pot Candy, Joking About Kicking Amputee Patient In Her ‘Nub’?

By Nick Schou
Marla-James_8459.jpg
 
The Weekly has received footage from a recent marijuana dispensary raid that appears to show Santa Ana police officers eating pot candy and throwing darts after destroying–or so they thought–all the surveillance cameras inside the cannabis shop.
The video footage shows an officer stuffing something into his mouth and handing something to another cop, who asks him “What flavor?” The officers then laugh. The footage is too grainy to be certain that the item that the officer picks up from the counter of the cannabis shop is in fact a pot edible, although the behavior of the officers suggests this is the case.
Also in the footage: a female police officer joking that she wanted to kick Marla James–a marijuana activist and wheelchair-bound amputee who was present during the raid–in her “nub.”
 
Full Article and Videos:
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2015/06/santa_ana_cops_caught_on_camera_eating_pot_candy_joking_about_kicking_amputee_patient_in_her_nub.php

Canada Supreme Court Rules Medical Marijuana Legal in All Forms

By Thomas H. Clarke |  The Daily Chronic
 
 
 
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Medical marijuana patients in Canada will now be able to lawfully consume cannabis in all forms, instead of just being allowed to smoke it, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Thursday in a unanimous ruling.
Thursday’s ruling against the Canadian government expands the definition of medical marijuana beyond the dried form to include all derivatives, including oils, edibles and tinctures.
Because of the ruling, Sections 4 and 5 of the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, which prohibits possession and trafficking of non-dried forms of cannabis, will no longer be in effect, having been declared “null and void” by the Supreme Court.
According to Thursday’s ruling, the country’s highest court found that the current laws restricting medical marijuana to only dried flowers violates citizens’ rights to liberty “in a manner that is arbitrary and hence is not in accord with the principles of fundamental justice.”
 
Full Article:
http://www.thedailychronic.net/2015/44124/canada-supreme-court-rules-medical-marijuana-legal-in-all-forms/

Cannabis shown to prolong the lives of those with ALS

By Leslie Kahn
Tom Cruise and some other guy Ice Bucket Challenge

Tom Cruise and some other guy Ice Bucket Challenge

We all remember the Ice Bucket Challenge craze of the summer of 2014, right? It all started with Pete Frates, a former baseball player who had been diagnosed with it a year before…except it really started before that…which doesn’t really matter…but it really snowballed with Pete Frates.

In any case, regular people started dumping buckets of ice water over their heads as a way of inspiring others to not only donate to the ALS Foundation but to take up the challenge and keep the “ball rolling” so to speak. And roll it did. During July and August of 2014, our FB feeds were completely taken over by the Ice Bucket Challenge as each person taking it filmed a video of him or herself enduring the freezing cold water in the name of charity. Then, all of a sudden some very famous people were also doing it; here’s the video of 27 of them. Oops. It says No Hotlinking which I had to look up, so apparently, I’m not allowed to share that. But, you can look it up, yourselves.
It was quite a phenomenon on several levels. Many people had never heard of ALS before 2014 despite the fact that it is also referr:
ed to as “Lou Gehrig’s disease.” He’s the famous baseball player of the 1930s who died of the disease in 1941. It actually stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis which is a horrible neurodegenerative disease which is thought to be a death sentence; life expectancy is 3 to 5 years. Except for Stephen Hawkings who has had it for 50 years but his case is different. However, Cathy Jordan who uses cannabis oil, has had it for 28 years and is still with us and Bob Strider has also survived for 17 years and he thinks he can reverse the symptoms with highly concentrated cannabis extract.

Full Article

http://www.chicagonow.com/soapbox-momma/2015/06/cannabis-shown-to-prolong-the-lives-of-those-with-als/

Felony Charges Against Kansas Mom Who Used Cannabis Oil Enrages Advocates


The debate over legalizing medical marijuana in Kansas has been galvanized by criminal charges filed against a Garden City mother.
FILE PHOTO

For years, Garden City, Kansas, resident Shona Banda has been self-medicating her Crohn’s disease with cannabis oil and making no secret of it, touting her homemade vaporizer on YouTube and in a self-published book.
Now Banda could face up to 17 years in prison for doing so, in a case that has medical marijuana advocates enraged and legislators from both parties saying it is past time to re-examine the state’s drug laws.
“We are terrified,” said Lisa Sublett, founder of the medical marijuana advocacy group Bleeding Kansas. “We are outraged. We are heartbroken. Many are planning to move.”
 
Full Article:
http://kcur.org/post/felony-charges-against-kansas-mom-who-used-cannabis-oil-enrages-advocates

Nevada Governor OKs Industrial Hemp Research As US Eases Cannabis Restrictions

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In this Oct. 5, 2013 photo, Colorado farmer Ryan Loflin harvests hemp on his farm in Springfield, Colo. (Photo: Solomon Banda)
 
Last week, Nevada became the latest state to pass a bill supporting the cultivation of industrial hemp, a valuable cash crop that became illegal thanks to the American war on drugs.
The bill, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Tick Segerblom, unanimously passed both chambers of the Nevada Legislature before reaching the governor’s desk.
“The bill will allow colleges, universities, and the state Department of Agriculture to [cultivate] industrial hemp for research purposes under an agricultural pilot program,” Thomas H. Clarke writes in The Daily Chronic, a website dedicated to cannabis law reform.
 
Full Article:
http://www.mintpressnews.com/nevada-governor-oks-industrial-hemp-research-as-us-eases-cannabis-restrictions/206381/
 

Matterlab develops hemp and tagua-based FDM 3D printer filaments


 
While there are a large number of FDM 3D printer filaments available on the current market, many of us choose to primarily rely on PLA filament for its biodegradable properties. While it also doesn’t suffer from the warping issues common in its main competitor ABS, the idea that all those failed prints don’t end up in some eternal pile of rubbish is quite comforting.
If you recognise yourself in that, then here’s some good news (though ABS fans might like to hear this as well): two new filaments could become available in the very near future. Both of them, furthermore, are completely biodegradable and natural products: Hemp and Tagua filaments.
 
Full Article:
http://www.3ders.org/articles/20150205-matterlab-robert-cicetti-develops-hemp-and-tagua-based-fdm-3d-printing-filaments.html