(Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
 
At D.C.’s state fair on Sept. 12, city residents will be able to show off standard items like pies, flowers and pickled veggies, but there will also be a new competition — “Best Bud.”
That’s right, city residents can potentially win a blue ribbon for their homegrown marijuana.
With the passing of Initiative 71 last year, D.C. residents 21 and older can legally grown their own cannabis plants.
 
Full Article:
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2015/07/16/d-c-state-fair-to-include-best-bud-cannabis-contest/

 
BY EDDIE KRASSENSTEIN

 
Cannabis has been in the news quite a bit lately, mostly for issues related to marijuana. Whether it has been the use of marijuana for medical purposes or for recreational use, there has been much political debate lately over whether or not it should be legalized. No matter what side of the argument you stand on, it’s pretty safe to say that when it comes to hemp use, the debate is not nearly as two-sided.
Hemp is another variety of cannabis, containing negligible levels of the psychoactive drug compounds found in marijuana. Instead, it is harvested mostly for its oil, fiber, and seeds, and is commonly refined into foods, waxes, resins, cloth, paper, fuel, and mulch. As opposed to many inorganic, non-renewable resources that we as humans tend to waste, hemp is a completely natural and renewable resource which many people have been encouraging an increased use and production of.
For two Italian men, named Giovanni Milazzo (23) and Antonio Caruso (27), they are looking to bring this naturally grown product into the 3D printing space in quite an interesting way: via 3D printer filament. That’s right, they are looking to sell hemp as a feedstock for 3D printing products through their company,Kanèsis.
 
Full Article:
http://3dprint.com/81006/hemp-3d-printer-filament/
 
 
 
 
 

Darren Coyne

NSW police conducting roadside testing in Lismore. (Darren Coyne)

More than a third of northern rivers drivers who tested positive to roadside drug tests in a recent statewide police operation were deemed ‘false positives’ after re-testing again in mobile buses.
That’s according to figures obtained by theEchonetdaily this week, following Operation Saturation, a statewide initiative between the NSW Centre for Road Safety and the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command.
 
Full Article:
http://www.echo.net.au/2015/07/a-third-of-regions-drivers-test-false-positive-after-roadside-swipes/

Mollie Reilly

 
In 1974, Valerie Corral began treating her seizures with homegrown cannabis. Forty-one years later, the iconic organization she co-founded to help others heal with marijuana is in danger of closing permanently.
The Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Santa Cruz, California, provides medical cannabis to seriously ill patients at little or no cost. Founded in 1993 by Valerie and Mike Corral, WAMM functions as a cooperative: Instead of purchasing marijuana like one would at a traditional dispensary, the collective’s 850 members receive low- or zero-cost bud, depending on need and ability to donate. Those who can’t afford to donate are encouraged to volunteer for the collective in exchange for access to cannabis grown in WAMM’s garden. That can mean helping harvest the plants, filling cannabis capsules, providing end-of-life care for the seriously ill or organizing a yard sale to raise funds. The nonprofit operates entirely off of donations from past and present members.
 
Full Article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/01/wamm-closure-medical-marijuana_n_7698366.html

BY TOM ANGELL

 
Thanks to Oregon’s marijuana legalization law that went into effect last week, pot-possessing passengers traveling through Portland International Airport won’t run into any police problems, as long as their flight stays within the state and they don’t toke up while up in the air.
“If their ticket shows that they’re traveling within the state and they have the legal allowance of marijuana, then they’re free to travel with that,” Steve Johnson, media relations manager for the Port of Portland, told local NBC affiliate KGW-TV.
There are five other airports in the state that adults over 21 can fly to while carrying an ounce of less of cannabis. But flying out of state, even to another legalized jurisdiction like neighboring Washington State, is discouraged. And smoking while on an airplane remains prohibited.
 
Full Article:
http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/2015/07/oregon-airport-oks-pot-on-planes/

By Michael Muckian

 
Five lawmakers from three states lit up the U.S. Senate in Washington today by introducing the first-ever marijuana banking bill.
The bipartisan bill would give state-compliant cannabis businesses access to the banking system by protecting financial institutions against prosecution or asset forfeiture for providing services to those businesses.
The Marijuana Business Access to Banking Act of 2015 was introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) who was joined on the bill by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) Similar legislation has been proposed in the House in recent years, but this is the first piece of stand-alone marijuana banking access legislation to be introduced in the Senate.
 
Full Article:
http://www.cutimes.com/2015/07/09/marijuana-banking-bill-introduced

By Jenny McGrath

 
In the Founding Fathers’ day, hemp was used to make rope and “unsightly” (according to Thomas Jefferson) clothing. It could now return to its roots as something used for work instead of play, if James Savage of Green Built has his way. He wants to start making buildings out of hempcrete.
“It just happened to be the thing with all the attributes we were looking for in a building material,” he tells The New York Times. “Who knew hemp would be the answer to what we were looking for?” Made from the inner woody part of hemp plants (hurds) plus lime and water, hempcrete is a good insulator (Savage says he’s insulated his walls with hempcrete and no longer needs air conditioning), flexible, mold- and pest-resistant, and nearly fireproof. And you can’t smoke it, as the strain used in the building material contains only 0.3 percent THC, while medicinal and recreational varieties have 5 to 10 percent.
Full Article:
http://www.digitaltrends.com/home/green-building-material-hempcrete-could-catch-on-in-u-s/

By BRANDON SMITH

First Church of Cannabis attorney Mark Small says Indiana’s laws prohibiting marijuana possession and use prevent church members from fully practicing their religion, even if the church itself is new.
 
Indiana’s highly publicized First Church of Cannabis is going to court, hoping to stop the state from enforcing marijuana laws when it comes to the use of cannabis in its church services.
The church’s attorney will use the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act or RFRA to help his case.
RFRA creates a legal standard that says government must have a compelling reason to restrict someone’s religious practice and do so in the least burdensome way possible.
 
Full Article:
http://indianapublicmedia.org/news/church-cannabis-files-rfra-lawsuit-84620/
 

—By Bryan Schatz

Justin Renteria
 
It’s just after 9 p.m. near the corner of Fourth and Marshall, a poor part of Shreveport, Louisiana. A homeless man approaches a guy on the street and asks him what he’s looking for. That guy, an undercover cop, says he wants “two dimes” and promises a $5 commission. And Fate Vincent Winslow, knowing that $5 buys a meal, if not a great one, agrees. Minutes after he returns carrying two crumpled bags of marijuana, worth $10 each, he’s in the backseat of a squad car. Three months later, Winslow is found guilty of selling a Schedule I Controlled Dangerous Substance. Another three months and the sentence lands: life imprisonment at hard labor with no chance for parole.
 
Full Article:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/05/life-sentence-marijuana-pot-prison-commuted