By: Joseph Pisani
CNBC News Associate

When people come for dinner at Sandy Moriarty’s house they know to bring sleeping bags.
That’s because Moriarty, a chef and author, cooks with medical marijuana, and her guests may be too high to go home.
She’s been known to add cannabis to just about any dish, from sweet lemon bars topped with powdered sugar to a stuffed turkey dinner she calls the Dizzy Bird.
“It’s phenomenal,” she says about the turkey dish, which she coats and stuffs with cannabis-infused butter.
Moriarty has turned her skills into a small business, selling her lemon bars to a medical marijuana dispensary in San Francisco and teaching cooking classes at a marijuana trade school. Last month she published a cook book called “Aunt Sandy’s Medical Marijuana Cookbook.”

Read complete article here:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/40534741

Related News: San Jose approves Measure U marijuana tax

Voters at a Palo Alto polling place weigh in on Prop. 19. (Photo: Christina Farr)

It’s funny how elections work sometimes. On the day Californians defeated Proposition 19, voters in 10 cities authorized taxing marijuana.
Because Prop. 19 would have legalized the recreational use of pot, these new taxes will fall entirely on medicinal marijuana dispensaries in San Jose, Berkeley, Oakland, Sacramento, Stockton and the other five cities. But collecting the taxes might not be as easy as voters think.
Under U.S. law, marijuana is illegal, so to pay a tax for selling it, dispensaries must formally admit to a city that they are committing a federal crime.

Read complete article here:

http://www.penipress.com/2010/12/06/taxes-on-marijuana-may-force-a-showdown-between-state-and-federal-laws/

By Elspeth Reeve

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/features/view/feature/Former-NM-Gov-Smoked-Weed-for-Three-of-Past-Five-Years-2704/

Linford Group has lifted the top Innovation award at the Constructing Excellence National Awards for its ‘Renewable House’, which is located at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) Innovation Park in Watford.
The Renewable House was created to demonstrate that mainstream affordable homes can be constructed from renewable materials – meeting both housing demands and environmental targets. It showcases the zero carbon, thermal insulation, sound insulation and “breathable” properties of hemp and lime construction.

Read complete article here:

http://www.ecofriendnews.com/environmental_article9962.html

Jack Herer’s widow recalls the life of the cannabis movement’s most beloved icons

By Paul Rogers
Jack Herer was never an elected law-maker who could formally shape policy. Nor was he some billionaire who could buy influence. Yet his rare combination of brilliant intellect, endless curiosity, scholarly diligence and passionate people skills made him a force of nature whose impact is perhaps only just beginning to be truly felt.
All but complete Johnny-come-latelies to cannabis culture probably have some awareness of Jack “The Hemperor” Herer as perhaps the most influential figure in the modern legalization movement. Herer, who passed away in April, wrote 1985’s The Emperor Wears No Clothes, the book that ignited the campaign and remains its manifesto and devoted nearly four decades to tireless, charismatic activism. The man almost literally died trying to have hemp and marijuana legalized in America. Were it not for Herer’s work, we might not be enjoying decrim here in California (and elsewhere) or have seen nearly half the state’s voters give the nod to full legalization last month.
Yet while many may have read his book (Emperor has sold in excess of 700,000 copies over the course of 11 editions), heard him talk (he was a fixture at cannabis conventions nationwide) or even shaken his hand (as Herer was the ultimate one-mind-at-a-time, face-to-face campaigner), few knew the complete man or the breadth of his mission. In an exclusive interview, CULTURE spoke to his widow, Jeannie Herer, for insight into the husband who believed he could change the world and whose lingering influence continues to do so.
Jack Herer “had the biggest heart of anybody that I’ve ever met,” Jeannie recalls, radiating fondness. “He loved people and he loved being out and talking to people and educating people. He saw how you can change a person’s thinking very easily if you educate them. And he was an educator. He was an educator who believed that he—that we—could save the world, if we just knew all the facts about hemp.”

Read complete article here:

http://freeculturemag.com/2010/12/featuredstories/jack-here/

By Maya Rao
Inquirer Staff Writer
TRENTON – Patients could more easily qualify for medical marijuana and buy the drug from a larger number of distribution centers under a deal announced Friday by Gov. Christie, whose administration has fielded criticism for drafting rules considered too restrictive.But the compromise in New Jersey’s medical marijuana program – signed into law in January and expected to be operating by next summer – failed to address a number of patient advocates’ concerns. It also was reached without Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D., Union), chief sponsor of a resolution directing the Christie administration to rewrite the rules.
That resolution passed the lower house on Nov. 23, but its main sponsor there, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D., Mercer), said at a news conference with Christie politics had been pushed aside “to focus on the truly important matter at hand, and that’s the patient’s need.”
After calling for just two growers and four treatment centers, Christie said Friday he supported allowing six centers to grow and distribute the drug.
In another compromise, the governor also said the regulations would no longer require doctors who recommend marijuana for patients to certify that all conventional treatments had failed. The law had required that provision only for several conditions, such as glaucoma.

Read complete article here:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20101204_Christie_announces_less_restrictive_medical_marijuana_plan.html#ixzz178A1mAVm
Watch sports videos you won’t find anywhere else

by Simon Jay Catling

Jordan Strauss, Getty Images
Muse frontman Matt Bellamy has rather more down to earth plans than his band’s space-rock bombast when the three-piece eventually decide to call quits; he told The Sun newspaper that he wishes to retire and farm in his native Devon (reports Contactmusic).
Bellamy revealed that he owned a farm in the south west, saying of it: “It’s just land with a couple of jaded barns that need to be renovated. It’s a nice place to camp but my long-term plan is to grow industrial hemp for making paper and material.”
What the singer’s current girlfriend, Hollywood actress Kate Hudson, would make of a move there is unknown, but Bellamy continued: “When I stop touring I’m going to hang around there and start shearing sheep. As we speak, I’m letting the rams loose on the ewes. I got them mainly because I’ve got a farm which has a lot of steep hills, so the grass gets out of control unless you get grazing animals in there.”
He isn’t the only band member to admit Muse might need a break, last summer bassist Chris Wolstenholme admitted “it’s something we’ve never done. I think the most time we’ve had off is about six weeks in the last 12 years, so we’re due a break.” Bellamy himself said: “It definitely feels like we’ve got to a certain level as a live band. So it could be time to take a break, back off for a bit and see if anybody misses us.”
http://music.aol.co.uk/2010/12/03/muse-matt-bellamy-farm-retirement/

By Thomas
I met yesterday in Honolulu with Micheal Rex “Raging Bear” Mooney the Medicine Man for the Oklevucha Native American Church of Hawaii, and his attorney Michael Glenn.
Raging Bear and the Oklevucha Native American Church of Hawaii decided to take an offensive posture instead of the usual defensive strategies we have seen here in Hawaii in the past when the federal government seized the church’s sacramental cannabis.
Raging Bear and the Oklevucha Native American Church of Hawaii filed a civil suit in federal district court in the District of Hawaii in July of 2009. The suit seeks injunctive and declaratory relief as well as the return of about one pound of cannabis that had been seized from the church by federal agents.
The defendants include DEA administrator Michele Leonhhart and US Attorney General Eric Holder who fought to keep the case from going to trial. Defendants DEA/U.S. AG Holder filed three motions to dismiss the case. The DEA also well after the lawsuit had been filed destroyed the cannabis.
Federal District Judge Susan Mollway heard and dismissed the case, ruling the government’s prohibition and seizure of the churches cannabis did not present an actual controversy that was ripe for review. The judge also ruled she could not order the government to replace the cannabis they destroyed with a similar quantity of cannabis, because ” the differences in potency and desirability of various cannabis (sounds like she has smoked some herself) would make awarding substitute cannabis unfeasible”.
What? In other words she said the government should give the cannabis back or replace it but they can’t figure out how to do it. Raging Bear and the Oklevucha Native American Church of Hawaii appealed the decision last week to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in their effort to require the DEA and U.S. Attorney General to protect and preserve their right to use cannabis in traditional religious ritual for spiritual purposes.
Cannabis historically known among North American tribes as Rosa Maria (or Santa Maria) is used by members of the Oklevucha Native American Church in addition to their religious use of peyote. The plaintiffs argue the churches non drug use of this otherwise prohibited herb must be respected, as codified by the American Indian Religious freedom act (42 USC – 1996), which requires the policy of the United States to protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise their traditional religions, including but not limited to use and possession of sacred substances, and the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites.
It gets even more interesting in that Micheal Rex “Raging Bear” Mooney is the son of James “Flaming Eagle” Mooney’ who is also suing the federal government in another religious freedom case on the mainland for the right of non Native American members of the church to use peyote also. Raging Bear’s grandfather, Flaming Eagle’s father was also a Native American “medicine man” this is a calling and tradition that has run in the family for generations.
The Mooney’s have chosen to be proactive.
AP article on James “Flaming Eagle” Mooney’s lawsuit.
American Indian church sues feds over peyote use
JENNIFER DOBNER Associated Press
September 16, 2010
http://www.fox13now.com/news/local/kstu-ap-american-indian-church-sues-feds-over-peyote-use,0,2016987.story
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An American Indian church is suing state and federal police and prosecutors over the right of its members to use peyote in religious ceremonies, even if they are not of Indian ancestry.
The lawsuit seeks to block state and federal law enforcement from arresting or bringing criminal charges against church members who “fear reprisal from both state and federal governments for openly practicing their religion,” court papers state.
Those cases include the 2000 prosecution of medicine man James “Flaming Eagle” Mooney on multiple felony charges, including drug possession and distribution for giving peyote to church members and others during religious ceremonies.
Mooney’s conviction was thrown out by the Utah Supreme Court on appeal. The ruling from justices said an exemption in federal law that allows for peyote use should include all church members regardless of the arbitrary “blood quantum” standard — the primary basis for determining who is a protected American Indian religious practitioner, the lawsuit states.
“It is time that such a basis be abolished in favor of extending full religious freedom and protection to the NAC as a broader based, American religious choice,” attorneys for the Oklevueha wrote in court papers.
This is from the Oklevucha Native American Church web site.
http://www.nativeamericanchurch.net/Native_American_Church/NATIVE_AMERICAN_CHURCH.html
The Native American Church represents North and South American indigenous earth based healing spiritual beliefs and practices.
America’s indigenous spirituality was first congressionally recognized and signed into law, Dawes Act 1876, by United States President Grant. In 1918, a committee of Oklahoma federally recognized American Native Spiritual leaders, with the assistance of James Mooney writing the By-Laws, Incorporated the Native American Church.
The American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA), 42 U.S.C. 1978, August 11, 1978, was signed into law by
President Carter and finally with the Amendment to AIRFA,
the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of
2000, signed by President Clinton gives the clear and concise understanding that the Native American Church had been mandated to receive all the protections and rights of the First Amendment since 1918.
We welcome you to experience the spiritual healing powers of our American Native ceremonial heritage.
A Brief History of the Native American Church
by Jay Fikes
http://csp.org/communities/docs/fikes-nac_history.html
American Indian Religious Freedom Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_Religious_Freedom_Act
http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/2010/12/03/oklevucha-native-american-church-appeals-to-the-9th-circuit-court-of-appeals-for-ceremonial-use-of-cannabis/

CONCORD – The state Supreme Court effectively reversed Lull Farm owner David Orde’s marijuana conviction Tuesday, finding that a Hollis police officer violated his privacy while trying to serve notice of a lapsed dog license. 
The court found that Orde had a reasonable expectation that the deck alongside his house was a private space.  
Chief Justice nominee Linda Dalianis was the lone justice to disagree with the ruling by Judge Gary Hicks. The court’s other justices agreed that the marijuana plants police found at Orde’s home and Orde’s subsequent statements to police could not be used as evidence against him.  
Orde was tried, convicted and sentenced last year to serve 60 days in jail on charges of manufacturing marijuana. Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge James Barry allowed Orde to remain free on bail pending appeal, so he didn’t spend any time behind bars. 
Orde’s son, Andrew Orde, then 19, was also arrested, and he later pleaded guilty to a reduced, misdemeanor possession charge and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. 
The Ordes were arrested on the felony marijuana-growing charges July 29, 2008, after Hollis police officer Angel Corrado went to their home at 2 Blood Road to serve Orde with a complaint for failing to license his dog. No one answered at the door, so Corrado walked around to the side of the house, where he spotted 16 marijuana plants growing in pots on a deck.  
Police then reached Orde at the farm and asked him to come to the house. Orde admitted to growing the marijuana plants, saying he was “stupid” for doing so, but that police were “ridiculous” to arrest him for it, according to court records.  
Orde and his lawyers argued that Corrado had no business walking across his lawn, through a gap in a lilac hedge and up onto his deck, and four out of five Supreme Court justices agreed. While Corrado had a legitimate reason for going to see Orde, the court ruled, Orde also had a reasonable expectation that his deck was private. 
Because police violated Orde’s constitutional right to privacy and protection against unreasonable searches of property, the court found, the evidence police found could not be used against him. 
“We have previously recognized that certain property surrounding a home, often described as curtilage, deserves the same protection against unreasonable searches and seizures as the home itself,” Judge Gary Hicks wrote. 
Because there was no obvious entry to the deck from the driveway or the main door, and the hedgerow screened it from view, Hicks wrote, the deck should be considered a private space. Some federal court judges have “apparently assumed the police could lawfully walk around a person’s property provided they are on the property for a legitimate police activity, such as interviewing a person or serving civil process. We disagree. Permitting police such wide latitude to enter a person’s private property is ‘incompatible with and detrimental to our citizens’ strong right of privacy,’” Hicks wrote, quoting an earlier New Hampshire case.
 “Thus, when the police come on to private property to conduct an investigation or for some other legitimate purpose and restrict their movements to places visitors could be expected to go (e.g., walkways, driveways, porches), observations made from such vantage points are not covered by the Fourth Amendment. But other portions of the lands adjoining the residence are protected, and thus if the police go upon these other portions and make observations there, this amounts to a Fourth Amendment search,” Hicks wrote. 
Dalianis disagreed, noting the deck was plainly visible from the driveway, and that although there was no clear path to it, there was also no sign warning against trespassing. 
Because the discovery of the marijuana amounted to an illegal search, the court ruled, police also had no right to question Orde about it or to use that evidence to get a warrant to search his house. 
Orde could not be reached for comment at his farm or his home. 
One of his lawyers, Jeffrey Denner of Boston, said he was “very pleased” that the high court agreed with Orde’s take on the case. 
“David Orde is a very decent man, a very decent human being. He works very hard,” and tries to contribute to the community, Denner said. “The extent that he smokes marijuana now and then, I don’t think, makes him any less decent.” 
“He is very happy that this ordeal is over. He’s very happy that his constitutional rights were vindicated,” Denner said. 
The prosecutor, Assistant County Attorney David Tencza, said he agreed with Dalianis’ take on the law. 
The Lull Farm website has a section titled, “cannabis corner,” with news on efforts to legalize marijuana and hemp cultivation, and the farm stand sells hemp products.  
Andrew Wolfe can be reached at 594-6410 or awolfe@nashuatelegraph.com.
 http://www.cabinet.com/hollisbrooklinejournalhollisnews/901316-308/supreme-court-nixes-pot-conviction.html