Missouri marijuana advocates want to ask voters next year to legalize the drug and regulate its medical use.
A group called Show-Me Cannabis filed its initiative request with the Missouri Secretary of State on Wednesday.
If the state approves the ballot language for the proposed Missouri constitutional amendment, supporters would need to collect enough signatures from registered voters by next May to get the question on the November ballot.
Are video game competitors taking steroids to enhance their performance? Well, not exactly. They aren’t sticking needles in their butts, but many of them will smoke cannabis before a tournament.
“I’ve seen a number of players at national tournaments who came in ‘baked’ purely so they could play better,” said Alex Walker, the Australian World Cyber Games tournament director, in a recent interview with Gameplayer. They clearly thought it improved their game, and Walker had to agree. Still, cannabis’ influence on better play is hardly a trade secret.
COED magazine published “12 Jobs You’ll Do Better While Stoned,” and Video Game Tester made the list. “On the list of awesome things to do while stoned, right next to listening to music, is playing video games,” said the article. “Plus, since most of the people playing the game you’re testing are going to play it with a joint in their mouths; it’s really the only responsible course of action.”
Read complete article here:
http://freeculturemag.com/2011/07/news/joy-stick/
While medical marijuana is used to treat dozens of ailments, one mother swears by it to help her severely autistic son.
In fact, she’s convinced pot has saved his life.
Meiko Hester-Perez gives her severely autistic 12-year old son Joey the marijuana in chocolate.
“When your son is knocking on deaths door there’s nothing you won’t do,” according to Meiko Hester-Perez. “It happened to be cannabis for our family.”
Hester-Perez didn’t make the decision lightly, two and a half years ago Joey only weighed 42 pounds. A stark contrast to his current weight of 112 pounds.
“My son was absolutely withering away. You could see the bones in his chest,” according to Hester-Perez.
Out of desperation, she Googled cannabis and autism, and realized she wasn’t the only one who made the connection.
Other parents and autism experts found success with medical marijuana as a treatment for autistic children.
The first time Hester-Perez gave Joey a pot brownie she saw almost immediate results.
“Everything has improved. Right now, he’s given one brownie every two to three days, whereas the other medications he was taking every single day, twice a day,” according to Hester-Perez.
Read complete article here:
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/125125964.html
by Phillip Smith
In a June 28 decision, Italy’s top court ruled that citizens may grow marijuana on their balconies and terraces. The small amounts produced in such grows “could cause no harm,” the Court of Cassation said.
Read complete article here:
http://www.theweedblog.com/italian-top-court-rules-citizens-may-grow-marijuana/
by Paula Goodyer
Nutritional stars … dietitians seeking to overturn ban on hemp seeds.
This time next year a jar of hemp seed could be a respectable kitchen staple, nudging the rolled oats in your pantry cupboard – and giving chia and flax seeds some stiff competition in the health food stakes.
Although hemp seed in muesli bars, breakfast cereal – or even ice cream – wouldn’t raise eyebrows in the US, Canada or Europe, its use as a food is currently banned in Australia. But this could change in the next few months if a new proposal to overturn the ban is approved by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) – a move that’s backed by the Dietitians’ Association of Australia.
“As good foods go hemp seed is a rock star. It has a lot to offer and it would be a shame not to have it here,” says Accredited Practising Dietitian Camey Demmitt who was surprised to find no hemp seed on the menu when she moved to Australia from the US four years ago. A major benefit of hemp is that it’s a way of getting extra omega-3 fatty acids back into diets dominated by omega-6 fats, says Demmitt, a member of the DAA.
“One of the problems with a typical western diet is that it includes an over abundance of processed foods which tend to be high in omega 6 fats – but not enough omega-3 fats from foods like oily fish, walnuts and flax seed. But hemp seed provides another good source of omega-3 fats that’s very easy to add to the diet – and it’s also a sustainable plant source at a time when there are concerns about over-fishing,” she points out.
Read complete article here:
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/blogs/chew-on-this/nutritions-top-seed-20110704-1gyhr.html
MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (AP) — State lawmakers will soon begin studying whether Indiana should amend its drug laws to decriminalize marijuana, create a medical marijuana program or make other changes.
The Post-Tribune of Merrillville reports that the General Assembly’s criminal law and sentencing policy study committee will examine different angles of the marijuana issue. The committee’s first meeting is next week, though it’s not clear whether marijuana laws will be discussed then or during future meetings.
State Sen. Karen Tallian, D- Ogden Dunes, pushed for the study committee and says Indiana has “draconian” marijuana laws.
“One day, I watched three young kids plead cases on possession of small amounts,” Tallian said. “I thought, ‘Why are we spending all of the time and money to do this?’ Frankly, I put marijuana in the same category as alcohol.”
Read complete article here:
http://www.wsbt.com/news/wsbt-indiana-lawmakers-to-study-legalizing-marijuana-20110704,0,2024586.story
By Silvia Pikal
While hemp can be used for food, textiles, paper, fabric, and fuel oil, the misunderstood crop breeds fear amongst politicians in the United Status and has led to the crop being illegal to grow without a DEA permit, which is pretty hard to get. But growing hemp is legal in Canada. Canadian company Motive Industries has taken advantage of this, and have been working on an electric car made of hemp plastic. Touted as Canada’s first bio composite electric car, the Motive Kestrel’s top speed is 135 km/h, with a range of 160 km. The ultralight car is a 3 door 4 passenger electric vehicle, and packs 16 kWh of lithium battery juice to keep the car going 160 kilometers per charge.
Now Motive has announced that bio composite materials derived from hemp and flax fibre will also be used in the car’s interior. They will be used to create the headliner, door panels, door trim, floor tub and center tunnel, instrument panel and the center console panel. The prototype should be coming out sometime this year, with a production goal of 2012.
Read complete article here:
http://www.mobilemag.com/2011/07/05/canadian-ev-to-be-pimped-out-with-hemp-bio-composite-interior/
By Elliott Blackburn
LUBBOCK, Texas (Reuters) – Time’s slipping away on a deal for iconic U.S. country singer Willie Nelson’s misdemeanor drug charge.
County Judge Becky Dean-Walker said on Friday she wouldn’t sign off on a plea deal that reduced the charge to the same as a speeding ticket.
“I’m not going to be guilty of signing something because someone is a celebrity,” Dean-Walker told Reuters.
Read complete article here:
http://ca.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idCATRE7606HL20110701
Posted by Ninja Smoker
The administration of the non-psychotropic cannabinoid CBD (cannabidiol) induces selective apoptosis in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), according to preclinical findings reported in the journal Cell Death and Disease. The activation of HSCs is considered to be a key cellular event underlying hepatic fibrogenesis (excessive tissue build up), a condition that can result in liver failure.
Authors reported: “In this study, we find that CBD selectively kills activated HSCs. … We provide a molecular basis of action for CBD and identify CBD as a novel potential therapeutic agent for liver fibrosis.”
They concluded, “These promising findings warrant future investigation evaluating the anti-fibrotic effect of CBD in vivo. The prospect of CBD as a new anti-fibrotic compound is rendered more appealing by the fact that CBD is a non-psychoactive small drug-like molecule already approved for clinical use in many countries.”
Read complete article here:
http://www.theweedblog.com/cannabis-compound-a-promising-treatment-for-liver-fibrosis/
by Phillip Smith
A state judge has blocked some of the most onerous provisions of a new law designed to rein in Montana’s medical marijuana industry from taking effect. But other provisions of the law, which will make life more difficult for patients and providers, are now in effect.
District Court Judge James Reynolds issued a preliminary injunction late Thursday to block those portions of the law from going into effect hours later. But the rest of the repressive “reform” is in effect as of today.
Reynolds ruled that lawmakers went too far in trying to clamp down. He blocked a provision of the new law that outlawed anyone making money in the business, including growers being compensated for their efforts. He blocked the law’s ban on advertising and promotion of medical marijuana. And he threw out the new law’s provision limiting providers to growing for no more than three patients.
Read complete article here:
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2011/jul/01/montana_judge_blocks_restrictive
