By Robert ‘The Tuna’ Platshorn

 
We are almost at the finish line. Our half hour TV show is now in edit. We have a few more scenes to re-shoot and a some technical work for the networks and stations that will carry the show. Since the government has at least temporarily, put a damper on my travels, I’ve had the time, but not the income to for the finishing touches.  So our project is now up and running on Kickstarter.
If you’ve read my book Black Tuna Diaries, you know that the late great pitchman, Billy Mays, called me a “legend in the pitch business”. I was making infomercials, before they had a name. Millions have watched me tell my story in the hit movie, Square Grouper, on Show Time. I’m the guy who spent thirty years in federal prison for marijuana and I’d like to see that it never happens to anyone else.
Along with Walter J.Collins, one of America’s great award winning editor/producers, I’m producing a half hour TV show titled, “Should Grandma Smoke Pot?”. It’s top entertainment, it’s shocking and it’s an education, with heavy emphasis on medical marijuana. Endorsements for medical cannabis from popular authorities like Dr Oz, Dr Sanjay Gupta, Carl Sagan and DrAndrew Weil sends a powerful message, especially to seniors. They are America’s most powerful voting block. When seniors talk, politicians listen.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.theweedblog.com/should-grandma-smoke-marijuana/

Story by M.L. SCHULTZE AND SIMON HUSTED
 
By early fall, Ohio law will start treating people caught with a marijuana pipe the same way it treats those who get most traffic tickets. WKSU’s M.L. Schultze reports on a little-known aspect of current and coming law.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.wksu.org/news/story/32274

By ROGER ALFORD
 
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A Louisville lawmaker unveiled long-shot legislation Thursday to legalize marijuana for medical purposes in Kentucky, a state where police mount huge campaigns each year to cut and burn clandestine pot crops.
Sen. Perry Clark, D-Louisville, said he wanted to get an early start promoting the legislation to make marijuana available by prescription to cancer patients and others who would benefit from the “miracle plant.”
The legislature isn’t scheduled to reconvene until January.
Clark called for other Kentucky lawmakers to help him “end this folly” of barring people who are suffering from being able to use a drug that could help them.
“The concept of prohibition of a medicine that you grow with a seed that you put in a garden is an anathema to freedom,” he told supporters who gathered Thursday afternoon in the Capitol Annex. “I say it’s time we get brave. We educate. This is a liberty issue to me.”
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/jul/05/bc-ky–medical-marijuana-1st-ld-writethru524-sen/

by Ed Vogel
 
A bill allowing registered medical marijuana users in Nevada to acquire the outlawed drug is one of the 144 bills being drawn up for consideration at the 2013 Legislature.
Assemblyman Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, said Monday he requested the bill, which would be introduced in the state Senate if he is elected to the upper house, because there is no legal way to obtain the drug, which is used to help people with glaucoma and cancer patients who suffer loss of appetite because of chemotherapy.
The medical marijuana law, implemented in 2001 after overwhelming voter support, allows each person with a state card to grow as many as four mature and three immature marijuana plants and have on hand no more than 1 ounce of usable marijuana.
Unlike Colorado, upon which Segerblom patterned his bill, Nevada does not allow dispensaries where marijuana is sold.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/2012/7/5/medical_marijuana_bill_proposed_in_nevada.htm

by LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO

Uriel Sinai/Getty Images
Moshe Rute smokes cannabis at the Hadarim nursing home in Kibutz Naan, Israel. In conjunction with Israel’s Health Ministry, the Tikkun Olam company is distributing cannabis for medicinal purposes to more than 1,800 people in Israel.
 
Israel has become a world leader in the use of medical marijuana. More than 10,000 patients have received government licenses to consume the drug to treat ailments such as cancer and chronic pain.
But while the unorthodox treatment has gained acceptance in Israel, it still has its critics.
Susan Malkah breathes in the cloud of smoke from a plastic inhaler especially formulated for medical marijuana use. She has a number of serious ailments and is confined to a wheelchair.
“It’s not like we’re kids and we’re getting high and going out and partying. You take it, you’re by yourself usually, you just do it because you want to be in a better place. You don’t want to sit and stew in the pain,” says Malkah, who has been using cannabis for about two years. “It’s natural, it helps, you don’t have to fill your body full of chemicals. It’s terrific.”
More importantly, its use for medical purposes is legal in Israel. Malkah and other registered patients are being prescribed cannabis at the premier medical facility in a country known for its advanced medical care. That’s because many of the head doctors at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center are touting its use.
Dr. Reuven Or, director of the hospital’s bone marrow transplantation department, says Israel was a pioneer in medical marijuana research and quickly saw and began to apply the benefits. Cannabis not only allows patients to regain their appetite, fight nausea and relax, but it’s also proven to be an anti-inflammatory.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.npr.org/2012/07/04/156219412/medical-marijuana-use-sprouting-in-israel

By Chelsea Boozer

 
Washington, D.C. – infoZine – Scripps Howard Foundation Wire – Measures to legalize the substance for medical use have been proposed in 19 states this year. Fifteen legislatures failed to pass marijuana legislation, but through citizen petition processes, four states could still legalize the drug this year.
Massachusetts residents will vote on a ballot initiative in November that would make cannabis available for certain registered users. Residents of Arkansas, North Dakota and Ohio may vote on similar ballot measures to join 17 other states and the District of Columbia in legalizing the drug for medical use.
“It is totally possible the presidential election can swing on the marijuana issue,” said Morgan Fox, communications manager at Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington-based lobbying group.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/52402/

by Johnny Green

 
By Anndrea Hermann
Ever thought of building, with your own hands, an off-the-grid home made of hemp which would last 500+ years? Then you must read How I Built My Organic Home of Mud and Hemp  by Teresa Berube. Teresa built her home in 1.5 years using only natural products, hand tools, recycled wood and windows.
You can learn how to make built-in furniture, floors, roofing, bath tubs, natural coolers for food storage, insulation, varnish, plastic, grout, window putty and paint, all out of hemp materials. There are even instructions on waterproofing with hemp oil.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.theweedblog.com/mud-and-hemp-home-do-it-yourself-guide-book/

By Noelle Crombie, The Oregonian 

A 2009 photo shows jars of medical marijuana that had been donated to the Cannabis Cafe in Portland. The state of Oregon includes medical marijuana in its definition of medical expenses.
 
The government’s food stamp program isn’t the first place you’d expect to find a subtle nod to marijuana’s medicinal value, especially since the feds view the drug as contraband.
But a little-known practice by Oregon social service officials — allowing certain food stamp applicants to deduct medical marijuana costs from their income when qualifying for benefits — is welcomed by pot advocates. They say the medical deduction sends a quiet yet important message about the drug’s medicinal status and value.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2012/07/marijuanas_medicinal_value_gai.html
 

by Phillip Smith

The New Jersey General Assembly voted Monday night to approve a marijuana decriminalization bill, Assembly Bill 1465 , even after Gov. Chris Christie (R) threatened to veto it . The measure passed on a vote of 44-30, not quite enough votes to override a veto unless a current “no” vote switches over to the other side.
Under current state law, possession of 15 grams of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1000 fine. AB 1465 would make small-time possession a civil offense punishably only by a $150 fine for a first offense and a $200 fine for subsequent offenses.
The bill now awaits action in the Senate. The entire legislature typically takes a summer break in July and August, but the bill could move before then.
 
Read complete article here:
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2012/jun/26/new_jersey_assembly_passes_marij

By Wave Wire Services

Court ruling overturned

The California 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled Monday that medical marijuana dispensaries are legal under state law and cannot be banned by local municipalities.
 
A state appeals court has affirmed the legality of medical marijuana dispensaries under California law and rejected bans imposed by municipalities.
A three-justice panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled Monday that Los Angeles County’s ban on medical marijuana is “preempted” by state law. The decision reverses a preliminary injunction granted to the county by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ann Jones in May 2011.
“Los Angeles County’s total, per se nuisance ban against medical marijuana dispensaries directly contradicts the Legislature’s intent,” Justice Robert Mallano wrote in the 19-page unanimous decision.
 
Read complete article here:
http://wavenewspapers.com/news/local/article_86b28de4-c579-11e1-8324-001a4bcf6878.html