By Nancy Churnin

Marijuana plants grow at Perennial Holistic Wellness Center medical marijuana dispensary, which opened in 2006, on July 25, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty)
 
4/20 — which falls on Saturday — has been a rallying cry for supporters of legalizing marijuana since it was popularized by California teens in 1971 and once again brings up the question of whether it should be legal in Texas and in the nation.
There was a time when the country was strongly against it. Now a new national poll, released by the Pew Research Center, shows that for the first time a majority of Americans — 52% — favor legalization. Just 45% are against. Colorado and Washington have passed laws to make marijuana legal within their borders and many more states have approved it for medicinal uses. The Daily Chronic website tracks the road to its approval for for medical reasons and for overall decriminalization in other states, noting that Alaska is considering decriminalization in 2014.
Not a peep about this in Texas of course. But why not Texas? Why shouldn’t a state which is so proud of individual freedoms not grant the right for people to make their own choice about whether or not to use marijuana for medicinal or even recreational uses?

In this May 20, 2009 file photo, one-eighth-ounce bags of Blue Dream medical marijuana are shown at The Green Door dispensary in San Francisco. (AP)
As someone who has never tried or had any personal interest in marijuana, it doesn’t make any logical sense to me to make it illegal for this substance to be used for pain relief or recreation — provided it is regulated in a similar manner to alcohol or even cigarettes. You shouldn’t be driving under the influence or do anything that would put anyone in danger. And businesses should have a perfect right to a smoke-free environment as many do regarding cigarettes which have been scientifically proven to cause lung cancer. But should you be arrested and thrown into prison — ruining lives and costing the taxpayers millions– for doing something privately that should be no one’s business? I don’t think so.
Multiple studies, including brain scans, show that marijuana, or cannabis as it is called medically, is effective at reducing pain. In fact, it is a far less dangerous drug than many of the “legal” drugs prescribed for pain relief because it has no known toxicity.  It has also been shown to reduce intra-ocular pressure in people with glaucoma, prevent or inhibit the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by preventing the formation of deposits in the brain, block the spread of breast cancer and provide anti-inflammatory effects that could be helpful diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Do you question these tests? Fine, then run more. But in the meantime, why eliminate one of the tools in the medical toolbox?
 
Full Article:
http://healthblog.dallasnews.com/2013/04/when-it-comes-to-legalizing-marijuana-the-times-they-are-a-changin-just-not-as-fast-in-texas.html/

By CBDScientist

Garret Yount, Ph.D.
 
The SETH group is a non-profit cancer research organization made up of scientists pursuing an alternative approach to cancer treatment.

Garret Yount, Ph.D.
SETH group founder previous research, documented the potent effects of CBD and THC on gioblastoma brain cancer tissue cultures showing them to be selectively effective at killing cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed.
Yount’s latest research project aims to repeat his previous results and expand upon them using a standardized whole plant extract derived from cannabis that is rich in CBD and natural terpenes. He hopes to repeat his previous results and, using advanced next-generation genome sequencing technology, reveal for the first time the underlying cellular mechanisms responsible for the observed effects.
He expects to find that cannabinoids derived from a whole plant extract are effective at selectively inducing a process called apoptosis which is a naturally occurring process of programmed cell death. This is considered the holy grail for cancer researchers because apoptosis is not associated with harmful inflammation because the process degrades and recycles the cellular machinery before dying.
The SETH group is currently raising money through it’s new website at www.thesethgroup.org and through their facbook page.
 
http://www.thedailychronic.net/2013/17128/cancer-researcher-raising-money-for-cannabis-study/
 

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fy_6Q3KpXIw

by Joe Martino

 
When it comes to new and sustainable housing ideas, it seems to always be about creating a more efficient home in terms of insulation, lighting, electricity, etc. Mainstream belief  on the subject would have you believe that top corporations and government projects are working with the best possible technology to bring forth solutions that work and are going to be great for the environment. If that was truly the case, I can guarantee you that the whole world would be using Hempcrete right now. Haven’t heard of it? I’m not too surprised.
First off, what is Hempcrete? Hempcrete is a building material that incorporates hemp into its mixture. Hempcrete is very versatile as it can be used for wall insulation, flooring, walls, roofing and more. It’s fire-proof, water-proof, and rot-proof as long as it’s above ground. Hempcrete is made from the shiv or inside stem of the hemp plant and is then mixed with a lime base binder to create the building material. This mixture creates a negative carbon footprint for those who are concerned with the carbon side of things. It is the worlds strongest building material and is much more versatile, easy to work with and pliable than concrete. In fact, earthquakes cannot crack these structures as they are 3 times more resistant than regular concrete.
 
Full Article:
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/02/03/hempcrete-worlds-strongest-building-material/

by Ron Mullins

 
Spring has sprung and the time has come for everyone to plant their gardens. If you live in a residential zone in Sacramento, you most likely won’t be legally employing the sunshine to nourish your marijuana plants.
It has been totally illegal for a few years now to plant any cannabis outdoors or indoors in the County of Sacramento, This was all due to a ban passed by the County Board of Supervisors in 2010. No law prohibiting cultivation of cannabis existed in the City of Sacramento until November 2012 when the Sacramento City Council passed it’s own ban on growing marijuana outdoors. The City Council pushed it through quickly and it now exists in the form of Ordinance 2012-045.
 

Image by: Ron Mullins
 
This law states that it is illegal to grow cannabis outside, either in a residential zone or in a residential-use building. The only way to legally grow is to do it indoors by submitting a plan to the city, keep it under 400 feet, follow all the safety and lighting precautions, and then allow the city to inspect and approve it. It’s that simple! Perhaps on closer inspection, this process is far out of reach of the common Sacramentan.
 
Full Article:
http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/81610/Cultivating_Medical_Marijuana_in_Sacramento?utm_source=streamsend&utm_medium=email&utm_content=18426139&utm_campaign=Sac%2520Press%2520News%253A%2520Market%2520coming%2520to%2520Midtown%252C%2520Doughbot%2520wins%2520big%2520and%2520Sac%2526%252339%253Bs%2520perfect%2520spots%2520to%2520have%2520a%2520beer

 
In the winter of 1972, 20 young women took part in one of the weirdest scientific experiments in this country’s history.
For 98 days in a downtown Toronto hospital, their brains, hearts, kidneys, livers, blood and urine were rigorously tested and analyzed.  A team of nurses kept round-the-clock records of their behaviour, logged at half-hour intervals.
Just how was marijuana affecting the 10 who had to smoke it every day?
Forty-one years later, these women are still wondering what exactly happened to them during their three-month stretch as human guinea pigs.
 
Full Article:
http://www.cannabisnews.org/weird-1972-experiment-in-marijuana-use/2013/04/15/

By Marijuana Policy Project

 
The Vermont House of Representatives gave final approval Tuesday to a bill 92-49 that would decriminalize possession of limited amounts of marijuana. It will now move to the Senate for consideration.
Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell and Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn testified in favor of the proposal at House and Senate committee hearings, and Gov. Peter Shumlin has also expressed support.
“We hope members of the Senate will agree with their colleagues in the House and our state’s top law enforcement officials that it is time for a more sensible approach to marijuana policy in Vermont,” said Matt Simon, a legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project. “There is no need to subject people to life-altering criminal penalties simply for using a substance that is objectively less harmful than alcohol.”
 
Full Article:
http://www.thedailychronic.net/2013/17186/vermont-house-passes-marijuana-decriminalization-bill-next-stop-senate/

By Harry Cheadle

 
Rich Paul practicing some civil disobedience.
Here’s how absurd the war on drugs has gotten: firstly, an activist from Keene, New Hampshire, is facing 81 years in prison for dealing marijuana; and secondly, even though he’s admitted on camera that he did sell about a pound of pot to an FBI informant, he’s still fighting the case in court in hopes the jury will acquit him.
The man’s name is Rich Paul, and his ordeal started last May, when he was arrested for selling weed and LSD (he claims he sold a legal chemical compound that wasn’t LSD). Instead of being charged with a crime, he wrote in a Facebook note about the incident and was taken to see an FBI agent named Philip Christiana, who threatened to throw the book at him unless he turned informer on his friends. According to Rich, Phil wanted him to wear a wire into meetings of a local political group he belonged to called the Keene Activist Center, lie to them about his arrest, and encourage them to commit crimes. Rich said no, and shared his story with the public—even going so far as to explain on video that he had been busted after selling ounces of weed to a confidential informant on multiple occasions.
There are several odd things about this trial, which started today. (Follow live updates through this Facebook page.) First, it’s not clear why the FBI, or this particular agent, was so keen, pun intended, to go after the KAC. Although the organization is “liberty-minded” (in other words, not fans of the police or other forms of government), it’s also explicitly nonviolent. Those kind of libertarian/anarchist/whatever-you-want-to-call-it politics are common in New Hampshire—in fact, groups like the Shire Society and the Free State Project encourage people who are tired of being hassled by the Man to move to the state, and the Keene area in particular. Acts of civil disobedience by the KAC and other activists are relatively common; Rich himself organized 4:20 PM “smoke-ins” at Keene’s Central Square to protest drug-prohibition laws.
In an email to me late last night, Rich said that his prosecution is an outlier. “Local law enforcement in Keene has always been extremely respectful, courteous and professional. Many of them, I will not say which, sympathize with us on many of our concerns, though most do not condone civil disobedience,” he wrote.
“The FBI, however, has stumbled around this investigation blindly, not bothering to understand who [the KAC was] from our published works before they made the clumsy attempt to infiltrate us… They may really be concerned that we may be violent, but if they are, they do not understand us. Our nonviolent rhetoric is matched by our actions. The club is not a hive of scum and villainy.”
 
Full Article:
http://www.vice.com/read/eighty-one-years-for-weed

 
Check it out here:
http://nimbinmardigrass.com/

by Jessica Bakeman

 
Sen. Diane Savino, a member of the Independent Democratic Conference, pushed a bill Tuesday that would legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes and said 38 senators will vote for it.
Six others are “leaning yes,” the Staten Island senator said at a news conference near the Capitol with advocates.
“We only need 32 in the Senate. We’re going to get this bill done this year,” she said.
 
Full Article:
http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2013/04/16/savino-medical-marijuana-has-more-than-enough-votes-in-senate/

Tiffany Revelle – Ukiah Daily Journal and Grant Scott-Goforth Times-Standard
 
Mendocino County officials have struck an agreement with the federal government to release records the county keeps under its medical marijuana ordinance, but will not release the names of the people who applied for permits under the ordinance, the Mendocino County board of supervisors announced Tuesday. The move could influence the development of Humboldt County’s own outdoor medical marijuana ordinance, which has been taking shape through public meetings held throughout the county.
The Mendocino County board of supervisors announced after meeting for less than half an hour behind closed doors at its regularly scheduled meeting that it had reached the agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office.
A federal grand jury had subpoenaed the records Oct. 23, asking for “any and all records” – including financial records – for the county’s medical marijuana cultivation ordinance from Jan. 1, 2010 to the present.
”The Mendocino County board of supervisors and the United States attorney’s office for the northern district of California have reached an agreement on the nature and scope of documents to be provided to the federal grand jury, pursuant to the subpoenas of October 23, 2012,” according to the statement county counsel Tom Parker issued after the Tuesday meeting.
“The information to be provided will not include personal identifying information involving individuals. This consensus is reflective of the law enforcement needs of the United States attorney’s office, as well as reflecting the public policy goals of the Mendocino County board of supervisors,” according to the statement.
 
Full Article:
http://www.redwoodtimes.com/garbervillenews/ci_23037269/mendocino-strikes-deal-feds-over-marijuana-records-humboldt