NAACP Endorses Pennsylvania Marijuana Legalization Bill

By Thomas H. ClarkeNAACP Endorses Pennsylvania Marijuana Legalization Bill
 
A bill introduced in Harrisburg to legalize and regulate marijuana similar to alcohol received an endorsement by the Pennsylvania Chapter of the NAACP Tuesday.
Senate Bill 528, the Regulate Marijuana Act, was  was introduced earlier this year by State Senator Daylin Leach.
The bill would allow adults 21 and over to grow up to six plants and possess the resulting harvest. It would also allow adults to transfer up to an ounce to other adults.
 
Full Article:
http://www.thedailychronic.net/2013/24179/naacp-endorses-pennsylvania-marijuana-legalization-bill/

The Power Of The Cannabis Economy

by 
marijuana and money
 
In July, $2 bills will be flowing into the cash registers of businesses across Michigan in an effort to show the cannabis community’s economic impact.
Community representatives are calling on the patients, caregivers and legalization supporters to unite in the symbolic effort. The idea is simple: spend one $2 bill when paying for every cash purchase made everywhere from July 10 through July 31. As restaurant and retail business owners and managers see the influx of $2 bills they will gain a respect for the purchasing power of the marijuana-friendly consumer- and so will the legislature.
“The $2 bill plan doesn’t cost anything, doesn’t require a meeting or an agreement on philosophy. It’s simple and legal,” says Donnie from the Metro Detroit Compassion Club. “Here is the opportunity to show power through numbers and economic impact. Pass it on state to state; pass it on nationwide to include all who support the cannabis community.”
 
Full Article:
http://www.theweedblog.com/the-power-of-the-cannabis-economy/

Man gets off painkillers with marijuana – Dealing with aftermath of serious fall left former glazier facing serious medical questions

BY SHAWN CONNER, VANCOUVER SUN

Man gets off painkillers with marijuana

John Berfelo says medical marijuana is better than pharmaceuticals for pain.

Photograph by: Arlen Redekop, PNG Files , Vancouver Sun

John Berfelo had always been what he calls “a recreational smoker.” But after falling 8.5 metres onto concrete, he credits marijuana with not just getting him high, but saving his life.
In 2005, the then-33-year-old glazier was working on a scissor-lift when he tripped on a box of construction materials and went over the railing. He woke up in the hospital.
“My life was changed forever,” Berfelo said.
His broke his neck in four places; he shattered his left elbow. He fractured his skull. He broke teeth and he shattered an ankle. He herniated three discs. He broke his hip.
Berfelo was in the hospital for three weeks. A live-in nurse and Meals on Wheels helped him when he returned home and started recovery. He was on 32 pills a day, including muscle relaxants, antidepressants and sleeping pills.
“I was on so many pills I carried around a little box of prescription drugs,” he said.
He was “chasing pain,” Berfelo said. “I was a mess, up and down, crying my eyes out. I did pain charts and logs for over four years.”
The pain fluctuated with the amount of drugs he was taking. At the time, he was also eating pot brownies from the B.C. Compassion Club Society.
The brownies were made with pot tested by Paul Hornby, a B.C.-based medical cannabis researcher and biochemist with a doctorate in human pathology. Berfelo found that those particular brownies worked better at fighting the pain than the prescribed painkillers, and their effects lasted longer.
Full Article:
http://www.vancouversun.com/health/gets+painkillers+with+marijuana/8585717/story.html

High Crimes: Strategies to Further Marijuana Legalization Initiatives


 

In November 2012, Washington and Colorado became the first states—and the first jurisdictions in the world—to legalize the possession, use, and regulated distribution of marijuana. Although Attorney General Eric Holder promised in March 2013 to announce a Department of Justice policy to address the state initiatives, the White House has yet to take a position. This shifting legal terrain is the subject of “High Crimes: Strategies to Further Marijuana Legalization Initiatives,” a new report by the National Lawyers Guild (NLG).
The NLG report analyzes the legalization process under way in the states, suggests strategies to further marijuana legalization initiatives, and highlights current obstacles to ending prohibition. Among the NLG recommendations: reframe drug use as a public health issue rather than a criminal justice problem, challenge the punitive international drug policy framework, support states’ rights to regulate marijuana use, and reclassify marijuana to allow for medical research.
Full Article:

Patent The Marijuana Plant?

By Doug Fine
cannabis plant marijuana patent
 
I missed out on an $8,000 one-day profit several weeks ago when I declined an opportunity to invest in British-based GW Pharmaceuticals, which subsequently went public as GWPH on NASDAQ. I could’ve got in at $1. The stock ended its first day of trading around $9, which is about where it’s trading today. (Pause while I absorb a feeling in my gut that I hope is pride but might be fiscal pain.) The purpose of this column is not to speak for or against GW Pharmaceuticals or its cannabis-based products, but rather to elucidate the issues that caused me to err, for now, on the side of whole plant versus concentrated cannabis prescription.
 
Full Article:
http://www.theweedblog.com/patent-the-marijuana-plant/

B.C. lotto winner Bob Erb surprises restaurant owner with $10,000 tip

BY EMMA GRANEY, POSTMEDIA NEWS

B.C. lotto winner Bob Erb surprises restaurant owner with $10,000 tip

Bob Erb won $25 million in 2012. He recently donated $10,000 to a Saskatchewan restaurant owner who has a daughter fighting cancer.

It started with a burger, fries and a little conversation.
It led to an act of kindness that one Saskatchewan man with a daughter who’s facing cancer will likely never forget.
Cliff Luther was working at his restaurant in Chamberlain, Sask., when one of his customers asked for a pen to pay for his burger and fries by cheque. The amount Bob Erb wrote down was $10,000.
Erb laughs when asked about Luther’s reaction to the cheque, and says Luther was “so overwhelmed, so befuddled by it that I ended up having to flip my own burger because he was real emotional.”
Full Article:
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Lotto+winner+gives+again+surprising+restaurant+owner+with/8584060/story.html

Adrian Grenier On Obama’s Marijuana Use: Imagine If He Was Busted For Inhaling

Huffington Post  |  By 
 
“Imagine if Barack Obama had been busted for inhaling,” said Cooke. “In that single moment when the SWAT teams came in and raided him, he wouldn’t have been able to become president of the United States, and not only that, he couldn’t have had a good job at all.”
“He would have, as a black man, been less likely to get a good income in any job,” Cooke continued. “He would have likely been prosecuted more than any white dealer or user.”
 
Full Article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/adrian-grenier-obama-marijuana-busted-for-inhaling_n_3503295.html

Michigan Farmer Caught with 8,000 Marijuana Plants Gets Probation

By Associated Press Michigan Farmer Caught with 8,000 Marijuana Plants Gets Probation
 
A southeastern Michigan farmer recovering from throat cancer was sentenced to probation instead of prison Tuesday for growing thousands of marijuana plants, due partly to many handwritten letters from supporters who described him as a modest, selfless man who helps others at every turn.
“This is one that most screams out: This man deserves a break,” U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman said.
 
Full Article:
http://www.thedailychronic.net/2013/24137/michigan-farmer-caught-with-8000-marijuana-plants-gets-probation/

Holy Smokes? Some say the good book approves of kind bud.

By Larry Gabriel
Photo: N/A, License: N/A
 
Apparently God, who — from a believer’s standpoint — is the creator of all things, including marijuana, doesn’t care if you use it. At least that’s the opinion of the Rev. John Jackson of Trinity United Church of Christ in Gary, Ind., and probably quite a few of his peers.
Jackson attended a recent conference called “View from the Pulpit: Faith Leaders and Drug Decriminalization” at the American Baptist College in Nashville, Tenn. The group of black pastors focused on the injustice of drug law enforcement because African-Americans make up only 13 percent of drug users, but make up 59 percent of those convicted for drug offenses.
 
Full Article:
http://metrotimes.com/news/higher-ground/holy-smokes-1.1510784

Hawaii – Gov. Abercrombie Signs Two Bills Improving Medical Cannabis Program

By News Release
Senator Josh Green, Governor Abercrombie, Representative Della Au Belatti (speaking), Senator Will Espero
Senator Josh Green, Governor Abercrombie, Representative Della Au Belatti (speaking), Senator Will Espero
 
Honolulu – Patient advocates celebrated the signing of two bills to improve Hawaii’s 13 year-old medical marijuana program – the first updates to pass the legislature since the program began. Approved today were measures to move program oversight away from the Department of Public Safety Narcotics Enforcement Division (“NED”) and to the Department of Health (“DOH”), and to adjust the type and amount of medical marijuana a patient can legally possess.
 
Full Article:
http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/2013/06/gov-abercrombie-signs-two-bills-improving-medical-cannabis-program/