Choose Hemp and Be Nourished

By Lisa Mase

 
Hemp, or Cannabis sativa, has been part of nutritional therapies since 2300 B.C. Similar to flax, it is a high-protein seed that contains all nine essential amino acids, and is rich in fatty acids, fiber, and vitamin E. Due to its balanced ratio of omega-3 to six fatty acids and its high GLA (gamma-linoleic acid) content, hemp seed and oil can help stimulate immunity, balance the endocrine system, and support healthy skin and hair.
 
Full Article:
http://www.thedailymeal.com/choose-hemp-and-be-nourished

Does Granny Need Ganja?

By David Bienenstock

Photo via Flickr / CC

Prior to his release in 2008, Robert “Black Tuna” Platshorn spent more time behind bars for marijuana than any other American ever has and maybe ever will, serving nearly thirty years in federal lock up on a first-time, non-violent smuggling conviction. Coincidentally, that’s exactly how long the very same federal government has been supplying Irv Rosenfeld with 300 ready-to-smoke joints each and every month.
On Monday, Platshorn and Rosenfeld will travel to Washington, DC, to lobby Congress and speak at a press conference in support of HR 1523, the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act of 2013, which would modify the Controlled Substances Act to make any individual or business in compliance with state law immune from federal prosecution. They’ll join a broad political coalition in calling for an end to the DEA’s ongoing campaign of raids and intimidation, including hundreds of fellow senior citizens bused into the nation’s capital as part of Platshorn’s Silver Tour, which works to educate the country’s most powerful voting block about the many proven benefits of medical cannabis.
“When we started a couple of years ago, seniors didn’t talk about marijuana. And the media definitely didn’t talk about seniors and marijuana. But that’s all changed, which I think has been responsible for a large number of people—especially politicians—re-evaluating their positions,” Platshorn informs me, citing positive press his organization has garnered in The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, plus feature segments on CNN and The Daily Show. “And once legislators see hundreds of white haired old folks walking the halls of Congress, wearing great big credentials that say “76% of Physicians Worldwide Support Medical Marijuana Legalization”, with a citation from the New England Journal of Medicine, that will really turn some heads, and maybe even make them afraid to keep supporting the failed status quo.”

Full Article:
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/does-granny-need-ganja

Study: Hemp Seed Oil Associated With Improved Clinical And Immunological Parameters In MS Patients

By Paul Armentano
Study: Hemp Seed Oil Associated With Improved Clinical And Immunological Parameters In MS Patients
 
TABRIZ, IRAN – The consumption of hemp seed nutritional oil, in conjunction with the intake of evening primrose oils and a restricted diet high in hot-natured foods (such as pepper) and low in saturated fats and sugars, is associated with “significant improvement” in symptom management and immunological characteristics in subjects with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to clinical trial data published in the current issue of the scientific journal BioImpacts.
 
Full Article:
http://www.thedailychronic.net/2013/23047/study-hemp-seed-oil-associated-with-improved-clinical-and-immunological-parameters-in-ms-patients/

Blog From Jail: Rich Paul Responds to Sentence

by 
Rich Paul
 
I, Rich Paul, have finally been sentenced after sitting in jail for seven weeks.  My sentence is:

  • One year in jail –  With good time and  time served I should be out sometime around December 18th
  • Three years probation
  • Various fines about $2500

Is this sentence fair?  Of course not.  I’ve harmed no one.  I provided good product at a fair price to an adult who wanted it.   I wish that more people would do that rather than making their living ruining lives to be paid with stolen money.
 
Full Article:
http://freekeene.com/2013/06/13/blog-from-jail-rich-paul-responds-to-sentence/

Rich Paul is Appealing His 81-Year Prison Sentence for Selling Pot

By Harry Cheadle

Rich Paul recording a video from jail.
 
Last month I wrote about Rich Paul, a pro-marijuana activist in Keene, New Hampshire, who was facing 81 years in prison for selling marijuana. Rich had refused plea-bargain deals (including one that would have let him walk away with no jail time) because he wanted to stand up for his principles—weed is basically harmless and you should be allowed to smoke it and sell it to your friends. “Somebody had to stand up and say that this is wrong, and I thought I might well be that guy,” Rich emailed me. “I took the risk and now we’ll find out whether I bet my life well.”
Two days after he wrote that, the jury found Rich guilty, sending him to prison for a long, long time for a nonviolent crime.*
That’s not so strange, because Rich essentially admitted that he sold a whole bunch of weed to an FBI informant. His defense didn’t rely on convincing anyone he wasn’t breaking the law—he wanted to convince the jury that the law itself was wrong. In other words, he was leaning on the principle of jury nullification, which is the idea that juries can vote to acquit people who have clearly broken the law if they think that the law shouldn’t exist in the first place.
 
Full Article:
http://www.vice.com/read/rich-paul-is-appealing-his-81-year-prison-sentence-for-selling-pot

Carl Sagan, Marijuana Advocate, Explains What It’s Like To Be High While Carl Sagan

The Huffington Post  |  By 
Carl Sagan Marijuana

(Getty Images)
Carl Sagan, a titan of scientific study and communication, died in 1996, leaving behind an expansive legacy of research and education. He assumed a diverse set of roles throughout his life, including as a longtime casual user of and advocate for marijuana.
Sagan’s involvement with pot began as a secret, when he penned an essay in 1969, at the age of 35, under the pseudonym “Mr. X.” The piece, in which Sagan described the benefits he felt from using marijuana, later appeared in Dr. Lester Grinspoon’s 1971 book, “Marihuana Reconsidered.” Sagan’s identity as the author wasn’t publicly disclosed until 1999, when Keay Davidson published “Carl Sagan: A Life,” which documented Sagan’s writings as his alter-ego, “Mr. X.”
Writing that he’d begun smoking intermittently around 10 years before, Sagan noted that marijuana “amplifies torpid sensibilities and produces what to me are even more interesting effects.”
“The cannabis experience has greatly improved my appreciation for art, a subject which I had never much appreciated before,” he wrote. “The understanding of the intent of the artist which I can achieve when high sometimes carries over to when I’m down. This is one of many human frontiers which cannabis has helped me traverse.”
 
Full Article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/31/carl-sagan-marijuana_n_3367112.html

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval signs into law bill allowing medical marijuana dispensaries

  • THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 
CARSON CITY, Nevada — After 13 years of waiting, medical marijuana patients in Nevada will soon have a legal way to obtain the drug without growing it themselves.
Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval signed SB374 into law Wednesday evening. The measure establishes the framework to make pot available to medical marijuana card holders, and imposes fees and requirements for growers, processors and dispensaries. It also contains provisions to continue to allow home-growing until 2016.
 
Full Article:
http://www.tribtown.com/view/story/e33b61151b1e44db9866d379324bc5df/US-XGR–Medical-Marijuana

Marijuana: Doctors poll shows overwhelming support for medical cannabis

By William Breathes
medical marijuana doctor.jpg
 
Physicians around the world overwhelmingly support medical marijuana, according to a poll conducted by the New England Journal of Medicine last month. Focusing on the hypothetical case of a breast cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy and experiencing pain and heavy nausea, the poll asked doctors if they would recommend cannabis to alleviate symptoms.
Nearly 1,500 doctors from 72 countries responded, with the majority coming from Mexico, Canada and the United States. The results: 76 percent said they would recommend cannabis to patients for medical purposes.
 
Full Article:
http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2013/06/marijuana_doctors_poll_medical_cannabis.php