Take a weed break at work. It’s allowed!

  @CNNMoney

Isaac Dietrich [center], co-founder of MassRoots, at his startup’s weekly rooftop Cannabis smoking session.
 
At most offices in America, smoking a joint during your lunch break or eating cannabis-laced brownies at your desk would land you in HR.
But in some states, not only won’t you be punished — you might be rewarded.
Kyle Sherman and Chase Wiseman cofounded Flowhub, which provides software for the cannabis industry, in 2015. The Denver-based startup has been a weed-friendly workplace from day one.
“Our philosophy at Flowhub is to get s*** done,” said Sherman. “If it helps our employees get work done, then we don’t care if they consume at work.”
 
Full Article:
http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/18/smallbusiness/marijuana-workplaces/index.html?source=linkedin
 

Ex-Bear Jim McMahon: Medical marijuana got me off narcotic pain pills

Robert McCoppinContact Reporter Chicago Tribune

 
Former Super Bowl champion and Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon says an unfairly demonized drug helped him recover from the pain of his football career: medical marijuana.
McMahon was in Chicago this week, where he attended Tuesday’s Bears reunion marking the 30th anniversary of their Super Bowl victory. He was also featured in an ESPN “30 for 30” screening of a documentary about the team, which includes a focus on his health struggles.
 
Full Article:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-bears-jim-mcmahon-medical-marijuana-met-20160128-story.html

Licensed cannabis oil too scarce, expensive for medical users

MIKE HAGER
Chris Skidmore has been using cannabis oil for five years to help him fight HIV. (Rafal Gerszak/Rafal Gerszak)
 

“Mr. Skidmore, a cannabis advocate for several years, says he can’t afford the cannabis oil sold by a handful of Canada’s licensed commercial producers, and every patient he knows buys their oil from illegal dispensaries or small-scale producers such as himself.

Using marijuana he grows with a licence under the old federal medical marijuana system, the material in each batch costs him about $100, which he says works out to an overall cost of about $5 to $10 per gram of oil, depending on how the process goes. That’s much cheaper than the $25 to $50 per gram at Vancouver’s dispensaries, or the $90 charged by one licensed producer, Mettrum, for one 40-millilitre bottle of oil, the cheapest rate offered through Health Canada’s system.”

Full Article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/licensed-cannabis-oil-too-scarce-expensive-for-medical-users/article28425672/

Former union boss Helen Kelly seeks medicinal cannabis: ‘I’m dying, basically’

NZ Herald

 
Former union boss Helen Kelly has written to Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne to seek permission to use medicinal cannabis.
Ms Kelly, who has lung cancer, said she hoped her application would be granted as soon as possible.
“[Dunne] said it took him an hour once he got the last application, so I’m hoping to hear today,” she said.
Ms Kelly is already using cannabis oil to ease her pain, and said the drug had been “brilliant” for helping with nausea, lost appetite, and pain relief following chemotherapy.
 
Full Article:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11581013

Lawmakers press VA to allow medical marijuana for veterans

By Tim Devaney

 
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pressing the Department of Veterans Affairs to allow veterans to use medical marijuana.
Currently, VA doctors are prohibited from recommending medical marijuana to their patients, even in states that have legalized pot.
These veterans must go to nonmilitary doctors outside their healthcare plan to obtain a prescription. The tedious and expensive process often discourages veterans from seeking access to such treatment, critics say.
 
Full Article:
http://thehill.com/regulation/healthcare/267219-lawmakers-pressure-va-on-pot-for-vets
 
 

Biomaterials for better building

by KORKY KOROLUK
Construction Corner: Biomaterials for better building
 
“Nanotechnology can best be described as the science of the extremely small. Scientists have discovered that engineering materials at the atomic or molecular scale can result in surprising — and very useful — results. So when we’re talking about nanometres, we’re talking a billionth of a metre. An average human hair, for example, is about 80,000 to 100,000 nanometres across. Because of the nano-engineering involved, it may turn out to be possible to add hemp to mortar. So the new bio-aggregates can not only improve the performance of conventional materials, they can also offer new features.
The shiv, which is the core of the hemp stalk, has a porous structure that provides moisture buffering, which helps maintain humidity inside a building at a more constant level. But to achieve that property, the shiv must be treated with hydrophobic resins. The result is that water vapour can travel in and out of the material, but liquid water can’t penetrate it.
“We’re striving to find the delicate balance between applying the right level of coating on the hemp shiv and preserving..its inherent properties, such as porosity,” Taylor says. He adds that any new biomaterials developed must not only be technically feasible but commercially viable as well. So the key question becomes: “How do we adapt the materials to the existing manufacturing processes for conventional materials?”
 
Full Article:
http://journalofcommerce.com/Technology/News/2016/1/Construction-Corner-Biomaterials-for-better-building-1013073W/

Cannabis church leader uses marijuana extract at state capitol

BY

 
The leader of a Rhode Island “cannabis church” says she has permission to use marijuana extract during a prayer and healing ceremony outside the capitol building in Harrisburg.
Anne Armstrong says the oil is a sacrament for religious anointing purposes and is protected by religious freedom. She showed a copy of the email which gave her permission to use the oil at the ceremony.
Armstrong says, “The people need cannabis medicine. They can get it from the church before the legislature even does anything. While they’re making up their minds, the church still stands at the ready to help.”
 
Full Article:
http://fox43.com/2016/01/25/cannabis-church-leader-uses-marijuana-extract-at-state-capitol/
 

Senator said no reason to wait for either marijuana’s federal reclassification or a “full vetting” by the state

State Sen. Wayne Fontana has introduced Bill 687, which would raise the film tax credit to $100 million.

Democratic Pa. Senator Wayne D. Fontana, who’s based in Brookline and who represents the state’s 42nd Senatorial District, said there’s no reason to wait for either marijuana’s federal reclassification or a “full vetting” by the state.

“If I had a child who suffered from epilepsy — who couldn’t grow physically or mentally because of seizures — and someone told me that a drug like [cannabidiol] existed, would I choose to role the dice?” he asked the Business Times rhetorically. “In the short haul, if I’m a parent and I see that this child could have close to a normal life with this drug … I’m gonna say yes, I’m definitely going to roll the dice.”

Full Article:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/the-pulse/2016/01/pa-medical-society-calls-for-pot-reclassification.html

Kevin Smith Rolls Out ‘Hollyweed’ Pot Comedy Project

 News Editor @lauinla


 
Kevin Smith has wrapped production on “Hollyweed,” a half-hour comedy produced by FremantleMedia North America and StarStream Media, Variety has learned.
The project, written, directed by and starring Smith, is set in a Los Angeles cannabis dispensary. It follows two potheads, played by Smith and Donnell Rawlings (“Chappelle’s Show”), who battle a neighboring cookie magnate played by Kristin Bauer van Straten (“True Blood”) and enlist the help of a charming porn star played by Frankie Shaw (“Mr. Robot”), to help them navigate the ups and downs of managing a small business in their quest for profits and the perfect bud.
 
Full Article:
http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/kevin-smith-pot-comedy-hollyweed-1201686499/
 

Arizona – State Representative Jay Lawrence Withdraws Bill That Could Have Ended Medical Marijuana Program

 
State Representative Jay Lawrence (R-Fountain Hills) has withdrawn his bill that could have destroyed Arizona’s medical-marijuana program.

Lawrence’s bill, HCR 2019, would have stripped naturopaths and homeopaths of the right to recommend medical marijuana, even though those doctors write nearly 90 percent of the recommendations. His plan also called for patients to renew their cards every six months instead of every year, paying double the annual fees.
“We received so many calls,” he tells New Times. “I had heard anecdotally that [the cards] are handed out wildly. I learned from the callers that there is a lot more care taken by naturopaths than I had originally been told.”
Hundreds of people called his office, he says, and he spoke to 30 or 40 of them. He also spoke to dispensary operators.
“I become more sympathetic when I learn it’s not just a gimme,” he says. Most patients “are not getting a pass. They are legitimately getting medical records.”

 
Full Article:
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/state-representative-jay-lawrence-withdraws-bill-that-could-have-ended-medical-marijuana-program-7992637