10-Year Sentence for 960g of Cannabis Seeds Overturned in Dubai

BY

 
Due to ongoing global marijuana reform, there are a number of places where people might feel comfortable traveling with cannabis seeds. The United Arab Emirates shouldn’t be one of those places.
In December of last year, an unnamed 34-year-old Austrian man was arrested at the Dubai International Airport after law enforcement found 960 grams of cannabis seeds in his luggage. The man was en route from Afghanistan back to Austria, where the seeds were intended to be for his wife who suffers from different neural diseases.
Instead of bringing the seeds of medicine home to Europe, he was jailed in Dubai. In February, the man was handed a ten-year prison sentence and fined the equivalent of $27,225 USD.
This week, however, must have been the best seven days of his life. The lawyer for the man, Faisal Alzarooni, managed to take the case to the appeals court and was successful in obtaining an acquittal by arguing that the cannabis was meant for medication and there was no criminal intent.
 
Full Article: 
https://www.marijuana.com/news/2017/05/10-year-sentence-for-960g-of-cannabis-seeds-overturned-in-dubai/

Expungement Day: Get Help Clearing an Old Cannabis Arrest

BRUCE BARCOTT
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Thirteen years ago, Yirim Seck got caught with cannabis. It was a warm summer night, and the promising young musician, then 23, was enjoying the annual SeaFair Torchlight Parade in downtown Seattle. It was a routine charge, one of those small-time arrests that legalization opponents often write off as no big deal. Indeed, today his offense is no longer a crime in Washington state.
But even though marijuana is no longer outlawed, Yirim Seck continues to be penalized. A felony on his record prevented him from registering for Selective Service, which impacted his ability to find financial aid for his education. He can’t register to vote. He can’t legally own a firearm. Promising job opportunities have fallen through because of his blemished record. “Almost half my life I’ve been penalized for possession of weed,” he says.
Seck is now 36 and a leader in his Seattle community. The well-respected social justice advocate runs his own flooring company, maintains a thriving music career, and acts as a mentor to younger artists and immigrants struggling to find their footing. And now, finally, he’s clearing his record.

With assistance from the Rise Up social impact initiative, Seck is going through Washington state’s expungement process, which allows people convicted of nonviolent cannabis offenses during the prohibition era to remove the offenses from their records.
 
Full Article: 
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/expungement-day-get-help-clearing-old-cannabis-arrest
 

This is Nattaly Brown. She’s 7, has cancer, and uses medical cannabis

Jennifer Bowman, Battle Creek Enquirer

 
Alyssa Schuck smiled as she pulled at the light brown hair sticking out of her daughter’s hat.
“A ponytail?”
For Nattaly Brown, this was a milestone. Her hair, now poking out of her glittery cap, had grown. And growing hair means so much more these days.
Nattaly was diagnosed three years ago with rhabdomyosarcoma, cancer that affects tissue and lymph nodes. The 7-year-old Battle Creek, Michigan, girl has battled rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and all the body-wrecking baggage that came with it, from vomiting to anxiety to a feeding tube.
She also uses medical marijuana.
 
Full Article: 
http://www.13newsnow.com/life/this-is-nattaly-brown-shes-7-has-cancer-and-uses-medical-marijuana/441075287
 
 

Willie Nelson to Jeff Sessions: Smoke Some Pot

By
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Jeff Sessions recently said that pot is “only slightly less awful” than heroin.
I wonder if he’s tried both of them. I don’t think you can really make a statement like that unless you tried it all. So I’d like to suggest to Jeff to try it and then let me know later if he thinks he’s still telling the truth.
 
Full Interview: 
http://www.rollingstone.com/country/features/willie-nelson-to-jeff-sessions-smoke-some-pot-w482579

Get Ready to See Hemp Fields Cropping Up in New York

by

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By spring, New York farmers may be able to grow hemp legally for the first time in decades.
The Hemp Research Bill, introduced in Albany by Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo and Senator Tom O’Mara, was signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo last year. As its title suggests, the bill allows researchers to grow and study “industrial hemp” — that is, cannabis with less than .03 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (or THC, the chemical that causes cannabis users to feel high).

New York’s bill follows the Agriculture Act of 2014, a federal law that legalizes growing hemp for research by state departments of agriculture and universities under the guidance of individual state laws.
Once the regulations are finalized by the end of this month, ten hemp growing licenses will be awarded by the Department of Agriculture. Universities or colleges can apply for a license and do research on their own or partner with a farmer. Already Cornell University and Morrisville State College have expressed interest in participating in the research.
 
Full Article: 
http://www.villagevoice.com/2015/12/11/get-ready-to-see-hemp-fields-cropping-up-in-new-york/

University of Louisville plants industrial hemp for energy possibilities

WHAS11.com staff , WHAS
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The University of Louisville is trying something new by planting industrial hemp with an end game in mind, energy.
It’s part of the JB Speed School of Engineering looking at crops for developing chemicals and fuels.
The school says the crops can fulfill energy needs and possibly aid in future chemical productions.
 
Full Article: 
http://www.whas11.com/news/local/uofl-plants-industrial-hemp-for-energy-possibilities/440556301

Sen. Kamala Harris to Trump: Leave grandma’s marijuana alone


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Sen. Kamala Harris of California used the year’s first big 2020 presidential spotlight Tuesday to rail against Trump administration drug policies and call for easing laws governing marijuana.
“Let me tell you what California needs, Jeff Sessions. We need support in dealing with transnational criminal organizations and dealing with human trafficking – not in going after grandma’s medicinal marijuana,” she said, referring to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
 
Full Article: 
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article150834332.html

Hempcrete, Building Material of the Future?

by Nena Perry-Brown
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A Tiny Hemp House
 
As various states around the country reconsider their approach to the controversial cannabis plant, its non-psychoactive variety is also gaining recognition for its many uses. Hemp, which typically has less than 0.3 percent THC, is somewhat of a super-crop, with uses from nutrition to clothing to construction materials.
One of the companies showing the practical applications of hemp as a construction material is Colorado’s Tiny Hemp Houses. As The Cannabist reports, Tiny Hemp Houses is a consulting company that assists clients in assembling their own tiny houses using “hempcrete” as a concrete substitute.
 
Full Article: 
http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/hempcrete_building_material_of_the_future/12570
 

Wine country looking more like cannabis country in California


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The grapevines that line rolling hillsides and sweeping valleys in Northern California’s wine country have become iconic – a symbol of the region’s rustic charm that helped California earn its reputation as a world-class wine and food destination.
But winegrapes have new competition: weed.
California’s legalization of recreational marijuana has led to the beginning of a major transformation of wine country. It’s been just seven months, but already investors are snapping up property where wine was once produced. Vineyard operators are developing expertise in cannabis cultivation. New, specialty marijuana businesses are sprouting up in Sonoma and Mendocino counties. And farmers who have long made a good living by growing and harvesting winegrapes are expressing interest in diversifying with marijuana.
 
Full Article: 
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article149815769.html

Union offers medical cannabis coverage to battle opioid crisis

CBC News
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In a bid to discourage opioid prescriptions and to give workers a healthier alternative to the highly addictive drugs, an Ontario union is now offering medical cannabis products through its benefits plan.
LIUNA Local 625 in Windsor announced the change to its plan Tuesday after two years of widespread consultation with pharmacies and cannabis suppliers.
 
Full Article: 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/liuna-offers-medical-cannabis-coverage-to-battle-opioid-crisis-1.4106228