How the American Legion Became a Medical Cannabis Advocate

DAVID HODES

American Legion National Commander Denise Rohan: The group’s members are driving the Legion’s interest in medical cannabis. “Our membership numbers are so important,” she said. “They have got to mean something in this fight against the opioid crisis. Let’s get marijuana tested to find out if it is one of the answers.” (Photo courtesy of The American Legion)
 
 
Denise Rohan, the national commander of the American Legion, is scheduled to testify before a joint session of the House and Senate Committees on Veterans Affairs today to discuss what Congress and the Trump administration can do to improve veterans’ benefits. Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin is also expected to testify.
Last week, as a prelude to that testimony, Rohan met the media at a National Press Club discussion about better ways to deliver benefits to the country’s more than 20 million veterans. In a question and answer session following the formal presentation, Leafly asked Rohan about the stance of the American Legion on medical cannabis.
“The American Legion is all about making sure that veterans are taken care of,” she said. “We have to find replacements for the opioid epidemic that we have in this nation.”
With that, she deferred to Louis Celli, the American Legion’s National Director of Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation. Celli talked about the results of a nationwide survey of veterans and caregivers conducted in Oct. 2017. The survey found that 82 percent of all veterans and caregivers want to have cannabis available as a federally legal treatment. 92 percent support research into medical cannabis, and 1 in 5 veterans report using cannabis to treat their medical or physical conditions.
 
Full Article: 
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/how-the-american-legion-became-a-medical-cannabis-advocate

MARK PEDERSEN – My Life As a Colorado Cannabis Caregiver

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I am a medical Cannabis refugee from Missouri.  Based in Colorado, I provide education to patients and caregivers.
As an educator, I have spent the last ten years traveling this nation, interviewing patients who have used Cannabis to effectively treat their chronic or terminal illness.  I have also been a Cannabis patient for the last 20 years.  I require Cannabis to function.  To live.
I began making Cannabis oil, primarily so that I could teach others how to do so.  I knew all too well that Cannabis was medicine, not just in the amazing way it has helped me, but in so many others that I have met.
Prior to my present odyssey, I followed a Missouri man with terminal melanoma for three years, Brian Chitwood. I photographed Cannabis oil applied topically, killing the tumors. My interviews with him are available from my YouTube channel, www.cannabispatientnetwork.org.
 
Full Article: 
http://medicalcannabisjournal.net/2018/02/24/my-life-as-a-colorado-cannabis-caregiver/
 

Study Shows Cannabis Protects the Liver From Alcohol Damage

JOSH KAPLAN

(Savushkin/iStock)
 
We hear a lot about the effects of cannabis on the brain and body, but rarely do we consider its effects when used in combination with other drugs, like alcohol. Studying the health impacts of both alcohol and cannabis on their own is valuable, but it doesn’t always reflect the public’s use patterns. Therefore, it’s important to understand the impact that the combination of alcohol and cannabis has on health outcomes. A recent study took up this challenge by investigating the effect of cannabis consumption on alcoholic liver disease.
 
Full Article: 
https://www.leafly.com/news/health/cannabis-and-alcoholic-liver-disease
 

First European cannabis treatment center is in Croatia

By  
Spa Resort Sveti Martin
Spa Resort Sveti Martin
 
As from the beginning of this April, Croatia will become the home to the first cannabis treatment centre in Europe.
The well-known Croatian wellness resort Terme Sveti Martin (Spa Resort Sveti Martin) in the Međimurje County will be the first destination to introduce the first European Canabio centre, where preparations of medicinal cannabis will be used for regenerative purposes.
Even the most sophisticated European countries did not succeed in this venture, however, this small tourist destination in the continental part of Croatia did.
Preparations for the opening the first European Canabio centre are in full swing, a medicinal team is being teamed up and will be ready to provide scientific-holistic recovery services.
 
Full Article: 
http://www.thedubrovniktimes.com/news/croatia/item/4035-first-european-cannabis-treatment-centre-is-in-croatia

High hopes for hemp harvesters

Michelle Slater
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Gippsland industrial hemp manufacturer Darren Christie with one of hos processing machines. photograph: michelle slater.
 
Gippsland farmers are being encouraged to jump on board a burgeoning local industrial hemp co-operative to be launched in Morwell next month.
The co-op aims to get locals growing what is a sustainable and high-return crop to create building materials and other value-added products in a Morwell factory.
Australian hemp manufacturer Darren Christie said the co-op is teaming with Morwell solar hot water manufacturers Earthworker to look at expanding products, pooling ideas and resources.
“At this factory, we will produce building materials from the farm-gate. It’s about creating local jobs at our processing plant and creating a sustainable product,” he said.
“As a building material, it’s non-toxic and doesn’t rot. Farmers can get good returns on their crops. They don’t need to use pesticides and all parts of the plant are used.”
 
Full Article:
http://www.latrobevalleyexpress.com.au/story/5250270/high-hopes-for-hemp-harvesters/
 

Hemp State Highlight: Nevada enjoying sky-high prices, but can farmers’ luck last?

By Kristen Nichols

 
Far from the flashy marijuana dispensaries in Las Vegas, hemp farms in rural northern and southern Nevada can’t keep up with booming demand for flower for CBD production.
The result is a blazing-hot wholesale market for hemp flower, with growers reporting prices of up to $350 a pound for quality, high-CBD varieties.
That’s almost 10 times what midgrade hemp flower is selling for in Colorado, and it’s prompting a super-heated hemp market.
Can the good times last for this young market?
Nevada growers are taking the gamble, adding acreage and processing equipment and hoping their luck doesn’t run out before hemp growers in states with better water supply and milder temperatures overtake them.
“There’s huge demand, and we can’t keep up,” said Michael Whalen, who is growing 142 acres of hemp near Death Valley, where he gets less than 2 inches of rain a year but has a thriving operation thanks to a hemp cultivar native to arid Afghanistan.
“You can’t import finished flower into Nevada, so even though we’re right by California, the demand is just insane,” said Whalen, who is president of the Nevada Hemp Association.
 
Full Article:
https://mjbizdaily.com/hemp-state-highlight-nevada-enjoying-sky-high-prices-can-farmers-luck-last/