By Adam Kincaid / For the AJC
Janea Cox, her husband Brian, their 7-year-old daughter Haleigh and their chocolate Lab Kala left their Forsyth home in December 2016 for their semi-annual trip to Colorado. They flew into Denver and made their way toward Colorado Springs in a rental car, squeezing the three of them, a wheelchair and the dog into the small, four-door sedan. A handicap-equipped van would have been better, but the economy ride was what they could afford.
The family checked into a budget hotel and went to sleep; not that they ever sleep well, or for very long. Young Haleigh was up through the night, as usual. She has epilepsy so severe she requires constant oversight. For most of her life, her young brain hasn’t been seizure-free long enough to develop normally. So she gets around in a wheelchair, receives nourishment through a feeding tube and is barely able to communicate. Haleigh is a prisoner in her own body.
She also has type one diabetes. Kala is a service dog specially trained to check blood sugar levels by smell and alert handlers of spikes — to do what Haleigh cannot do for herself, to speak out when she needs help.
These family trips are not fun. They stretch the Coxes to their financial limit. And they take everything Janea and Brian have just to get to the offices of the Flowering Hope Foundation, where botanist Jason Cranford dispenses his specially formulated cannabis oil, Haleigh’s Hope, named after his special client. Janea believes it is the only thing that has kept her daughter alive.
Full Article:
http://www.myajc.com/lifestyles/haleigh-hope/zQktGMyUAaozLeTp79YMKP/
Category: Cannabis News Corner
Cork Mum’s second epic walk to access cannabis for her sick child
Cork mum Vera Twomey has embarked on a second 155 mile walk from Cork to Dublin in a bid to get Health Minister Simon Harris to allow her daughter access medicinal cannabis.
Vera’s seven-year-old daughter Ava Barry has a drug-resistant form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome which can cause her to have up to twenty seizures a day. The heartbroken mum-of-four, from Aghabullogue, has led a high-profile campaign for legislation that will allow Ava to get a prescription for medicinal marijuana, which she says will reduce her daughter’s seizures by ninety percent.
Speaking to HerFamily this morning Vera said that she is still awaiting a response from the Health Minister,
“I’m just outside Mitchelstown at the moment, it’s very wet and miserable. We haven’t heard anything from Simon Harris or the HSE.
I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t have to. I have four children and I’ve had to walk out on them. Ava is seven, Sophia is five, Michael is four, and my youngest Elvera-Mae is only two.
No mother should have to leave their family to get legislative change but there has been no justice for my child.”
Full Article:
https://www.herfamily.ie/news/cork-mums-second-epic-walk-access-cannabis-sick-child-252187
Senator Tick Segerblom Wants Cannabis Stores in Las Vegas by Summer
ED MURRIETA
Nevada voters passed adult-use legalization back in November. According to Question 2, the state’s retail market doesn’t have to open until 2018. But state Sen. Tick Segerblom (D-Las Vegas) wants to speed up the process. Earlier this week he introduced measures that would open up the state’s retail market by mid-2017, and allow the licensing of cannabis lounges. If Segerblom’s legislation prevails, what’s happened in Amsterdam for the past 50 years will become the future of cannabis tourism in Las Vegas and across the Silver State into the 21st century.
Full Article:
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/tick-segerblom-wants-cannabis-stores-las-vegas-summer
Encourage Your Members of Congress to Join the Congressional Cannabis Caucus
By Johnny Green
Will you support the first ever Congressional Cannabis Caucus?
Last year was the biggest year in the history of cannabis reform. The 2016 Election victories brought the total number of legal adult-use states to 8 (and Washington D.C.).
The total number of states that have legalized cannabis for medical purposes is now up to 28 (and Washington D.C.) according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
According to Vote Hemp, 31 states have legalized hemp pilot programs and/or for research purposes. The momentum for reform has never been greater.
But there are still a lot of issues facing consumers and industry members today, despite recent victories. Cannabis consumers still face discrimination in the workplace and when looking for housing.
People are still sitting in prison for cannabis only offenses. The cannabis industry still desperately needs 280E tax reform, asset forfeiture reform, and adequate access to banking.
Reform at the federal level is going to be vital to the future of the cannabis movement, which is not going to be easy given the fact that the current Congress is controlled by conservatives, and the White House is full of longtime cannabis opponents. But there is help on the way.
Roughly two months ago news broke that members of Congress would be banding together to create the first ever ‘Congressional Cannabis Caucus.’
Full Article:
https://www.learngreenflower.com/articles/378/encourage-your-members-of-congress-to-join-the-congressional-cannabis-caucus
Gov. Kate Brown to Trump: Hands off Oregon legal pot biz
Andrew Selsky, Associated Press , KGW
(Photo: Josh Edelson / AFP / Getty Images)
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown says the federal government should leave the state’s legal marijuana industry alone. Brown says that if the Trump administration makes a move against legalized recreational marijuana, it would be going against its own goals such as improving the economy, creating jobs and giving states more say in policies.
In an interview, Brown said, “Let our people grow these jobs.”
Full Article:
http://www.kgw.com/news/politics/gov-kate-brown-to-trump-hands-off-oregon-legal-pot-biz/417099989
Pacific Gas and Electric Says Cannabis Growers Are Now Eligible For Agricultural Rates
Even though recreational marijuana can’t be sold in California until 2018 PG&E is now allowing current farmers growing cannabis for medical purposes and future recreational marijuana growers to qualify for agricultural energy rates. Denny Boyles with PG&E says that means cannabis will be treated just like other farm products like almonds and tomatoes.
“So when the law changed in California to allow the growth of cannabis we took a look at that and the decision was made to add them as customers eligible.”
Full Article:
http://kvpr.org/post/pge-says-cannabis-growers-are-now-eligible-agricultural-rates
Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman says she will defend the state’s Constitution and cannabis laws
By JESSE PAUL
Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post – Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman at the State Supreme Court Chambers at the Colorado State Judicial Building in Denver on Oct. 22, 2015.
Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman said she has invited U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions — a vocal marijuana opponent — and his staff to come and see the state’s recreational pot industry.
Coffman told The Denver Post that the invitation was extended during a meeting Wednesday morning in Washington with Sessions’ top staffers.
“I had a meeting there this morning and told them that I thought it was important to come to the states that have legalized marijuana, particularly Colorado since we have the longest history, and to see what we have done,” Coffman said. “They indicated an interest in doing that.”
Coffman told The Denver Post that the invitation was extended during a meeting Wednesday morning in Washington with Sessions’ top staffers.
“I had a meeting there this morning and told them that I thought it was important to come to the states that have legalized marijuana, particularly Colorado since we have the longest history, and to see what we have done,” Coffman said. “They indicated an interest in doing that.”
Full Article:
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/03/01/jeff-sessions-staff-invited-colorado-recreational-marijuana-system/
Washington – Olympia Senior Citizen Building First Hemp Insulated Tiny House
Pat Rasmussen, a senior citizen in Olympia, is building the first tiny house that uses hemp as insulation. Photo courtesy: Pat Rasmussen.
Senior citizen Pat Rasmussen is building the first industrial hemp insulated tiny house on a trailer in Washington State. Right here in Olympia, Pat is showing other seniors how they can build their own secure, warm, comfortable green home on a small budget.
Many seniors like Pat live on $800 or less a month social security. At age 70, they deserve a secure, warm home.
Natural hemp insulation with energy efficient design means no heating is required. Solar panels mean no electricity bills. Solar water heating provides hot water. The tiny house sits on a trailer designed for tiny houses so it can be moved when needed.
Full Article:
http://www.thurstontalk.com/2017/03/01/hemp-insulation-tiny-house/
Congressman Tom Garrett seeks to legalize marijuana
The congressman who represents most of Fauquier County on Monday introduced legislation that would decriminalize marijuana possession nationwide.
“I have long believed justice that isn’t blind, isn’t justice,” freshman Rep. Tom Garrett (R-Va./5th) said of his bill. “Statistics indicate that minor narcotics crimes disproportionately hurt areas of lower socio-economic status and what I find most troubling is that we continue to keep laws on the books that we do not enforce.
“Virginia is more than capable of handling its own marijuana policy, as are states such as Colorado or California.”
Full Article:
http://www.fauquiernow.com/index.php/fauquier_news/article/fauquier-congressman-garrett-seeks-to-legalize-marijuana-2017
Ag Commissioner Sees Opportunity in Hemp, Forestry
By ASHTON MARRA
Each legislative session, the state’s Constitutional Officers, or the heads of government offices who are elected by the people, bring their priorities to lawmakers and ask for support for various legislative changes.
This year, newly elected Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt is hoping to change the structure of government, expand a growing program that’s been controversial in some parts of the country, and incentivize the purchasing of West Virginia-grown products.
This year, newly elected Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt is hoping to change the structure of government, expand a growing program that’s been controversial in some parts of the country, and incentivize the purchasing of West Virginia-grown products.
Full Article:
http://wvpublic.org/post/ag-commissioner-sees-opportunity-hemp-forestry#stream/0