By Gabrielle Fonrouge

Shutterstock
 
 
They are the city’s new pot-smoking professionals — ganja-puffing teachers, TV execs and businessmen who go about their daily routines while under the influence, thanks to the drug’s decriminalization.
“I started realizing a lot of my family smokes weed, and they’re all very successful adults,” said “Jake,” a 29-year-old TV writer in Midtown and small-business owner who regularly tokes up.
“So I was like, ‘Hey, maybe weed’s not too bad.’
“I feel a lot more comfortable being a smoker now that it’s less enforced.”
 
Full Article: 
http://nypost.com/2017/02/07/professionals-have-become-the-citys-new-potheads/

Industral hemp, Alburgh, VT
 
During 2016, our Northwest Crops and Soils Program began researching industrial hemp. Hemp is a non-psychoactive variety of cannabis sativa L. The crop is one of historical importance in the U.S. and is re-emerging as manufacturers seek it as a sustainable resource for a wide array of food and fiber products.
 
Full Article: 
http://blog.uvm.edu/outcropn/2017/02/07/our-first-year-growing-industrial-hemp/
 

by Maxwell Williams

 
Cannabis has a funny way of monopolizing words. Ask anyone who has tried to describe a musty room as “dank” or wanted to cook in a “pot” only to hear stifled giggles. Get your mind out of the bong, Shaggy. Those words have other meanings.
The term “edible” is one of those words. The dictionary says it means “able to be eaten” (and you could make the argument that Edible Arrangements, the fruit bouquet company, tried to claim dibs on the word association), but—more than anything—it has come to mean dank pot cooked into a delightful treat.
 
Full Article: 
https://food.good.is/articles/future-edibles-bright

by Kristen Powers, Eyewitness News

 
A hemp and cannabis fair took place at the Kern County Fairgrounds on Saturday and Sunday.
The Oregon-based Hemp and Cannabis Fair brought in over 2,000 people. This was the first time the fair came to California.
“The people who come through the door have just been so excited that there is anything like this where they can come and explore,” said Naomi Forkash, the fair’s director.
 
Full Article: 
http://bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/hemp-and-cannabis-fair-attracts-thousands-of-people

By Gayle Guyardo

 
Some doctors believe medical marijuana could be an effective treatment for children with Autism.
The drug treatment is non-euphoric, or would contain low THC levels,  so kids wouldn’t get high.
 
Full Article: 
http://wfla.com/2017/02/06/some-doctors-think-medical-marijuana-could-be-an-effective-autism-treatment/

ZUSHA ELINSON

A cannabis hybrid, Willits Gold x Grapefruit Kush, growing on Justin Calvino’s farm in the Emerald Triangle of Northern California. PHOTO: BRETT CANADY
 
Justin Calvino maneuvered his mud-spattered black Ford truck away from crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean and into the piney hills of what he hopes will become “the Bordeaux of cannabis.”
The cool, marine air that blankets the Mendocino coast gives the marijuana grown here a distinctive “fresh, earthy taste” he said as he gunned the V8 turbo diesel engine.
“If you’re growing a Coffee Kush, you can almost taste the moss and the sea,” said Mr. Calvino, a 37-year-old marijuana farmer who lives here with his wife and seven children.
With recreational pot becoming legal in the state in November—though it is still illegal under federal law—growers in the Emerald Triangle, a remote portion of Northern California known for its prolific cannabis crops, are trying to model themselves after the wine industry, which places great worth on provenance.
State officials said they would set up a governmental body to decide whether certain parts of California deserve their own exclusive appellations for cannabis, like Champagne and Bordeaux wine in France, or Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon just down the road.
 
Full Article: 
https://www.wsj.com/articles/mendocinos-most-promising-varietal-cannabis-with-notes-of-lavender-and-gas-1486321479

By The Associated Press

LSU is seeking contractors to grow medical marijuana at an indoor facility near its Baton Rouge campus (G. Andrew Boyd, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
 
LSU will begin taking offers from contractors to produce marijuana for the state for medical purposes.
The marijuana-growing operation is estimated to cost $10 million and will be paid for by the contractor.
LSU professor Ted Gauthier tells WBRZ-TV there’s been much interest from people in and out of state. He says he expects there will be about 10 finalists to choose from.
 
Full Article: 
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2017/02/lsu_to_look_for_medical_mariju.html

by Robert Arnason

 
After a year of reduced production, hempseed acres are poised to jump substantially this spring.
Companies that contract hemp production and industry reps expect seeded acres to top 150,000, which could set a new record.
 
Full Article: 
http://www.producer.com/2017/02/manitoba-hemp-processor-doubles-contracts/

CYNTHIA SWEENEY

 
After about a year of discussions with a medical cannabis education organization, Sonoma State University will finally be offering its first course in medical cannabis in March.
 
Full Article: 
http://www.sonomanews.com/news/6624281-181/sonoma-state-university-to-offer?artslide=0

First undergraduate course in Physiology of Cannabis offered this spring at UC Davis. Courses for medical students and the general public are also planned.
 
A new undergraduate course on “Physiology of Cannabis” (HPH 115) will be offered at UC Davis this spring to raise awareness and understanding of how cannabis and cannabinoids affect the body.

First undergraduate course in Physiology of Cannabis offered this spring at UC Davis. Courses for medical students and the general public are also planned.

Designed for students in the biological sciences, the three-unit course will cover the biology of cannabis and cannabinoids as well as their physiological effects in multiple systems, underlying mechanisms and therapeutic values. It also will survey the history of cannabis use, cover the endocannabinoid system and discuss potential medical targets for cannabis and their relative effectiveness.
 
Full Article: 
http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/publish/news/newsroom/11772