Following the launch of Pennsylvania’s new Industrial Hemp Pilot Research Program earlier this month, state Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding has announced a cost-sharing program for the 2017 growing season that supports projects contributing toward a better understanding of what could be a promising new crop for farmers.
“Hemp has a long history here in Pennsylvania, and we believe it holds a promising future,” Redding said. “If we want to realize this crop’s full potential, though, we need the benefit of sound research.
Under the cost-share program, the department will award $1,000 to successful hemp research program permit recipients to help offset the administrative costs tied to their projects.
 
Full Article:
http://www.lancasterfarming.com/farming/field_crops/pennsylvania-to-assist-in-funding-industrial-hemp-research/article_907c8802-1e6a-5c06-91c9-bd0c9f69e10e.html

BY DEBBIE ARRINGTON darrington@sacbee.com

 
At his midtown hydroponics gardening store, Chris Corsello saw many of his customers face a similar dilemma: They wanted to ask his advice but not tell him what they were growing.
“They’d hem and haw,” Corsello said. “You’d sort of look at them sideways and ask, ‘What kind of plant are we talking about?’ ”
Neither side would say, he said. Confirming the plant was marijuana could have put Corsello and his customer in jeopardy.
Proposition 64 changed that, and a lot more, by making California cannabis gardening and recreational use legal as of Jan. 1.
“Indoor growers can now come out of the closet,” said Corsello, who owns J Street HydroGarden in Sacramento.
 

BY ANTHONY MARTINELLI

 
A bill to explicitly legalize hemp has been pre-filed for the 2017 legislative session in New Hampshire by a group of Republican lawmakers; the measure will be discussed when the legislature reconvenes next month.
Under the proposed law – House Bill 151 – hemp would be removed from the state’s Controlled Drug Act. This would allow it to be treated like any other agricultural commodity. The proposal was filed by State Representatives. Daniel Itse, J.R. Hoell, and James Spillane; it also has the support of Senators Harold French and John Reagan.
 
Full Article: 
https://www.theweedblog.com/republican-lawmakers-prefile-bill-legalize-hemp-new-hampshire/

By Brianna Acuesta

Former police officer and medical marijuana patient, Larry Smith.
(Image: screenshot from Riding With Larry)
 
Former police officer Larry Smith began seeing the effects of the Parkinson’s disease 20 years ago and his health has been declining ever since. After two decades of attempting a variety of treatments and seeing no substantial results, he turned to medical marijuana as a last resort.
In the below videos, documentary filmmakers follow his journey and how he goes about treating his debilitating symptoms for the first time with a substance that is illegal at the federal level in the United States. As his wife put it,
“I do not like the idea of breaking federal law even though it’s the state law. In California, it’s very clear that it’s permissible. I’m still uncomfortable, but…as far as I know we have tried everything, this is the only thing that’s left. We are going to give it a go and see how it goes.”
Despite the legal and moral consequences of such an endeavor, the two agreed to travel to San Diego, CA to obtain a permit for Larry to use marijuana in his treatment. In the first video, he speaks with a doctor who is able to provide a medical marijuana card and allow Larry to purchase the treatment. When the doctor asks Larry how he’s been feeling lately, Larry responds by saying,
“My symptoms are a great deal more obvious than ever before, and the pain is a little sharper.”
As you can see, Larry suffers greatly from dyskinesia, which is a category of movement by involuntary muscle movements, and has trouble walking and speaking. His wife said that he has so much trouble with walking that he now takes 20 pills everyday. The medication he takes costs upwards of $3,000, but when he arrives at a medical marijuana dispensary, he pays only $40 for his first dosage of marijuana buds.
 
Full Article with Videos: 
https://www.mintpressnews.com/former-cop-shocked-after-treating-parkinsons-symptoms-with-cannabis/223572/

BY Ephrat Livni

Mexico’s president is pro herbal medicine. (Reuters/Edgard Garrido)
 
It’s impossible not to notice what the neighbors are doing when you’re as close as Mexico and California. Over the past two decades, the latter has increasingly embraced marijuana legalization, from the authorization of medical pot in 1996 to a vote last month that legalized marijuana for recreational use. Now Mexico is starting to follow suit.
On Dec. 13, Mexican senators overwhelmingly voted (98-7) to legalize medicinal marijuana, eight months after president Peña Nieto proposed a review of national drug policy. The bill must now pass Mexico’s lower Chamber of Deputies, but is already being heralded by lawmakers: Senator Cristina Diaz called it an important first step in laying the foundation for a national medical marijuana industry. It’s also a logical stop on the path to full legalization, which cannabis advocates say would quell gang activity that has plagued Mexico for years.
There was consensus to “do something different in drug policy,” said Senator Angelica de la Pena Gomez, because prohibition “has generated high levels of violence, more than 100,000 deaths and the systematic violation of human rights.”
 
Full Article: 
http://qz.com/874497/mexico-is-moving-toward-medical-marijuana-legalization-along-with-us-states/

BY JON HILTZ

 
There will soon be two ways to get high at Edmonton International Airport. For one, you’ll need a boarding pass and for the other, a prescription.
Aurora Cannabis Inc., one of Canada’s 36 licensed producers of quality marijuana, just announced a new 800,000 square foot facility to cultivate cannabis at the Edmonton Airport. This massive grow-op will be called “Aurora Sky” and is currently under construction.
The positioning of this new space was carefully considered for its various competitive advantages. Those benefits include access to a reliable low-cost power source and the ability to cozy up to international customs authorities when needed for importing and exporting equipment, supplies, and of course the ganja itself.
 
There will soon be two ways to get high at Edmonton International Airport. For one, you’ll need a boarding pass and for the other, a prescription.
Aurora Cannabis Inc., one of Canada’s 36 licensed producers of quality marijuana, just announced a new 800,000 square foot facility to cultivate cannabis at the Edmonton Airport. This massive grow-op will be called “Aurora Sky” and is currently under construction.
The positioning of this new space was carefully considered for its various competitive advantages. Those benefits include access to a reliable low-cost power source and the ability to cozy up to international customs authorities when needed for importing and exporting equipment, supplies, and of course the ganja itself.
 
Full Article: 
http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/2016/12/worlds-most-advanced-cannabis-facility-under-construction-in-canada/
 

By Associated Press

 
Full Article: 
http://www.agweb.com/article/early-grades-for-growing-hemp-in-north-dakota-look-promising-naa-associated-press/

Entrepreneur.com

Image credit: John Greim | Getty Images
 
With a $3 million grant from Australian philanthropists Barry and Joy Lambert, Thomas Jefferson University has established a new medical center for cannabis education and research. The new facility, officially named The Lambert Center for the Study of Medicinal Cannabis and Hemp, will become the first such medical research center in the United States, according to information released by the university.
 
Full Article: 
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/287045?utm_source=HearstNewspapers&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=syndication

 
As marijuana legalization expands throughout the United States, marijuana use by teens has either remained stable or decreased, according to the latest results of an annual survey from the National Institutes of Health.
 
Full Article: 
http://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/article/122716-study-teen-use-marijuana-declining/