By Associated Press
PHOTO BY BRETT LEVIN
Key portions of Massachusetts’ voter-approved recreational marijuana law were cleared to go into effect after the Governor’s Council on Wednesday certified the results of the Nov. 8 ballot question — though not without some contentious moments.
It will become legal on Thursday for adults 21 and over to possess up to 1 ounce of pot outside their homes and up to 10 ounces of the drug inside their homes. Adults will also be allowed to cultivate as many as a dozen marijuana plants in their homes.
Full Article:
https://cannabisnow.com/tomorrow-10-ounces-cannabis-ma-residents/
Category: Cannabis News Corner
Mexico Senate Votes 98 to 7 to Legalize Medical Cannabis
By Agence French-Presse
Mexico’s Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of legalizing medical marijuana on Tuesday after a national debate on narcotics policy in a country mired in brutal drug violence.
In a major policy shift, President Enrique Pena Nieto proposed legalizing medical marijuana in April after his government organized forums to discuss changes to the laws.
Senators voted 98-7 for the legislation, moving Mexico closer to joining several US states and other nations in Latin America in allowing cannabis for medical uses.
The bill — which now moves to the chamber of deputies — falls short of demands among some lawmakers and civil groups who argue that a wider legalization of marijuana use can help the country reduce drug-related violence.
But proponents said it is a major step that will address Mexicans’ need of an alternative medical treatment.
The bill authorizes the health ministry to design regulations for the use, import and production of pharmaceutical products made from cannabis or marijuana, including tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the plant’s main psychoactive ingredient.
Full Article:
http://thejointblog.com/mexico-senate-votes-98-7-legalize-medical-cannabis/
Chinese Tourists, Businesspeople Load up on Pot During Trips to North Korea
Photo courtesy of Yonhap News
Chinese who visit North Korea on sightseeing or business trips are purchasing marijuana in large quantities in the Rason Special Economic Zone and selling it for a tidy profit back home where it is illegal, sources inside North Korea said.
Because marijuana cultivation is legal in North Korea, selling yeoksam, as it is called in the isolated country, has become an easy way to earn money, they said.
“People in Rason buy the large quantities of buds of yeoksam from residents and pay 30 yuan (U.S. $4.30) per kilogram (2.2 lbs.), and then sell them for 500 yuan (U.S. $72) per kilogram to Chinese people,” a source from North Hamgyong province told RFA’s Korean Service.
“People in Rason buy the large quantities of buds of yeoksam from residents and pay 30 yuan (U.S. $4.30) per kilogram (2.2 lbs.), and then sell them for 500 yuan (U.S. $72) per kilogram to Chinese people,” a source from North Hamgyong province told RFA’s Korean Service.
Participants sought for 2017 industrial hemp pilot program
Nick Nelson, Agweek
Participants are being sought for the second year of North Dakota Department of Agriculture’s industrial hemp pilot program.
“Industrial hemp may only be grown in North Dakota through the North Dakota Department of Agriculture’s pilot program or by institutions of higher education,” North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said. “We are currently seeking applicants wishing to participate in the department’s pilot program for the purposes of agricultural or academic research.”
Full Article:
http://www.agweek.com/crops/4178319-participants-sought-2017-industrial-hemp-pilot-program
Eddy Lepp Donation Campaign
Here is the link to Eddy’s gofundme campaign:
https://www.gofundme.com/reveddylepp
Irish toddler back home after medical cannabis becomes legal
By Lynne Kelleher
Two-year-old Tristan Cahalane flew home at the weekend from a year of treatment for his severe epilepsy in the U.S. after making history by becoming the first person to be legally allowed medical cannabis in Ireland.
The little Cork boy suffers from a rare, severe form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome, which left him coping daily with up to 20 seizures, which could last more than an hour and resulted in him being regularly hospitalised.
He was on nine medications from the age of five months, but now he is down to just two prescription medications and a special strain of cannabis oil medicine which have left him virtually seizure-free.
He was on nine medications from the age of five months, but now he is down to just two prescription medications and a special strain of cannabis oil medicine which have left him virtually seizure-free.
Full Article:
http://www.sundayworld.com/news/irish-toddler-back-home-after-medical-cannabis-becomes-legal
Eddy Lepp free after long prison term
By LISA M. KRIEGER
Free after eight years of federal imprisonment, one of the nation’s most celebrated cannabis convicts is coming home to California on Wednesday afternoon, released from a Colorado prison into a profoundly changed world.
Charles “Eddy” Lepp, a frail but outspoken 64-year-old Vietnam vet and ordained “Rastafarian” minister, was convicted in 2007 in federal court for doing something that the state now calls legal: growing marijuana.
Supporters revere him as a “Pot POW” in the war against drugs, a hero who paid dearly in the fight for rights that many now enjoy.
“He’s free!” cheered supporters, who welcomed him with hugs and cheers in a motor home outside the gates of Florence Correctional Institution. He was then served a hot breakfast of eggs, toast and a pile of fragrant bacon, washed down by a Dr. Pepper soda.
Full Article:
http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/12/07/cannabis-convict-eddy-lepp-free-after-long-prison-term/
Ottawa takes steps to deregulate hemp farming
by
Canadian hemp growers and hemp seed processors have asked the federal government for years to simplify and remove regulations for hemp production. | File photo
The federal government is easing regulations for testing and cultivation of industrial hemp.
Health Canada, in a Notice to Industry document, said it was eliminating testing for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in most varieties of hemp.
As well, growers will no longer have to identify fields for planting of hemp, prior to spring seeding.
In federal government language, the change is an exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
Full Article:
http://www.producer.com/2016/12/ottawa-takes-steps-to-deregulate-hemp-farming-2/
Irish Government passes medicinal cannabis bill without vote
The Dáil (Irish Government) has passed a bill to make cannabis available in Ireland for medicinal use.
The Irish Government had said it would not oppose the legislation.
It aims to legalise and regulate cannabis products used for medical purposes.
People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny, who put the bill forward, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland it would be up to a doctor to decide on its usage.
Full Article:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-38175172
Cambodia – Prospect for a budding industry
Kali Kotoski and Cheng Sokhorng
Cannabis plants grow in the ‘vegetation room’ at a Johnstown’s medical marijuana cultivation facility this year in New York. Drew Angerer/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/Afp
With Cambodia’s traditional cash crops struggling to compete in global supply chains, the Kingdom could carve out a lucrative niche in commercial cannabis harvesting and exports – provided it acts fast to take advantage of the falling legal barriers, a Cambodia-based American innovator has argued.
Jim Plamondon, a former technical evangelist for Microsoft, said cannabis, the flowering plant that produces marijuana, was a potential goldmine for the Kingdom’s agricultural sector, which employs two-thirds of the country’s workforce.
He said US elections earlier this month were a tipping point, with more than half of the 50 US states having now legalised marijuana for medical use, such as treatment of glaucoma, and seven states legalising it for recreational use.
Cannabis legislation by the US federal government is now widely seen as inevitable, he said, which would remove the main barrier to international legislation and trade. And if the US allows marijuana imports, first movers in the market stand to reap billions.
“The key point is that after the November elections in the US, [full legalisation] is inevitable,” Plamondon said yesterday, adding that if the Kingdom acted now, it could build a world-class cannabis supply chain for export in about five years.
Jim Plamondon, a former technical evangelist for Microsoft, said cannabis, the flowering plant that produces marijuana, was a potential goldmine for the Kingdom’s agricultural sector, which employs two-thirds of the country’s workforce.
He said US elections earlier this month were a tipping point, with more than half of the 50 US states having now legalised marijuana for medical use, such as treatment of glaucoma, and seven states legalising it for recreational use.
Cannabis legislation by the US federal government is now widely seen as inevitable, he said, which would remove the main barrier to international legislation and trade. And if the US allows marijuana imports, first movers in the market stand to reap billions.
“The key point is that after the November elections in the US, [full legalisation] is inevitable,” Plamondon said yesterday, adding that if the Kingdom acted now, it could build a world-class cannabis supply chain for export in about five years.
Full Article:
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/prospect-budding-industry