By The Associated Press

 
The latest developments in Ohio’s general election as voters decide issues including whether to legalize marijuana (all times EST):

Ballot details

Issue 3: The proposed constitutional amendment would allow adults 21 and older to grow, possess and use pot while making it available for medical use. Home-growers would be limited to four flowering marijuana plants and 8 ounces of usable marijuana at a given time for personal use. Pot sold commercially would have to come from 10 authorized growing sites that are already spoken for.
Issue 2: An initiative by state legislators that seeks to ban monopolies from Ohio’s constitution and specifically targets the designated commercial growing sites in Issue 3.
If both ballot questions are approved by Ohio voters, a court will likely decide the issue.
 
Full Article:
http://www.thecannabist.co/2015/11/03/exit-polling-ohio-voters-marijuana-legalization/43219/

John Converse Townsend

 
Cotton. You love it, I love it, but Mother Nature freakin’ hates it.
About 20 million tons of cotton are produced each and every year, making it far and away the world’s most profitable non-food crop. But it’s resource intensive in a big way.
It takes about 20,000 liters of water to produce just one kilogram of cotton. To put that in perspective: The average American drinks about 214 liters of water per year, which means you’d have to live into your early 90s to consume as much water as a single T-shirt or pair of jeans. There’s also the issue of chemicals. A combined 35 percent of the world’s insecticides and pesticides is applied to cotton plants, which grow on less than 3 percent of the crop land on Earth. Runoff can destroy sensitive ecosystems, even if chemicals are “properly applied according to technical instructions.”
Fashion’s dependence on cotton has led to a monocropping problem in India, the world’s second-largest producer of cotton, behind China, and one of the worst environmental offenders in the apparel industry.
But a quick fix might be found in the non-psychoactive plant in the cannabis family, hemp.
 
Full Article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-converse-townsend/goodbye-cotton-hello-hemp_b_8401262.html

By Phillip Smith / AlterNet

Taking advantage of a 2014 Justice Department memo giving Indian tribes a green light to participate in marijuana commerce, as well as a 2014 congressional vote allowing for industrial hemp pilot programs, Wisconsin’s Menominee Tribe earlier this year planted some 30,000 cannabis plants as part of a pilot project with the College of the Menominee Nation.

The DEA says the plants were marijuana plants; the tribe says they were hemp plants. In either case, tribal officials and marijuana reform advocates don’t understand why the grow was raided. Even if it were marijuana, it appears to be an operation well within Justice Department guidelines. And that’s leading to some pointed questions about whether the feds have one standard for the pot-legal states and another for the tribes.
 
Full Article:
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/dea-indian-country-marijuana-raid-double-standard

Special Appearance by: Tommy Chong and Main Stage Host: Medicinal Mike
 
Legendary comedian, actor, musician and cannabis crusader Tommy Chong will have a special appearance at the second annual Las Vegas HEMPFEST and Educational Expo on October 3, 2015. The event takes place at the Las Vegas Convention Center with entertainment, vendors and education seminars produced by Freedom Leaf, Inc. (OTC PINK: FRLF). Tens of thousands of visitors are expected to attend.
The first event in 2014 saw more than 10,000 people come through the gates. Las Vegas HEMPFEST http://www.lasvegashempfest.com is an officially licensed partner with America’s largest marijuana festival, the Seattle HEMPFEST, which has supported the Cannabis/Hemp legalization movement for 25 years.
Medical marijuana dispensaries are now open in Nevada. An effort is underway for full legalization in 2016. This event is to celebrate progress.
As Educational Seminar Producer of the Las Vegas HEMPFEST, Freedom Leaf, Inc. (OTC PINK: FRLF) has engaged NORML www.norml.org to work with Freedom Leaf and “Ask Nurse Juhlzie” asknursejuhlzie.com to introduce to this year’s event an education element that will attract those in the Cannabis/Hemp Industry including entrepreneurs, investors, manufacturers/wholesalers, lawyers, doctors, nurses, other medical personnel, and the media.
Las Vegas HEMPFEST is donating a portion of all ticket sales to NORML. This is to honor the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws for its 45 years of dedication to legalization.
“We are honored to be a partner for this event in our hometown,” said Freedom Leaf CEO Cliff Perry. “This is a time for celebration and education as we get closer to the real goal of full legalization.”
The outdoor portion of Las Vegas HEMPFEST 2015 will cover 600,000 square feet (across from the Las Vegas Convention Center) with 2 stages of live music, speeches from activists and the Cannabis Progress Awards.
The Vendor Village will host hundreds of businesses including food, hemp clothing and products, literature and education booths, high quality glassware, vaporizer products, hemp skateboards, hemp guitars, trim and nutrient companies, the 420 Carnival with rides, a Miss Hempfest contest and cannabis cultivation exhibits.
Music performances will include: STAGE HOSTED BY MTV WILD & OUT SPANKY & MEDICINAL MIKE, Musical Headliners: ISRAEL VIBRATION, AFROMAN, KOTTON MOUTH KINGS, MARLON ASHER, WEST SIDE CONNECTION WC, CHANEL WEST COAST, NATURAL VIBRATIONS, WU TANG CLAN MEMBERS, NEW AGE TRIBE, DIZZY WRIGHT DJ FAME, JACKAL/PHOENIX and many more.
The indoor portion will be in the Las Vegas Convention Center Conference Rooms N262/N264 and will feature panels of cannabis industry experts, advocates and celebrities along with the first of its kind Medical Cannabis Educational Lectures by National Nurses from across the nation.
Panel themes include a general session on the state of marijuana reform in America, Legal Issues for the Cannabis Industry and Business Perspectives, Veterans and Medical Marijuana, Cannabis Growing Techniques and Extract Artistry. Viridian Capital Advisors, LLC (www.viridianca.com) will provide a financial session that explains the investment atmosphere of the Cannabis/Hemp Industry.
Speaking on main stage and on panels at Las Vegas HEMPFEST 2015: Nevada State Senator Tick Segerblom; Keith Stroup, founder of National NORML; Richard Cowan, co-founder of Freedom Leaf and cannabis entrepreneur; Yoshi the award winning cultivator; Kyle Kushman, author and expert cannabis cultivator; Chris Lopez; Jerry Whiting, a world known CBD expert; Robert Platshorn of the Silver Tour; Bruce Perlowin, CEO of HEMP, Inc.; Lynette Shaw, a pioneering medical marijuana dispensary owner; Cynthia Schindel Engstrom from Arizona NORML; and legal experts from PeterMcWilliams.org and Ken Sobel Esq. who are leading the way.
Expert Nursing Panel, sponsored by Ask Nurse Juhlzie, Medical Cannalyst and The American Cannabis Nurses Association (ACNA), are conducting a series of lectures on the role of nurses in the Cannabis Industry and the science behind the plant. This will include modules from National Nursing experts, Heather Manus RN, Julie Monteiro RN, Marcie Cooper RN, and Lisa Buchanan RN, to name a few, who are soon to be launching the first ever Cannabis Nurses Magazine, a national platform to present news on the latest in Cannabis Nursing.
The private VIP back stage party will be full of celebrities, performing artists, live DJs, Hemp Flavored Vodka Bar provided by sponsor Elation, a video game arcade, and a Hookah lounge.
General admission ticket prices are $45 in advance and $50 at the door on the day of show. VIP passes are $250.00 each and include back stage party along with VIP after-party.
 
Full Article:
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/1217447.htm

by Darren Handschuh

Photo: Contributed

Dogs are eating up a new product from a North Okanagan company – literally.
 
True Leaf of Vernon, is marketing a line of hemp-based doggie chews that, the company says, offers a variety of benefits to the family dog.
Called True Love, True Spirit and True Calm chews, the company says the treats supply dogs with natural antioxidants and address joint pain and anxiety. The product attracted significant interest from collectives, pet stores and dog lovers at two recent trade shows and appears ready to fill a niche in the fast-growing “functional chew” category. The local brand will be for sale in stores by late October.
 
Full Article:
http://www.castanet.net/news/Vernon/148638/Hemp-products-help-dogs

Alibi Pierce

 
A marijuana user is being arrested every minute–more than a dozen will be taken to jail as I type this piece. This according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation which today released its annual Uniform Crime Reportaggregating law enforcement data and tallying the nation’s crimes and arrests in 2014. While murders, robberies, and burglaries dropped considerably, authorities across the country still apparently have an uncontrollable urge to arrest and prosecute nonviolent drug offenders.
 
Full Article:
http://marijuanapolitics.com/fbi-america-is-arresting-one-marijuana-user-every-minute/

by Carlos E. Castañeda

 
Victims of the Valley Fire and Butte Fireare being offered free cannabis products if they have current prescriptions for medical marijuana.
Healdsburg-based Care By Design and AbsoluteXtracts, makers of marijuana-related products such as cannabis oils, sprays and vaporizing cartridges, announced the companies are donating $20,000 to patients who lost access to their medicine because of the fires.
 
Full Article:
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/09/29/free-cannabis-valley-butte-fire-victims/

Katy Osborn
Jay Pickthorn— APIn this Sept. 24, 2015 photo, marijuana plants grow in the new germinating facility on the Flandreau Santee Sioux Reservation in Flandreau, S.D.
 

Talk about high profits.

Full Article:

http://time.com/money/4054120/marijuana-resort/
 

 
Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer told a gathering in Lexington that industrial hemp is poised for exponential growth, with thousands of jobs from field work to possessing to sales expected to follow.
“We’re going to be making things that range from parts in the automotive industry to parts in the construction industry to pharmaceuticals,” Comer said Monday in a speech at the sold out three-day conference sponsored by the Hemp Industries Association. “[Kentucky] is going to be the epicenter of industrial hemp production in America.”
– See more at: http://bizlex.com/2015/09/comer-tells-hemp-backers-kentucky-will-be-epicenter-of-industrial-production-processing/#sthash.qODRqdY5.dpuf
 
Full Article:
http://bizlex.com/2015/09/comer-tells-hemp-backers-kentucky-will-be-epicenter-of-industrial-production-processing/

BY LINDSEY BARTLETT

 
Puff, Pass, and Paint, a private, cannabis-meets-cocktails-and-canvas class offered every weekend in Denver, often welcomes colorful guests. This Saturday, comedians Margaret Cho and Kevin Pereira joined in the fun while filming an episode of the new TruTV show I’m So Into that highlights — you guessed it— marijuana.
Comic Cho has done plenty of TV, from her guest contributions on Fashion Police to playing Kim Jong-Il on30 Rock; PysCho, her standup tour, came to Denver earlier in the year. Pereira has a cult following of his own, hosting one of the original gaming podcasts, Pointless Audio, under the pseudonym Captain Immy; he’s best known for his time spent as one of the hosts of G4’s Attack of the Show.
 
Full Article:
http://www.westword.com/arts/smoking-weed-and-painting-with-margaret-cho-and-kevin-pereira-7190539