Friday morning at 9 AM, September 18th, 2015, prominent medical marijuana defense attorney, William McPike, opened the door of his residence to find a dozen uniformed Madera Deputy sheriffs with Sgt Larry Rich brandishing a search warrant, who had just gotten out of a white unmarked vehicle and demanding access to McPike’s home.
According to Mr. McPike who was present at the time when Sgt Larry Rich, with no warrant, unchained the gate earlier in the week and drove his in unmarked car onto the property to conduct what he described as a compliance check on the private collective garden, according to McPike.
According to McPike, he provided his California state ID card and California Department of Health medical marijuana card and corresponding paperwork acknowledging his status and the other collective members as medical marijuana patients and membership in a private collective.
The main member is an amputee and a Director of a Veteran’s non-profit charity involving service dogs. She has a doctor’s recommendation, which has an allowance of cultivation of up to 500 plants.
 
Full Article:
http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/prominent-medical-marijuana-defense-attorney-william-mcpikes-home-gets-raided-by-sheriffs-department-627166.htm#.VgbaowPha14.facebook

ROGER HANSON Mercury

Primary Industries Minister and Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff inspecting an industrial hemp crop at Kindred, near Devonport.
 

NEW laws to make it easier to grow industrial hemp have been hailed as a huge opportunity for Tasmanian farmers.

Primary Industries Minister Jeremy Rockliff said the Industrial Hemp Bill 2015, tabled in State Parliament today, would remove unnecessary red tape to encourage investment and create jobs.
The Bill supports the growth of the industrial hemp sector through simplified regulation of the industry.

As it stands, the existing regulation under poisons legislation is a barrier to industry growth.
“This Government has listened to the concerns of the industry,” Mr Rockliff said.
“This Bill will finally cut the unnecessary red tape and recognise industrial hemp is an agricultural crop, while not compromising law enforcement of illicit cannabis.”
The Bill will:

Establish robust and simple regulation, including streamlining the licensing under the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment rather than under the Poisons Act and Department of Health and Human Services;
Legislate to extend licencing from one year to five years to give farmers more certainty to grow the crop; and
Increase the allowable THC threshold from 0.35 per cent to 1.0 per cent to bring the state in line with New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT and allow for easier trade of material.
 
Full Article:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/new-laws-hailed-as-huge-boost-for-tasmanian-hemp-growers/story-fnjj6010-1227538236890

Marijuana Politics Staff

 
The Drug War has been a failed disaster by any measure, destroying lives and bankrupting budgets across our great nation. The mass incarceration of nonviolent people for drugs has been a tragic epidemic that has disproportionately hurt people of color and citizens living in poverty. For far too long, politicians scored political points for being “tough on crime” and filling up prison cells. Filling up these prison cells became big business as private prisons became a powerful lobbying group working to continue failed Drug War policies, such as mandatory minimum sentences.
Fortunately, the need to reform our prison-industrial complex has become a moderate political position that candidates across political ideologies have begun to address. Bernie Sanders, who has surged in national and state polls against Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, has stepped out first with an important bill that seeks to end the private prison racket.
 
Full Article:
http://marijuanapolitics.com/bernie-sanders-seeks-to-end-the-private-prison-racket/

Alison Morrow

(Photo: KING)
 
Permits to build a house out of hemp don’t exist, but that isn’t stopping a Bellingham woman from building two hemp houses.
“This is what we call hemp herd,” Pam Bosch said. “It’s like straw only it’s stronger.”
Bosch hasn’t ever built a home before. She’s using lime mixed with hemp to create plaster.
“Anybody can do this,” she laughed. “Grandma can do it. Grandma’s doing it.”
 
Full Article:
http://www.king5.com/story/tech/science/environment/2015/09/18/tiny-hemp-house-bellingham/72431564/

by Rick Thompson

photo caption: Kevin Spitler of the Toledo Hemp Center: photo by Rick Thompson/The Compassion Chronicles
 
During a city-wide vote on Tuesday September 15, 70% of Toledoans said YES to removing all criminal penalties for possession of under 200 grams of marijuana and reducing penalties for larger possession offenses.
The ordinance “eliminate fines and jail time for marijuana violations and lowers all marijuana crimes in the Toledo Municipal Code to lowest level allowed under state law… The measure would also prohibit asset forfeitures and driver’s license suspensions for marijuana violations and forbid reporting of convictions to professional licensing agencies when the the offense is prosecuted under the Toledo Municipal Code and not the Ohio Revised Code,” per a report in the Toledo Blade newspaper.
 
Full Article:
http://thecompassionchronicles.com/2015/09/16/toledo-votes-yes-to-decriminalize-marijuana-by-70-margin/
 

 
She lost everything.
 
Here is the gofundme link:
https://www.gofundme.com/ku4394pw

Erica Quinlan, Field Editor

 
Full Article:
http://agrinews-pubs.com/Content/News/MoneyNews/Article/Purdue-hosts-first-hemp-field-day-/8/27/13243

by KATE ROGERS

 
If there was any doubt about the national momentum on legalized marijuana use in America, consider this. There will be a medicinal marijuana dispensary right off New York City’s Union Square come January 2016.
 
Full Article:
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/first-nyc-medical-marijuana-dispensary-open-january-n425681

LEO LUTERO

 
Freitag has developed an alternative denim fabric that causes less harm to the environment and can be decomposed after use. Freitag’s F-ABRIC is a radical change from the resource-hungry way denim is produced today.
Color and texture-wise, the F-ABRIC Denim doesn’t look far from the regular cotton ones. The blue is still rich, the ridges are still there and the sturdiness is present. However, instead of using cotton fibers, Freitag uses a line (81%) and hemp (19%) blend.
 
Full Article:
http://www.psfk.com/2015/09/compostable-jeans-freitag-f-abric-denim.html

Julius Melnitzer

 
The Canada Revenue Agency has confirmed that it will allow the costs of medical marijuana purchased from a licensed producer as a medical expense despite the fact that the Income Tax Act does not as yet recognize the enabling legislation.
 
Full Article:
http://business.financialpost.com/legal-post/cra-says-you-can-claim-medical-marijuana-on-your-taxes