Jon Mitchell

Today Japan has some of the strictest anti-cannabis laws in the world.
Punishment for possession is a maximum 5 years behind bars and illicit growers face 7-year sentences. Annually around 2000 people fall foul of these laws – their names splashed on the nightly news and their careers ruined forever. The same prohibition that dishes out these punishments also bans research into medical marijuana, forcing Japanese scientists overseas to conduct their studies.
For decades, these laws have stood unchallenged. But now increasing numbers of Japanese people are speaking out against prohibition – and at the heart of their campaign is an attempt to teach the public about Japan’s long-forgotten history of cannabis.
 
Full Article:
http://japanfocus.org/-Jon-Mitchell/4231
 

 
Potential employers won’t be able to test applicants for marijuana in the District of Columbia until after they’ve made a conditional job offer under a bill approved by the D.C. Council.
 
Full Article:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/DC-bans-pot-testing-of-job-applicants-5932890.php

John R. Roby, jroby@pressconnects.com | @PSBJRoby

 
“Go into any health food store, and there’s usually a whole section of hemp products: Hemp shampoo, hemp beer, hemp clothing,” she said. “The newest discovery is the food angle.”
Hemp is grown for its fibers, which are made into textiles and building materials, and its seeds, which are made into food and fuel oils and meal. Most hemp products are imported from Canada, one of 30 exporting countries.
In 2011, more than $11 million of hemp products were imported into the United States, a number that had doubled in five years, according to the Agricultural Marketing Research Center (AMRC) at Iowa State University. That figure is itself in dispute. A 2014 report by the Congressional Research Service, “Hemp as an Agricultural Commodity,” estimates the value of imports at $37 million.
 
Full Article:
http://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/2014/12/03/new-york-hemp/19847349/

By THE WASHINGTON POST

 
Arguing that medical marijuana might help wounded warriors with anxiety and stress disorders to “survive and thrive,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., have introduced legislation that would allow Department of Veterans Affairs’ doctors to recommend the drug for some patients.
 
Full Article:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/new-bill-would-allow-the-va-to-recommend-medical-marijuana/article_6ce3f13f-28d7-5084-8ebf-7c9d70a74fa9.html

By Eileen Shim
 

 

In the past week, Amsterdam has undertaken a citywide campaign to inform people about the white heroin on the market — and to reassure them they can seek medical assistance without fear of police reprisal.

This is in line with Dutch drug law, which prioritizes providing aid over stigmatizing drug use.

“The Dutch approach allows authorities to have a frank dialogue with drug users when new dangers arise, like the fake cocaine,” reports the Washington Post. “Drug users there aren’t thought of as criminals, as in the U.S., but rather as normal people engaging in unhealthy behavior.”

Full Article:

http://mic.com/articles/105584/the-netherlands-just-showed-the-u-s-what-a-sane-drug-policy-looks-like

By R.L. Nave

Some Mississippians wants to follow the lead of Washington state and Colorado and legalize marijuana for medical and recreational purposes and to pardon individuals convicted of nonviolent marijuana-related offenses.

Shannon Smothers-Wansley joined Mississippi’s latest marijuana legalization push for her grandmother, who passed away in September 2011 after battling dementia, which took away her appetite.

“If she had access to something with cannabis in it, she would not have died of starvation,” Smothers-Wansley told the Jackson Free Press.

The potential of cannabis as an appetite stimulant is among the key arguments from proponents of rolling back legal restrictions for marijuana for its medicinal purposes.

Full Article:

http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2014/dec/03/making-mississippi-420-friendly/

By LISA AUTRY
 
 

 
The application window is now open for Kentucky farmers and processors who want to grow hemp for research in 2015.
Several Kentucky universities, including WKU, grew hemp this year for the first time in decades.  The application deadline for the next round  is January 1.
 
Full Article:
http://wkyufm.org/post/kentucky-seeking-hemp-growers-2015

Matt Ferner

 
In the past year, Sanjay Gupta has made no secret of his support for medical marijuana.
A desire for policy change has always been implicit in that support. But in an exclusive interview with The Huffington Post on Friday, CNN’s chief medical correspondent called for full-scale federal legalization of medical marijuana in no uncertain terms.
“In terms of making this legal for medicinal purposes — yes, and there are both very pragmatic reasons and more subjective reasons for that,” Gupta said.
He added that federal legalization of medical cannabis should happen if for no other reason than to address the “ridiculousness of the refugee situation” in Colorado.
“This refugee situation that is developing, I thought it would be a bit apocryphal, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t being led down some false path — but I met with these families and it is real,” Gupta said of the hundreds of families who have uprooted themselves and moved to Colorado to take advantage of the state’s permissive medical marijuana laws. The patients who move to Colorado feel compelled to stay because using their medicine across state lines could land them in prison.
“Are you really going to arrest a person for taking their medicine back to their state?” Gupta said. “This is not the society that I think most people would think we are and yet it’s absolutely happening. It’s heartbreaking.”
 
Full Article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/sanjay-gupta-medical-marijuana-legalization_n_4932277.html