Weed

A 49-year-old man who grew cannabis in his flat to help relieve arthritic pain has been ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. Perth Sheriff Court heard police noticed a cannabis smell coming from Steven McKechnie's flat while they were carrying out an unrelated inquiry. They found ?3,000 of the drug in the property in the city's Stronsay Court. McKechnie said he used it to help alleviate pain from arthritis and a frozen shoulder. The court was told that cannabis leaves were strewn around the flat, with tubs containing the drug also being found alongside six cannabis plants. The Crown accepted McKechnie was not involved in supplying cannabis to anyone else. He admitted producing the drug at his home on 11 April of last year. Solicitor David Holmes, defending, said McKechnie had been using cannabis for pain relief for several years. He said: "He has arthritis and a frozen shoulder which is taking a long time to clear. "Rather than frequently attending to buy it, he thought he would try and grow his own. This was for his own use. The equipment and seeds cost him ?200 to purchase." News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ? Source: bbc.co.uk Author: bbc.co.uk Contact: BBC News - Contacting BBC News programmes Website: BBC News - Perth man grew cannabis to ease arthritis

Despite issuing a highly publicized memorandum in 2009 stating, "Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration," it remains clear that federal lawmakers and the White House continue to willfully ignore science in regards to the cannabis plant and the federal policies which condemn it to the same prohibitive legal status as heroin. In fact, in 2011 the Obama administration went so far as to reject an administrative petition that called for hearings to reevaluate pot?s safety and efficacy, pronouncing in the Federal Register, ?Marijuana does not have a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions. At this time, the known risks of marijuana use have not been shown to be outweighed by specific benefits in well-controlled clinical trials that scientifically evaluate safety and efficacy.? (The Administration?s flat-Earth position was upheld in January by a three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.) Nevertheless, scientific evaluations of cannabis and the health of its consumers have never been more prevalent. Studies are now published almost daily rebuking the federal government?s allegations that the marijuana plant is a highly dangerous substance lacking any therapeutic utility. Yet, virtually all of these studies ? and, more importantly, their implications for public policy ? continue to be ignored by lawmakers. Here are just a few examples of the latest cannabis science that your federal government doesn?t want you to know about. Frequent cannabis smokers possess no greater lung cancer risk than do either occasional pot smokers or non-smokers Subjects who regularly inhale cannabis smoke do not possess an increased risk of lung cancer compared to those who either consume it occasionally or not at all, according to data presented in April at the annual meeting of the American Academy for Cancer Research. Investigators from the University of California, Los Angeles analyzed data from six case-control studies, conducted between 1999 and 2012, involving over 5,000 subjects (2,159 cases and 2,985 controls) from around the world. They reported, ?Our pooled results showed no significant association between the intensity, duration, or cumulative consumption of cannabis smoke and the risk of lung cancer overall or in never smokers.? Previous case-control studies have also failed to find an association between cannabis smoking and head and neck cancers or cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract. Nevertheless, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration continues to maintain, ?Marijuana smokers increase their risk of cancer of the head, neck, lungs and respiratory track.? Consistent use of cannabis associated is associated with reduced risk factors for Type 2 diabetes Will the pot plant one day play a role in staving the ongoing epidemic of Type 2 diabetes? Emerging science indicates that it just might. According to trial data published this month in the American Journal of Medicine, subjects who regularly consume cannabis possess favorable indices related to diabetic control compared to occasional consumers or non-consumers. Investigators at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston, assessed self-report data from some 5,000 adult onset diabetics patients regarding whether they smoked or had ever smoked marijuana. Researchers reported that those who were current, regular marijuana smokers possessed 16 percent lower fasting insulin levels and reduced insulin resistance compared to those who had never used pot. By contrast, non-users possessed larger waistlines and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or ?good?) cholesterol ? both of which are risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Similar benefits were reported in occasional cannabis consumers, though these changes were less pronounced, ?suggesting that the impact of mar

Libertarian activist Adam Kokesh, before being released from Philadelphia's federal prison yesterday afternoon following his arrest by federal agents one week ago issued a statement from his cell calling for an "American Revolutionary Army to March on 50 State Capitols." "A new American revolution is long overdue," Kokesh declared in his jail cell statement, which demands "that the governors of these 50 states immediately initiate the process of an orderly dissolution of the federal government through secession and reclamation of federally held property." His full proclamation can be read in a Shield Mutual news release. Kokesh, an anti-war activist, co-founder of "Veterans for Ron Paul" and a leading proponent of "Iraq Veterans Against the War" is the organizer of a much-publicized loaded gun march on Washington, DC on July 4 to coincide with Independence Day. His Facebook page, The Final American Revolution, has nearly 5,000 participants signed up for the march, causing many to speculate that Kokesh was purposely targeted for arrest at the marijuana rally as a pretense for shutting down his DC march. Events since Kokesh's arrest while addressing a marijuana legalization rally in Philadelphia on May 18 have been moving rapidly. A call flood of government offices and a rally began organizing almost immediately and legal defense funds were set up for Kokesh and fellow arrestee N.A. "Nikki Allen" Poe. At an arraignment hearing on Monday, May 20 Kokesh and Poe were denied bail. Five members of "The Panic Hour" comedy and street theater troupe were detained at the City Hall rail station later that day after attending Kokesh's arraignment because, according to a transportation officer, "Your megaphone might be a weapon." Poe, host and executive producer of "The Panic Hour" and organizer of the Smoke Down Prohibition V event where both he and Kokesh were arrested has since been released but Kokesh continued to be held at the Philadelphia federal prison charged with "felony assault on a federal officer." The Free Adam kokesh Facebook page announced Adam's legal defense fund goal of $5,000 has been met and exceeded. At this writing Poe's defense fund is closing in fast on its goal of $4,200. A video posted on YouTube on May 22 titled "An Open Letter from Kokesh & N.A. Poe from Federal Prison" calls for "Smoke Down Prohibition Part VI" to be held on June 8 on the North side of the White House. News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ? Source: examiner.com Author: Garry Reed Contact: About Examiner.com Website: Adam Kokesh released from jail, calls for march on 50 state capitols - National Libertarian news | Examiner.com

For about the last 16 months a federally regulated medical marijuana growing operation has existed at a farm property on Sunnidale Concession 12 in Clearview Township, The Sun has learned. The company running the operation at the leased site is The Peace Naturals Project, owned by Clearview resident Mark A. Gobuty. He contacted the newspaper Thursday, May 23 to announce the business was operating in the municipality. Gobuty said he decided to go public with the venture so there is full disclosure and no suspicions about what the company is doing. ?We are very proud of what we?re doing and there is no shame,? he said. The company took the same open, transparent approach with the OPP when it first started to operate in the community, Gobuty noted. He said the company encouraged police to visit the secure site at any time to inspect, adding that to date officers have been through the indoor growing facility six times. The business is operating with a licence from Health Canada, which regulates medical marijuana growing operations. So far the company is providing marijuana to two people that have prescriptions from their doctors and the authorization of Health Canada to use it for medicinal purposes. Right now it can legally provide marijuana for up to four people. Currently, people apply to take part in Health Canada?s Marijuana Medical Access Program. If accepted, they can grow marijuana at home or buy it from an approved producer. But the federal government is making changes that will take effect in April 2014. Under the new rules, people won?t be allowed to cultivate their own plants. Instead, they will have to access commercial growers. The aim is to better regulate marijuana growing. Users also won?t need a licence from Health Canada ? just a doctor?s prescription. Gobuty said that his company is going through the approval process so it can become one of the commercial growers once the rules change. If successful, the company will be able to expand its growing operations and the number of people it can supply. The company aims to become ?the best commercial cannabis producer in Canada,? Gobuty said. Thousands of Canadians use marijuana for medical reasons. People that smoke the plant report it easing pain and encouraging appetite. Gobuty said he personally became interested in the plant as an alternative to pharmaceuticals when his parents were dealing with a variety of health issues. They started to use marijuana, reporting some pain relief, and from there Gobuty explored growing the crop for others. Today, he has a whole team working with him on the project, including a doctor. The company hopes to develop different strains of marijuana that will help people battling specific diseases. Gobuty jokes about being a ?drug dealer? and technically he is one but he stresses the company is completely legitimate and documents everything it does. He said they have enough documentation to ?choke a horse.? Friday morning, Gobuty and his team made a presentation to Clearview Township?s Economic Development Committee. Again, the aim was transparency, he said. Gobuty said if people have a problem with what they are doing he hopes they?ll contact him so they can ?work through it.? Mayor Ken Ferguson said he first met with Gobuty in March and again in April to learn about the project. He said until that point he did not know much about medical marijuana. ?Well I look at it as strictly agricultural,? he said. ?It?s highly regulated and that?s why he?s being so up front with everyone. And I look at it very positively as long as everything is done up to snuff.? News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ? Source: simcoe.com Author: Michael Gennings Contact: Simcoe : Contact Us Website: Medical marijuana grow operation in Clearview

Pot proprietors seeking to open a medical marijuana shop will have to pony up at least $83,000 in fees, according to new rules proposed by state health officials. The Department of Public Health expects to collect more than $3.9 million from pot shops and patients in the first year and is looking to create a Medical Marijuana Trust Fund to keep the revenue, acting Commissioner Cheryl Bartlett said in a letter this week to Secretary of State William Galvin. Bartlett called the fees ?affordable? and comparable to other states. ?At the same time, dispensaries will be required to pay their fair share,? she said. The first dispensaries in the state could open by the end of the year, according to DPH officials, who plan to review licensing applications through the summer. The medical marijuana program ? approved by voters in a November ballot measure ? must be self-sustaining and can?t rely on taxpayer dollars. DPH has proposed potential pot purveyors pay a $1,500 fee for the initial application and $30,000 for a more comprehensive application if they make it past the first round of scrutiny. Dispensaries that receive the green light to open would be charged $50,000 annually and have to pay for architectural review of the shop before it opens ? a minimum fee of $1,500. Any employees hired by licensed shops would cost the owner an additional $500 annual registration fee, according to the proposal. Meanwhile, medical marijuana patients would be charged $50 annually for an identification card, with those who grow their own pot at home paying $150 each year. The agency has not said when it will begin issuing registration cards to patients. DPH is soliciting comments on the proposed fees until June 15, according to spokesman David Kibbe. News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ? Source: bostonherald.com Author: Erin Smith Contact: Contact Us | Boston Herald Website: State proposes to make big $ off pot shops | Boston Herald

Days after LA voters approved a law that limits the number of pot dispensaries in the city, HempCon, America?s biggest medical marijuana convention, kicked off in downtown Los Angeles. The event includes exhibits from local medical marijuana dispensaries, as well presentations by attorneys and activists such as Richard Eastman, who helped start the first pot dispensary in LA in the mid 1990s. Defense attorney Freddy Sayegh, Hempcon?s keynote speaker, said the event was scheduled months ago, before LA voters approved Measure D to limit the number of pot dispensaries in the city to 135, effectively forcing more than 300 shops to close. Sayegh thinks Measure D will have a negative effect. ?You?re going to see the growth of underground sales of narcotics and trafficking,? Sayegh said. Sayegh said despite LA?s efforts to reduce the number of dispensaries, there?s no denying Hempcon is good for the city?s economy, drawing some 20,000 visitors to downtown through Sunday. ?They get parking. All the hotels have been booked. The city gets a tremendous amount of money,? Sayegh said. Attendee Robert Duncan said he's disappointed that Los Angeles voters passed the limitations. "We live in California for Christ's sake," he said. "Colorado beat us to it. It's unfortunate they're not accepting of what it is." LA City Councilman Bernard Parks, a former LAPD chief, said he has no problem with Hempcon being held in the city this year, but hopes in the future LA?s medical marijuana industry will be shut down. ?I hope we get to a point like 200 other cities in the state to ban it and stop going through the legal process,? he said. News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ? Source: nbclosangeles.com Author: Angie Crouch Contact: Contact Us | NBC Southern California Website: Pot Advocates Converge on LA for Nation's Largest Medical Marijuana Convention | NBC Southern California

Clayton Holton is at every cannabis hearing at the state house that he can physically bring himself to, which is no easy task. Clayton has muscular dystrophy and lost his ability to walk at age 13. He enters the hearing rooms in his motorized wheelchair and every time tells the politicians the same story. For a decade he has been doing this and this year it finally looked like headway was being made. However, the NH Senate gutted critical provisions that will likely mean imminent death for Clayton. He doesn?t have much longer left. He needs your help by signing this petition asking governor Maggie Hassan to get a clue and let patients grow their own cannabis and have an affirmative medical defense ? both things stripped from the bill at the request of the morally-vacant NH law enforcement establishment. Here?s the petition, and here are Clayton?s own words on why you should sign it: Because my weight is down to 63 pounds, and there are many other patients like me who can?t afford to wait. As a 28-year-old battling muscular dystrophy, I?ve been fighting for my life since I lost my ability to walk at age 13. I know from personal experience that medical marijuana works for me, having spent a summer in California several years ago. In the months that I was able to use it legally, I gained more than 10 pounds and was able to stop taking prescription pain medicines altogether. There is no cure for my condition, but medical marijuana relieves my pain and stimulates my appetite, dramatically improving my quality of life when I?m able to use it. I have been asking New Hampshire legislators to allow patients like me to use medical marijuana for nearly a decade, and it finally appears that a medical marijuana bill is going to pass this year. Unfortunately, it appears this law may not be of any benefit to patients like me who are fighting for our lives. HB 573, which passed overwhelmingly with over 80% support in the House, allows patients to access medical marijuana from one of five state-regulated alternative treatment centers or grow up to three cannabis plants for their own use. The House version of the bill also includes an affirmative defense that patients could raise in court so that they won?t be thrown in jail during the 19 months it will take for the health department to begin issuing ID cards. The home grow option and full affirmative defense are very important because a patient or caregiver would be able to start growing this summer rather than waiting until at least 2015 for legal protections and access. Sadly, bowing to pressure from the police chiefs? association, Gov. Maggie Hassan has now insisted that home cultivation be removed from the bill, meaning that patients will have no choice but to buy marijuana from criminals. Her administration also requested changes gutting the affirmative defense so that patients would have no legal protections at all until ID cards are available in late 2014 or early 2015. This means patients will continue to suffer without legal access to marijuana and with no legal protections. Frankly, I do not expect to live another two years, so for me, this may as well be a death sentence. Patients in Maine, Vermont, and lots of other states are allowed to cultivate their own plants, and many states have provided protections for patients while regulations are being crafted. Patients like me are NOT criminals, and we should be free to grow our own medicine in the ?Live Free or Die? state. Please sign our petition and tell Gov. Hassan patients can?t afford to wait! Additionally, please call her office at 603-271-2121 and let her know how you feel about this! News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ? Source: freekeene.com Author: Ian Contact: Contact Info - Free Keene Website: Sign this Petition to Help Medical Cannabis Patients - Free Keene

According to an East Bay Express report, a study has found that the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may be cured with help of marijuana. The research is being conducted by a researcher at the Yale University. He has recruited 120 people with the condition to find out if marijuana can help cure the disorder. R. Andrew Sewell, the Researcher, says that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) helps the brain to grab new information. THC is an active ingredient present in cannabis. It also helps the people with the condition to forget the old information. Sewell calls it extinction learning and it is enhanced by the activation of CB1 present in brain. He says that cannabis is very good activator of the same. He affirmed that after the treatment is over, no drugs would be required including cannabis. The study has avowed that PTSD and major depression increases the chances of a person at a risk of committing suicide. If Person suffering from PTSD faces any trauma in childhood, it may cause him to suffer from nightmares, flashbacks and social withdrawal. "PTSD can be devastating. It's a critical issue that needs to be discussed often, so the thousands of vets affected by this illnesses can learn how to cope with it", said Steve Kroft, the Host of a special radio programme explaining impact of PTSD. News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ? Source: topnews.ae Author: Suresh Lalwani Contact: Contact Information | TopNews Arab Emirates Website: PSTD May Be Cured With Cannabis, Research | TopNews Arab Emirates

At Leela European Cafe, a quirky, 24-hour coffee shop and bar in the heart of downtown, a bartender was quick with her thoughts on Colorado's experience with the legal sale of medical marijuana. "It's really easy to get," said Cara Wanek, 25, who says she uses it to calm her anxiety, boost her appetite and help her sleep. "And it's delicious." That's exactly what Illinois is trying to avoid. While Colorado is not quite the Wild West of medical marijuana, it offers a window into the opportunities and consequences that arise when a state allows the legal sale of a long-banned drug. The state's therapeutic cannabis industry launched in earnest in late 2009, triggering a "green rush" that boosted the state's economy. Big Marijuana added thousands of new jobs, revitalized aging industrial warehouses and shuttered storefronts, and generated millions of tax dollars for the federal, state and local governments. At the same time, state officials acknowledge they were unprepared to license, inspect and regulate medical marijuana businesses, leaving millions of fees and taxes uncollected and a significant swath of the industry unchecked. And recently released police data show a modest uptick in certain crimes near marijuana businesses in Denver. But as the nation's first highly regulated, for-profit market, Colorado has served as a model for other states seeking to get in on the action. In crafting legislation that would allow for the legal sale of the drug to certain patients beginning in 2014, Illinois lawmakers looked to build upon the experience in Colorado, where pretty much anyone with a long-ago injury can get a doctor's approval to purchase up to 2 ounces of pot at a time ? enough to stuff two small sandwich bags. Illinois' proposed statute is far more restrictive, placing tighter limits on who can legally purchase the drug and where it can be grown and sold. The bill, which would allow people with 42 defined conditions to purchase the drug legally over a four-year trial period, was approved by the Senate on May 17. It awaits the signature of Gov. Pat Quinn, who has said he is "open-minded" about the prospect. As the governor contemplates a decision, experienced pot entrepreneurs in and around Denver are watching closely with the hope that the time and money they've spent shaping and supporting the Illinois bill will pay off. "Everyone is looking at Illinois and New York because that's where the population is," said Kayvan Khalatbari, a 29-year-old Nebraska native who was one of the pioneers in the Denver marijuana scene. "The ball is rolling, and with more and more states coming on all the time, we see opportunities everywhere." If Quinn signs the bill, Illinois would become the 20th state, plus the District of Columbia, to allow the sale of medical marijuana. Dispensaries could open as soon as next year. In Colorado, legalization of the drug for medicinal purposes was approved by voters in 2000. But because the drug remained illegal at the federal level, most users remained underground, growing as many as six plants each for their own medical needs. The industry didn't emerge until 2009, after an Obama administration memo suggested that federal authorities would not aggressively challenge state laws. Almost overnight, Colorado was swamped with retail dispensaries and large-scale operations to grow the plants. The state, which didn't have an adequate regulatory or tax structure in place, soon had more weed shops than Starbucks. By the next spring, when lawmakers scrambled to pass regulations, more than 2,000 companies had filed with the state to sell medical marijuana. "We didn't get off to a great start because we didn't have the time or the staff to tool up,'' said Ron Kammerzell, the Colorado Department of Revenue's enforcement director. "We're still, in a way, playing catch-up." At the end of 2010, the first year of regulated medical marijuana in Colorado, the state's ind

It’s high time Texas grabbed marijuana prohibition by the horns! DFW NORML proudly presents the Texas Regional NORML Conference at the Norris Conference Center (304 Houston St. Fort Worth, Texas 76102-7404) in downtown Fort Worth from June 7 – 9. This historic event includes over a dozen speakers such as Keith Stroup, founder of NORML, Judge Jim [Continue Reading]