MAP - Hemp

The News Tribune, 14 Feb 2010 - Health: Recent State Court Decision Has Medical Marijuana Users Wary Of Compassionate Legislation Just as medical marijuana commerce was beginning to flourish openly in Tacoma, a Washington State Supreme Court decision sent many patients running for cover.

The Daily News, 14 Feb 2010 - Just as medical marijuana commerce was beginning to flourish openly in Tacoma, a Washington State Supreme Court decision sent many patients running for cover. "People are scared," said Mike Allison, a principal behind North End Club 420, one of three new Tacoma exchanges for medical marijuana patients. "And that's too bad because they're sick and they need this medicine."

Kalamazoo Gazette, 14 Feb 2010 - KALAMAZOO -- Dr. David Crocker has never given a recommendation for a patient to use medical marijuana to treat a debilitating condition. But that will change Monday when Crocker is set to open Michigan Holistic Health -- the first full-time medical marijuana clinic in Southwest Michigan -- at 500 W. Crosstown Parkway, near the corner of South Westnedge Avenue, in Kalamazoo.

Waushara Argus, 10 Feb 2010 - On Saturday, February 6, a crowd gathered at the Berlin Library from noon to 3 p.m. to attend the T.H.C. Expo ("Talking Hemp and Cannabis") to learn about Wisconsin's Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act (JRMMA) that was introduced by Representative Mark Pocan (D-Madison), Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) and a number of other legislators in November 2009 and is currently being reviewed by the Committee on Public Health in both the assembly and the senate. Assembly Bill 554/Senate Bill 368, similar to the medical marijuana bill that passed in Michigan in November of 2008, would make it legal for those who have certain illnesses or diseases to purchase and use marijuana for medicinal purposes when prescribed by a physician.. Passing of the bill would mean that those who suffer from Cancer and are having chemotherapy could use marijuana to relieve the nausea and vomiting often brought on by the chemo treatment. Those who suffer from seizure disorders, AIDS, severe glaucoma, Crohn's Disease, Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Hepititis C, Alzheimer's Disease, and other illnesses that cause wasting away, severe pain, or persistent muscle spasms would be able to use the medicinal marijuana legally. Advocates of the JRMMA are hopeful that the bill will pass out of the Committee for Public Health by March 4 and pass by April 22, with Wisconsin becoming the 14th state to legalize medicinal marijuana. Thirteen other states have passed similar laws, including Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

Lismore Northern Star, 10 Feb 2010 - NIMBIN should be put on the top of the US President's proposed Australian itinerary, according to several prominent people. Legendary Australian adventurer Dick Smith joined Lismore mayor Jenny Dowell and Nimbin Hemp Embassy president Michael Balderstone speaking out in defence of Nimbin's cultural significance following Tweed Tourism general manager Phil Villiers' tongue-in-cheek comments last week about leaving the infamous town off his preferred presidential itinerary.

Lismore Northern Star, 08 Feb 2010 - CANNABIS may be a viable cure for chronic pain, but convincing the authorities is proving to be a political minefield for one pioneer. Tony Bower, founder of Mullaway's Medical Cannabis, has developed a way to access the healing qualities of cannabis without the infamous 'side effects', and his weekly Nimbin dispensary is fast gaining popularity.

DrugSense Weekly, 05 Feb 2010 - Dear Change.org, I recently received an e-mail from you announcing the launch of "Ideas for Change in America 2010," a campaign that seeks to "empower citizens to identify and build momentum behind the country's best ideas for addressing the major challenges we face." This noble and worthy effort uses direct democracy to encourage the online audience to submit and vote for ideas.

Oshkosh Northwestern, 05 Feb 2010 - BERLIN - The timing may be a little off for a hemp and cannabis expo in Berlin Saturday, coming on the heels of a major drug bust of some 30 illegal drug manufacturers and dealers in the city, but the coordinators of the event make no apologies. The T.H.C Expo is being held to tout the wonders of medical marijuana and the economic potential of hemp farming.

Colorado Daily, 04 Feb 2010 - Boulder residents are largely divided on how far the city should go to regulate medical-marijuana dispensaries, according to a new survey. The city on Wednesday released the results of a month-long online survey about how people feel about medical marijuana being grown and sold in Boulder.

Indianapolis Star, 01 Feb 2010 - I'll admit to being one of the multitude of fans who have made shows like "NCIS" and "CSI" such hits. It isn't that I don't recognize how unrealistic they are; no publicly financed lab could afford such cutting-edge equipment even if someone invented it. But I love watching the search for hard evidence, and the characters' willingness to abide by what that evidence shows even when the result is to exonerate some really unattractive suspect. Wouldn't it be nice if those we elect to make policy were similarly devoted to evidence-based decision-making?

Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan 2010 - A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Friday ordered an Eagle Rock dispensary to stop selling medical marijuana in a decision city prosecutors believe is the first to conclude that state law does not allow collectives to sell the drug. Judge James C. Chalfant's preliminary injunction applies only to Hemp Factory V, a small outlet on Colorado Boulevard near the Glendale border, but would have a dramatic impact on how medical marijuana is distributed if a higher court upholds it. The decision came in the pretrial phase of the city's lawsuit against the dispensary.

Summit Daily News, 28 Jan 2010 - Charged with misdemeanor possession, Trevor Douglas thinks religion should save him An Avon man is furious over a misdemeanor charge for possession of marijuana because he says it violates his religious rights.

Edmonton Journal, 28 Jan 2010 - Marijuana is believed to be a $20-billion industry in Canada. But most discussion about the drug is centred around the moral issue of whether to legalize it or not. Lionel Goddard thought it was high time somebody looked at marijuana as a business, not a social issue. The result is CannaBIZ, an hour-long documentary airing on CBC-TV's DocZone tonight.

Daily News Tribune, 27 Jan 2010 - As a Main Street lawyer, I rise in defense of Martha Coakley, who is not to blame for her inglorious defeat. Instead, blame belongs to Mike Capuano, the progressive and likeable congressman from Somerville who lost to her in the Democratic primary. But for a gross political miscalculation, he might well have been the Democratic nominee, with dramatically different results for Massachusetts and the nation. Consider:

The News Tribune, 10 Jan 2010 - Was there ever a miracle drug to match marijuana? A few puffs on a legalized, regulated and taxed joint, and you've not only closed the billion-dollar budget holes faced by government but you've eliminated the economic driver behind much of the criminal activity plaguing the globe. Or so the sizeable and increasing population of Hemp Head Nation would have you believe.

Metrowest Daily News, 08 Jan 2010 - New Year's Day marked the first anniversary of marijuana decriminalization in the Commonwealth. The statistics aren't in yet, and when they emerge different spins will be put on the impact of the new law. However, a glance out the window assures us that the sky hasn't fallen, despite the warnings of the 2008 initiative's shrillest critics, mostly self-serving career "public servants." To their great credit, 65 percent of our fellow citizens saw through the old bromides and found the courage to declare that we gain nothing by wrecking people's lives for small amounts of pot, and we can't afford to waste scarce law enforcement resources that ought to be focused on real, predatory, crime.

The Charlatan, 07 Jan 2010 - The Charlatan's Heather Wallace digs into the world of growing, dealing and smoking marijuana. The names of the sources in this story have been changed for protection. John White and his former roommates are like any other Carleton students. Though White recently moved out, the town home that he shared with three other boys looked like any other students would rent: white walls sparsely decorated with posters boasting college humour, and uncovered lamp lights brighten the street from the large living room window as the boys didn't want to blow their limited student budgets on lampshades or curtains.

Knoxville News-Sentinel, 03 Jan 2010 - Barrel-chested, gregarious and flush with cash, "Jerry Whittier" was 41 years old when he rolled into Gatlinburg in early 1980. Appearing to be a successful entrepreneur, he bought an upscale chalet home for $125,000. He gave generously to local charities. And he planned to buy what was then the Sevier County Airport, recalls retired 4th District Attorney General Al Schmutzer. That deal came apart in 1981, when he was linked to a huge cocaine shipment seized from an airplane there.

The Financial Express, 02 Jan 2010 - 'Build resistance from within' is the advice a no-nonsense educationist keeps giving to parents and guardians, living in constant dread of the drug scene in Bangladesh. But those of the conservative bend, a Victorian mindset, as it were, still insist that a 'good thrashing' would be the perfect medicine for brats -- before they become die-hard delinquents -- should advice/counseling/warning/ fail to bring them back to normalcy. But what is 'normal', in the Bangladesh context ? It obviously isn't the same for all socio-economic classes, although every full-blooded Bengali, high or low, still holds traditional family and community values dear -- where the elderly retain leadership within the extended family and the villages, and have a say in the upbringing of the young ones. That would be considered anathema in today's upcoming, individualistic models of family in urban Bangladesh. More and more of this bracket of society tend to emulate the west -- albeit selectively.

Austin Chronicle, 01 Jan 2010 - 1) Patients Free to Inhale Keeping a presidential campaign promise, President Barack Obama's Department of Justice sent out an official memo to federal prosecutors in October advising them to end raids on patients using medi-pot in compliance with state law.