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By Michael Bachara, Hemp News Correspondent

Yesterday, the Illinois Senate voted 35-21 in favor of an historic bill that would allow people with certain ailments to use cannabis to ease their symptoms, if recommended by their doctor.

The bill, HB 1, which would allow Illinois residents with qualifying conditions the right to obtain 2.5 ounces every two weeks from a licensed dispensary, is expected to be signed by an "open-minded" Governor Quinn.

"We are embarking here on a way to achieve relief, compassionate relief, consistent with the law (with) a system which avoids abuse," according to the bill's sponsor, Democratic Sen. Bill Haine of Alton. "It's the tightest, most controlled legislative initiative in the United State related to medical cannabis."

"This is about individuals that are having a difficult time finding solutions to their cancer pains, that are finding other solutions and are going to the black market buying it anyway. We must find these solutions," Senator William Delgado, 2nd Legislative District (D), proclaimed on the Senate floor.

Proponents say cannabis can relieve continual pain without detrimental side effects of other pharmaceutical drugs.

There are four proposals in Ohio to either legalize medicinal cannabis or decriminalize altogether

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News Correspondent

Earlier this month, Ohio State Rep. Bob Hagan (D), introduced two bills in the state legislature. The first, HB 153, would legalize cannabis for medicinal use by those with qualifying conditions. The second, HJR 6, would have the legislature put full decriminalization of cannabis on the ballot for Ohio voters.

“We need to admit that we’ve lost the war on drugs. By taxing the sale of marijuana at a reasonable rate, revenue can be used to implement programs that target more harmful drugs like methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. We could be making money to hire more police and fire, pull up our education system, put more money toward local government funding," Hagen explained.

Hagen added, "I've watched a lot of people come through my office suffering with maladies that regular prescriptions just didn't help. They asked me to do it, I said fine. It's the second time I've introduced it and it flies in the face of the pharmaceutical industry, but those who asked me to do it really need it because they've tried everything else."

In addition to the legislative bills, a group of grassroots activists in Ohio is also working to get an amendment on the ballot that would change the state constitution and legalize medicinal cannabis and restore industrial hemp.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Washington state's proposed rules for newly legal marijuana aren't even 24 hours old yet, but are already under attack by critics.

The draft regulations -- 46 pages of them -- were released on Thursday, reports Oregon Public Broadcasting, and they cover everything from where cannabis can be grown to the criminal history of those who apply for licenses.

Under the proposed rules, anyone who wants to be involved in the legal marijuana business would have to submit to a background check. This even includes the financial backers of marijuana businesses; any felony convictions in the past decade would likely disqualify applicants.

The locations where cannabis will be grown has resulted in much discussion. The Board wants to limit grows to secure buildings or greenhouses, indoor cultivation only.

Another limitation in the proposed rules -- a ban on hash, hash oil and other concentrates extracted from cannabis, unless they're infused into an edible product -- is generating lots of controversy.

"I believe that the products that we're producing have received a bad rap because of the nickname BHO, butane extracted hash oil," Jim Andersen, who works with a company called XTracted, said.

Butane is often used to extract the THC, Andersen said, but he claimed if it's done right it leaves no chemical traces; he plans to fight the ban on marijuana extracts.

Organization of American States Secretary General Presents Historic Drug Policy Report to President Santos of Colombia

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

The Organization of American States (OAS) on Friday morning released a report that envisions possible scenarios for future drug control policy. The OAS secretary general, José Miguel Insulza, will present it Friday afternoon to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos at the Casa de Nariño (the Colombian White House). The report – “Scenarios for the Drug Problem in the Americas, 2013-2025” – presents four possibilities for how drug policy could evolve in the Americas, most of which break from the current U.S.-led approach. The report is the first of its kind, providing a thoughtful and detailed visualization of alternatives to the existing drug prohibition regime.

The OAS received its mandate at last year’s Summit of the Americas in Cartagena following a discussion among the presidents about the need for new drug control policies that could better reduce the violence and other negative consequences of prohibitionist policies.

With some presidents speaking openly in favor of legal regulation of currently illegal drugs, President Obama acknowledged that ending prohibition is “a legitimate topic for debate” and also stated: “I think it is entirely legitimate to have a conversation about whether the laws in place are ones that are doing more harm than good in certain places.”

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Only six percent of Americans think minor marijuana possession should result in jail time, according to a new poll. The poll also found that a strong plurality of Americans think the use or possession of cannabis should not have any punishment at all.

Notably, the new Reason-Rupe poll is one of the few surveys in which the usual incarceration vs. treatment questions have been expanded to include no penalty at all, reports Mike Riggs at Reason.com.

When asked, "Which approach do you think government and law enforcement should take toward someone found smoking marijuana or in possession of a small amount of marijuana?", six percent said possession should be punishable with jail, 20 percent said it should result in mandatory substance abuse counseling, 32 percent said users should be fined, and 35 percent said people caught with small amounts of cannabis shouldn't be punished at all.

The results, according to Reason.com, suggest that Americans have grown comfortable with the idea of decriminalizing pot, that is, reducing the penalty for minor possession to a civil fine. They are also more sympathetic than ever to the idea of full legalization.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Research published online May 14 in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science has shown that marijuana buffers people from experiencing the pain of social exclusion.

"Prior work has shown that the analgesic acetaminophen, which acts indirectly through CB1 receptors, reduces the pain of social exclusion," lead researcher Timothy Deckman of the University of Kentucky and his colleagues wrote in the study, reports Eric W. Dolan of The Raw Story.

The four-part study, including a total of 7,040 participants and three methodologies, was based on previous studies that showed an overlap between physical and psychological pain. Acetaminophen, found in over-the-counter pain pills like Tylenol, has been found to reduce both social and physical pain.

Acetaminophen and marijuana both affect cannnabinoid (CB1) receptors in the brain and both are used to treat physical pain.

For the first two studies, researchers looked at cross-sectional data from major national surveys. The first used data from the National Comorbidity Study and found marijuana users who reported loneliness had higher levels of self-worth and mental health than non-marijuana users who reported being lonely.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

The online cannabis activism site Marijuana Majority has launched a new tool which makes it easy for people to contact their mayors in support of marijuana reform.

"We've seen a number of individual mayors speaking up in recent months about the negative impact that prohibition has on their cities and towns, and we thought a focused action trying to get more mayors to add their voices to the debate might be fruitful," Tom Angell of Marijuana Majority told Hemp News.

"After people send a letter using our tool, they are then prompted to tweet to their mayor and also given the option to be connected with the mayor's office by phone," Angell told us.

To use the tool for contacting your mayor, visit http://marijuanamajority.com/mayors/.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Medical marijuana patients, growers and dispensary operators are pushing for new laws that would expand the number of patients who are authorized to legally use cannabis.

Between 13,000 and 15,000 Mainers are currently medical marijuana patients, reports Amy Sinclair at NECN. Ten thousand of those buy from the state's eight licensed dispensaries; the rest get their marijuana from private growers, known as "caregivers."

Lawmakers on the Health and Human Services Committee are considering six bills that would allow for more dispensaries, expand the list of qualifying conditions, and increase the number of plants caregivers are allowed to grow.

"I think the question is how can we get more medicine to patients from the dispensary system we currently have," said Tim Smale, executive director at the Remedy Compassion Center in Auburn, Maine.

Atop the wish list is a new law that would expand the list of qualifying conditions for which doctors may authorized the medicinal use of cannabis. Advocates want to expand the list to include post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), opiate addiction and other medical conditions as determined by doctors.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

In a newly published paper, researchers have shown that marijuana can help with diabetes control.

Investigators from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston published a paper in the current issue of The American Journal of Medicine detailing how cannabis users have significantly lower fasting insulin, and are less likely to be insulin resistant than those who don't use pot, reports Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com.

The researchers noted that this was true even after excluding patients who had a diagnosis of diabetes.

The BIDMC team analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey between 2005 and 2010. Their research included data from 4,657 patients who completed drug use questionnaires. Of these, 579 reported currently using cannabis; 1,975 had used it in the past; and 2,103 reported never using it.

The team measured fasting insulin and glucose amounts using blood samples after patients had fasted for nine hours. They also evaluated insulin resistance via homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Colorado's first industrial hemp crop in almost 60 years is now growing.

Ryan Loftin, a farmer in Springfield, Colorado, on Monday began planting 60 acres of industrial hemp in fields previously used for alfalfa, according to the Denver Post.

He and business partner Chris Thompson are installing a seed press to produce hemp seed oil, reports Patricia Collier of The Associated Press.

Hemp, like marijuana, comes is a form of the cannabis plant. Industrial hemp typically contains little or no THC, the main psychoactive substance in marijuana, but it has dozens of uses in food, fuel, clothing and industrial materials.

(Photo: Marijuana.com)

Our farmers need this valuable crop to be returned as an option for commercial agriculture

By D. Paul Stanford, Hemp News Director

Hemp is the ultimate cash crop, producing more fiber, food and oil than any other plant on the planet. According to the Notre Dame University publication, The Midlands Naturalist, from a 1975 article called, "Feral Hemp in Southern Illinois," about the wild hemp fields that annual efforts from law enforcement eradication teams cannot wipe out, an acre of hemp produces:

1. 8,000 pounds of hemp seed per acre.

* When cold-pressed, the 8,000 pounds of hemp seed yield over 300 gallons of hemp seed oil and a byproduct of
* 6,000 pounds of high protein hemp flour.

These seed oils are both a food and a biodiesel fuel. Currently, the most productive seed oil crops are soybeans, sunflower seeds and rape seed or canola. Each of these three seed oil crops produce between 100 to 120 gallons of oil per acre. Hemp seed produces three times more oil per acre than the next most productive seed oil crops, or over 300 gallons per acre, with a byproduct of 3 tons of food per acre. Hemp seed oil is also far more nutritious and beneficial for our health than any other seed oil crop.

In addition to the food and oil produced, there are several other byproducts and benefits to the cultivation of hemp.

2. Six to ten tons per acre of hemp bast fiber. Bast fiber makes canvas, rope, lace, linen, and ultra-thin specialty papers like cigarette and bible papers.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

As photographers snapped pictures, New Jersey Senate candidate Don DeZarn took a deep toke of marijuana smoke. His wife, capturing the scene on a cellphone, asked him who it was for.

"Who is this for?" repeated DeZarn, exhaling smoke, reports Mike Davis of The Times of Trenton. "This is for all my brothers and sisters who are currently being held prisoners of war by our government as a result of the War On Drugs."

DeZarn, 46, running on the Libertarian ticket, called it a public statement for marijuana legalization; no police were on hand to arrest him. Legalizing, regulating and taxing cannabis is one of the chief planks of his campaign platform for the state senate; he also calls for cutting property taxes and increasing government transparency.

The fact that our state freely regulates, sells and taxes alcohol -- while prosecuting people who use marijuana in the privacy of their own home -- is insanity to me," DeZarn said. "It's completely insanity that we spend that type of money when there's far worse things out there."

DeZarn said marijuana should be regulated similarly to alcohol, in order to add tax money to the state's coffers while saving on the costs of arresting and charging pot smokers.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Smoking marijuana caused a "complete remission" of Crohn's disease in half the patients who took part in an eight-week clinical trial, according to data published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Researchers at Meir Medical Center in Israel gave 11 patients with severe Crohn's disease two joints a day for eight weeks. Ten other patients were used as a control group.

The standardized joints contained 23 percent THC and 0.5 percent CBD. The other ten patients smoked placebo joints containing no active cannabinoids.

Smoking the marijuana for eight weeks resulted in a "complete remission" of Crohn's in five of the 11 subjects, according to researchers. Another five of the eleven test patients saw their symptoms reduced by about half.

"Subjects receiving cannabis reported improved appetite and sleep, with no significant side effects," researchers reported. Side effects are severe with corticosteroids used to treat the inflammation of Crohn's; they range from excessive facial hair and insomnia to high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and glaucoma, if used for extended periods.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Imagine, if you will, a hundred angry senior citizens storming Capitol Hill in partnership with college students, demanding safe access to medical marijuana. With your support, that could happen next month -- at a crucial time.

Plans are being made for the first-ever senior marijuana rally and lobbying event in Washington, D.C., on June 17. The event is sponsored by a partnership of The Silver Tour and Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP).

The seniors will be in town to lobby the House of Representatives for passage of a budget amendment to prevent the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from enforcing federal marijuana laws in states with legal cannabis. It is expected to come up for a vote in late June.

"If passed, it opens the door for other states that are holding back on medical or legalization for fear of the feds," said Robert Platshorn, leader of The Silver Tour, who was featured in the hit Showtime movie, Square Grouper. The Silver Tour was recently spotlighted on Jon Stewart's Daily Show, CNN Money and on the front page of The Wall Street Journal.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Stoner icon Tommy Chong announced this week that he is cancer free, having beaten prostate cancer with a treatment regimen including cannabis oil.

"I'm cancer free," Chong wrote in a blog post. "That's right, I kicked cancer's ass!"

Chong, half of the comedy duo Cheech & Chong, was diagnosed with prostate cancer last June, reports John R. Kennedy at Global News. He told CNN he believes he got it while serving time in a California prison in 2003-2004 for selling glass bongs over the Internet.

"I immediately looked an alternatives," the Canadian-born Chong wrote.

After his nephew in Vancouver, a medical student, suggested meeting with a doctor in Victoria, Chong followed his advice. "That doctor changed my diet and put me on supplements, and within a year I brought my PSA [prostate-specific antigen] numbers down drastically and eliminated the cancer threat," Chong wrote. "I also treated the condition with hemp oil (hash oil)."

"The magic plant does cure cancer with the right diet and supplements," Chong said. "I feel the best I've felt in years."

(Photo: Tommy Chong via Facebook)