2010

Now's the Time....Whether you support the Teapot Party, Tea Party or any other party, this candidate appeals to a wide variety of voters and is sure to stir up some governmental changes in Kentucky and across the United States.

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News Correspondent

Gatewood Galbraith is currently campaigning for Kentucky's 2011 gubernatorial race as an Independent, free from any party affiliations, and describes himself as free from hidden agenda. Galbraith is focusing his campaign on young voters by proposing a freeze on college tuition expenditures, a $5,000 educational voucher to high school graduates for college or technical school, and legalization of cannabis for medicinal purposes, which he estimates could save the state $500 million to $1 billion in medical costs each year. His pledge is to end the “synthetic subversion” in his state.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with the responsible use of marijuana by adults and it should be of no interest or concern to the government. They have no business knowing whether we smoke or why we smoke." Keith Stroup, NORMLCON 2010

Compiled by Hemp News

1. Global: U.S.-Mexico Drug Summit Fails to Acknowledge Obvious Solution to Violent Drug Cartels

Ending Marijuana Prohibition Would Deal Crucial Blow to Mexican Drug Cartels, Drastically Reduce Border Violence.

Salem-News.com

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Today, high-ranking officials from the United States and Mexico concluded a three-day conference meant to outline ways the two nations could reduce the illicit drug trade-associated violence that continues to plague the U.S.-Mexican border.

Talk of renewed unity within the cannabis legalization movement ignites a sense of family within the community

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News Correspondent/Oregon NORML Member

The 9th Annual Oregon Medical Cannabis Awards, sponsored by Oregon NORML, included a public Holiday Bazaar featuring unique items from a dozen vendors and held educational programs at the World Famous Cannabis Café located 322 SE 82nd Ave, Portland, OR 97216. The Cannabis Cafe is a private club that serves Oregon Medical Marijuana Program registrants, and is not usually open to the public.

The Pharmaceuticalization of Cannabis: Rescheduling proponents suggest cannabis doesn't meet the Controlled Substances Act's extensive criteria for placement in Schedule I. The U.S. Government clings to the stance that cannabis merit’s Schedule I status.

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News Correspondent

Sunil Aggarwal, PhD, represents a new generation of scientific-minded doctors, leaving cannabis’ negative propaganda behind and fighting for it as a valuable, medicinal plant. His credentials include the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), Health Professionals for Responsible Drug Scheduling, service on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine and he is a Seattle Hempfest Core Staff Member.

“A society has to make a choice: tolerate alternative lifestyles or build more prisons.” Rick Steves

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News Correspondent

In August, travel writer and activist extraordinaire, Rick Steves, spoke to the Seattle Hempfest Hemposium about the futile attempt to enforce a failed prohibition, Europe's successful and pragmatic harm reduction approach to marijuana and the basic non-apologetic stance of cannabis use as a civil liberty. “I believe, very strongly, that it is the responsible, adult, recreational, no apologies necessary, ‘it just makes my music more fun,’ recreational use of marijuana is a civil liberty," Steves explained.

By Anna Diaz, Hemp News Correspondent

Portland, OR - Unique holiday shopping is just one reason to attend the ninth annual Oregon Medical Cannabis Awards (OMCA). The day event is free and open to the public from 10:00am to 5:00pm and features a unique green shopping bazaar and educational programs to be held at the World Famous Cannabis Cafe, 322 SE 82nd Ave, Portland, OR 97216.

The Cannabis Cafe is a private club that serves Oregon Medical Marijuana Program registrants, and is not usually open to the public. The OMCA provides a special opportunity for the curious to get a peek inside as well as the chance to shop for a wide variety of hemp and cannabis friendly products in one place. From hemp based soaps and clothing to handmade jewelry and mosaic art, the Holiday Bazaar at the OMCA is one of Portland's best kept secrets.

By Christina Williams, Sustainable Business Oregon

Naturally Advanced Inc. announced Wednesday that Hanesbrands Inc. will buy as much as $375,000 worth of the natural-fiber company's new Crailar Flax material for testing in its products.

Both companies recently finished trials of Naturally Advanced's new Crailar Flax product, which is being developed by the company to follow its Crailar Hemp offering, which was purchased by Hanes earlier this year.

Naturally Advanced is led by Portland-based CEO Ken Barker, a former Adidas executive. Barker said in a press release, "We believe this next step is a significant validation of our technology and we look forward to bringing Crailar Flax fiber to consumers in 2011."

Naturally Advanced had been focusing its business on a hemp-based fiber, with operations based in Vancouver, Canada, where laws don't restrict the use of hemp. In the last year, the company has focused on proving its technology with flax fiber, which is more readily available in the U.S., said Naturally Advanced spokeswoman Erin Brunner.

The company also has a processing facility in South Carolina.

Brunner said that flax is a winter crop in South Carolina that rotates well with cotton, soybeans and tobacco, allowing farmers there to double-crop their land and increase their income.

Naturally Advanced, which is traded over the counter under the symbol NADVF, raised $1.4 million in a private placement in May.

By LEX18 News

Gatewood Galbraith and Dea Riley will formally announce that they will be running for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, respectively, on Wednesday, according to a press release Tuesday.

Galbraith and Riley say they will open their 2011 Campaign and Ballot Petition Drive with a press conference in the Capitol Rotunda at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

According to the release, the candidates will outline their issues and plans for restoring Kentucky to prosperity.

Galbraith, who has been an advocate for the legalization of marijuana for years, has run unsuccessfully for various offices in Kentucky, including commissioner of agriculture, governor (four times - as a Democrat in 1991 and 1995, 2007, and as a Reform Party candidate in 1999), U.S. representative (twice), and attorney general.


Source: http://www.lex18.com/news/galbraith-to-officially-announce-candidacy-for...

By USAgNet

Researchers at Universtiy of Connecticut have found that the fiber crop Cannabis sativa, known as industrial hemp, has properties that make it viable and even attractive as a raw material, or feedstock, for producing biodiesel - sustainable diesel fuel made from renewable plant sources.

The plant's ability to grow in infertile soils also reduces the need to grow it on primary croplands, which can then be reserved for growing food, says Richard Parnas, a professor of chemical, materials, and biomolecular engineering who led the study.

"For sustainable fuels, often it comes down to a question of food versus fuel," says Parnas, noting that major current biodiesel plants include food crops such as soybeans, olives, peanuts, and rapeseed. "It's equally important to make fuel from plants that are not food, but also won't need the high-quality land."

Industrial hemp is grown across the world, in many parts of Europe and Asia. Fiber from the plant's stalk is strong, and until the development of synthetic fibers in the 1950s, it was a premier product used worldwide in making rope and clothing.

Of all the various uses for Cannabis plants, add another, “green” one to the mix.

By Christine Buckley, UCONN

Researchers at UConn have found that the fiber crop Cannabis sativa, known as industrial hemp, has properties that make it viable and even attractive as a raw material, or feedstock, for producing biodiesel – sustainable diesel fuel made from renewable plant sources.

The plant’s ability to grow in infertile soils also reduces the need to grow it on primary croplands, which can then be reserved for growing food, says Richard Parnas, a professor of chemical, materials, and biomolecular engineering who led the study.

“For sustainable fuels, often it comes down to a question of food versus fuel,” says Parnas, noting that major current biodiesel plants include food crops such as soybeans, olives, peanuts, and rapeseed. “It’s equally important to make fuel from plants that are not food, but also won’t need the high-quality land.”

Industrial hemp is grown across the world, in many parts of Europe and Asia. Fiber from the plant’s stalk is strong, and until the development of synthetic fibers in the 1950s, it was a premier product used worldwide in making rope and clothing.

By Cassandra Upton, NBC

It won't get you high, but researchers at UConn say they've found another use for Cannabis plants.

The fiber crop Cannabis sativa, known as industrial hemp, has properties that make it attractive as a raw material for producing biodiesel fuel, UConn Today reports.

Richard Parnas, a professor of chemicals, materials and biomolecular engineering, led a UConn study on the subject.

Several things make the hemp an appealing option for producing the sustainable diesel fuel that's made from renewable plant sources, he said.

Like the plant's ability to grow in infertile soils, reducing the need to grow it on primary croplands, which can then be reserved for growing food.

“For sustainable fuels, often it comes down to a question of food versus fuel,” says Parnas, noting that major current biodiesel plants include food crops such as soybeans, olives and peanuts. “It’s equally important to make fuel from plants that are not food, but also won’t need the high-quality land.”

Industrial hemp is grown across the world, mainly in Europe and Asia and fiber from the stalk was used worldwide to make rope and clothing until the development of synthetic fibers in the 1950s. Parnas says that because a hemp industry already exists, a hemp biodiesel industry would need little additional investment.

By USA Today Staff

Hemp is turning a new leaf. The plant fiber, used to make the sails that took Christopher Columbus' ships to the New World, is now a building material.

In Asheville, N.C., a home built with thick hemp walls was completed this summer and two more are in the works.

Dozens of hemp homes have been built in Europe in the past two decades, but they're new to the United States, says David Madera, co-founder of Hemp Technologies, a company that supplied the mixture of ground-up hemp stalks, lime and water.

The industrial hemp is imported because it cannot be grown legally in this country — it comes from the same plant as marijuana.

Its new use reflects an increasing effort to make U.S. homes not only energy-efficient but also healthier. Madera and other proponents say hemp-filled walls are non-toxic, mildew-resistant, pest-free and flame-resistant.

"There is a growing interest in less toxic building materials, says Peter Ashley, director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control.

"The potential health benefits are significant," he says, citing a recent study of a Seattle public housing complex that saw residents' health improve after their homes got a green makeover.

By Ray Long and Monique Garcia, Chicago Tribune

SPRINGFIELD --- The Illinois House today defeated a measure that would have allowed people to use marijuana for relief of chronic pain.

The medical marijuana bill got 53 votes, but needed 60 to pass. Another 59 lawmakers voted against it, and one voted present.

Sponsoring Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, argued the measure was aimed at giving people in pain a better quality of life, particularly after doctors have tried multiple medications that have not helped a person suffering from a debilitating illnesses.

“There are people who need our help,” Lang said, pointing to the House gallery, where people with chronic illnesses watched in hopes of passage.

Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Troy, a pharmacist, argued the legislation does not provide enough regulation.

“This should be called the marijuana possession law,” Stephens said. “It doesn’t restrict the use in any one way.”

By Cindy Hadish, KCRG Reporter

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Iowa Board of Pharmacy has taken its final step regarding medical marijuana.

Board members on Wednesday, Nov. 24, drew up a bill for the Iowa Legislature to consider in January that would reclassify marijuana as a schedule II drug.

Marijuana is currently considered a schedule I drug in Iowa. Changing the classification would open its use for medicinal purposes like other prescription drugs, but not without further action, said Executive Director Lloyd Jessen.

First, the board’s action is only a recommendation to the Legislature, he said.

“They can react to it or ignore it,” Jessen said. “It doesn’t make it available for use at all, but it (would) change the classification.”

Legislators would also need to set up a “compassionate use” program, as 16 other states have done, to allow its use for medicinal purposes, he said.

Federal law prohibits its use, but the current administration is not enforcing that law in states that have medical marijuana programs.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Drug Enforcement Administration could also make changes that would allow the use of medical marijuana, Jessen said.

Members of Iowans for Medical Marijuana attended the board’s meeting in Des Moines.

Jessen said legislators could still ask the board to administer a medical marijuana program.

By Larry Derfner, Jewish Journal

In nearly 50 years of researching the legendary powers of cannabis, Raphael Mechoulam, an 80-year-old chemistry professor at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, says he’s only sampled the stuff himself once. That was in 1964 at his home in Tel Aviv.

"My wife baked a cake and my research partner and I spread THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the oily, active ingredient in cannabis) on the top. We used 10 mg of THC on each slice – too much, I think – and we and a group of friends and colleagues started eating," says Mechoulam in his office in HU’s pharmacology labs.

"I felt a little high, but nothing more. My wife said she didn’t feel anything at all. One man said he didn’t feel anything, but started having laughing fits for the next hour. One woman had a bad trip – she was a very reserved person and suddenly she felt exposed in front of everyone. One man said he didn’t feel anything, but then didn’t stop talking for three hours, which I suppose was to be expected since he was a member of Knesset."

By a narrow margin, Arizona voters have approved medical marijuana for people with chronic or debilitating diseases.

By The AP

The decision makes Arizona the 15th state to have approved a medical marijuana law. California was the first in 1996, and 13 other states and the District of Columbia followed.

The ballot measure on the issue, Proposition 203, won by just 4,341 votes out of more than 1.67 million ballots counted, according to final tallies announced on Saturday.

The approval came as something of a surprise. At one point on Election Day, the measure trailed by about 7,200 votes. The gap gradually narrowed until it edged ahead during counting on Friday. The final tally was 841,346 in favor and 837,005 opposed.

"We really believe that we have an opportunity to set an example to the rest of the country on what a good medical marijuana program looks like," said Andrew Myers, campaign manager for the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project.

The Arizona measure will allow patients with diseases including cancer, AIDS, hepatitis C and any other "chronic or debilitating" disease that meets guidelines to grow plants or to buy two and a half ounces of marijuana every two weeks.

The patients must obtain a recommendation from their doctor and register with the Arizona Department of Health Services. The law allows for no more than 124 marijuana dispensaries in the state.

By Sarah Mirk, Blogtown

As I reported last week, a national marijuana conference filled the luxury Governor Hotel with the sweet stench of pot smoke, including a kick-off speech from Representative Earl Blumenauer and a talk by none other than public television travel host Rick Steves! Who knew Rick Steves was a major advocate of drug law reform?

I sat down with Rick Steves last Friday to talk pot. Here's our quick Q&A on why changing marijuana laws is good for parents, good for Christians and good for society.

I bet people are surprised to find out you're a marijuana advocate.

In some people's minds, they have like whiplash. They say, "I didn't know you were involved in that." And I think that's funny because my persona, everything about me, is consistent. I think enjoying marijuana is perfectly consistent with being a good parent, a good citizen, a Christian or a person of faith, a creative individual who wants to embrace life and challenge themselves with creative adventures. All that's right in keeping with the someone who wants to enjoy a little marijuana.

I heard you were chosen the 2008 Lutheran of the Year. What does the church think about your marijuana advocacy?

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

Petition Targeting: The President of the United States

By D. Paul Stanford, Hemp News Staff

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.

Tribute to Jack Herer

By Gatewood Galbraith

Jack Herer is a social and philosophical tsunami, the ripples from whose splash will forever grace the shores of human consciousness in every freedom loving nation.

He is a grand champion of “We the People” and a natural cycle in our battle with the synthetic subversion which threatens the very concepts of the sovereignty of each human individual.

Jack's tireless efforts to eliminate the facts about cannabis have furnished freedom fighters everywhere with the tools of knowledge with which to resist the fascism of the corporate state as it seeks to subject everyone to its economic bottom line.

Jack recognized that cannabis is a gateway to existentialism, which enlightens our existence and is the basis of our freedom of choice. He also recognized the miraculous healing powers of this herb and many sick and dying people have found comfort in its use after reading his wonderful manifesto "The Emperor Wears No Clothes". I am one of them.

Venture capital firm helps with expansion

By Martin Cash, Winnipeg Free Press
Photo by Mike Deal

Mike Fata says only the global recession has managed to slow the company down.

When daytime talk show stars like Martha Stewart and Dr. Oz start endorsing the health and nutritional benefits of hemp-seed foods, chances are it's only a matter of time before middle America will start queuing up to buy the product.

And that's exactly what's been happening with products like hemp-seed oil, hemp milk, hemp-seed butter, shelled hemp seed and hemp protein and fibre powder.

What that means for Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods & Oils, the largest vertically integrated hemp food manufacturer in the world, is it needs more capital to keep pace with that growth.

This week, the Winnipeg company announced Avrio Ventures, a Calgary-based venture capital firm that specializes in industrial bio-products, nutraceutical ingredients and food technology companies, just made another multimillion-dollar investment in its operation. "It is huge news for us," said Mike Fata, Manitoba Harvest's CEO and co-founder.

It's Manitoba Harvest's second placement from Avrio, a $75-million fund that is partially backed by Farm Credit Canada.

Over the last 12 years, the Winnipeg company has quietly become one of the fastest-growing companies in the country, with average annual growth of between 50 and 75 per cent.

The Ras Tafari Religious Community staged three different marches in favour of the legalization of marihuana in Warsaw, Wednesday.

The marches started at 15.00 CET in three different locations in the city centre and finished at the Parliament.

The aim of the marches is to protest against Warsaw City Hall’s decision to refuse the “Free Hemp” Legislative Initiative Committee to register a demonstration in favor of the legalization of marihuana.

“We’ll stop the traffic in the city for some time and let the world know that in Poland people don’t have the right to meet on the streets,” Adam Fularz from Ras Tafari Religious Community told the PAP news agency earlier.

The Warsaw City Hall argues that the decision had nothing to do with the subject of the demonstration.

“Cannabis supporters wanted to organize three marches a day for twelve days in Warsaw city centre in rush hours. The marches would cause huge traffic jams and be a major inconvenience for city residents. Organizers of the protests did not try to reach a compromise, they openly admitted that their aim is to cause traffic chaos,” says Marcin Ochmanski from Warsaw City Hall, adding that in May “Free Hemp” Legislative Initiative Committee was allowed to stage a protest.


Source: http://www.thenews.pl/national/artykul140132_pro-cannabis-marches-woft-t...

If Passed, Prop 19 Would Allow Adults 21 and Older to Possess up to an Ounce of Pot for Personal Use

By Associated Press

By Associated Press

Medical marijuana would be legal in Arizona today if not for bad wording in a 1996 ballot measure passed by voters, and then an overbroad proposal that failed in 2002.

Now backers of a measure that goes before Arizona voters on Nov. 2 hope they've worked out all the kinks and that Arizonans will legalize marijuana for patients dealing with severe and persistent pain.

Thousands of patients face "a terrible choice" of suffering with a serious or even terminal illness or going to the criminal market for pot, said Andrew Myers, campaign manager for the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project. More than 252,000 voter signatures were collected to put the measure on the ballot _ nearly 100,000 more than required.

November will be the fourth time in 14 years Arizona voters will consider the issue.

Voters overwhelmingly approved a medical marijuana law in 1996 and 1998, but wording conflicted with federal law, blocking its enactment. Then in 2002, voters rejected a sweeping initiative that would have decriminalized possession of up to 2 ounces of marijuana for any user and required state police to hand out the drug to seriously ill people.

But this year's law applies only to patients with diseases including cancer, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, glaucoma, and Crohn's disease, among others, and any other "chronic or debilitating" diseases that cause continuous and severe pain, severe nausea, or seizures.

As long as breast cancer exists, the finish line has not been reached, but each year's Komen race brings it closer

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News

Inspiration was in the air on Sunday, September 19th at the 19th Annual Susan G. Komen “Race for the Cure” in Waterfront Park in downtown Portland. It is estimated that over 40,000 people, including over 3,500 breast cancer survivors, walked, raced and ran, bringing awareness and raising millions in the name of breast cancer research.

Showing their pride as the emcee acknowledged their participation, about a dozen walkers on the streets were from the Oregon Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Their slogan was: “It’s NORML to Race for the Cure”.

“This is Oregon NORML's first year to have a team in the race. As a team, we are going to do the untimed one-mile walk.” stated, Anna Diaz of Oregon NORML.

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News

Don E. Wirtshafter ( http://drugsense.org ) gives a speech to the Seattle Hempfest 2010 crowd, in tribute to his good friend Jack Herer.

"Hempfest would not be here were it not for Jack," says Wirtshafter.

He discusses the chaos of the Drug War and how it needs to be stopped. He explains about the DEA and their viscous "sneak and peek" and "knock and talk" tactics to taking advantage of legal medical marijuana patients in Washington.

Don feels that the community needs to step up and help these people who are being taken advantage of and realize the value hemp can bring to our society.

Don is best known for his 1990 launch of the Ohio Hempery, America's first hemp products merchant. He is an inspiration to many within the cannabis legalization movement.

Footage: Hempfest 2010
August 21, 2010

http://www.hempfest.org