2010

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

The debate over medical marijuana is nothing new, but it has been picking up momentum lately, as more states move towards legalized control over the system. If you want to learn more about the medical ethics, benefits and uses of marijuana, as well as the research and court cases surrounding legalization, check out these 30 blogs.

Legal and News

Get state news, national regulation concern, and other news about the legal and business side of medical marijuana.

1. NORML Blog: The campaign to reform marijuana laws is tracked and promoted on this blog. Recommended posts: "I Gots Mine: Dispensary Owners Against Marijuana Legalization" and "California’s Prop 19: A Word-for-Word Analysis."

Stop the Drug War, Before They Kick In Your Door

By Paul Stanford, Executive Director of THCF for Hemp News

My speech at the 2010 Seattle Hempfest is my effort to highlight the historical, scientific and philosophical importance of hemp and cannabis. I honor cannabis reform activists that have passed on, such as Jack Herer and Dr. Tod Mikuriya; those arrested for cannabis, such as cannabis minister Roger Christie of Hawaii, Marc Emery of Canada, and Eddy Lepp of California; and those sentenced to death for cannabis in Malaysia.

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News

Gatewood is currently campaigning for Kentucky's 2011 gubernatorial race; Please support him any way you can as he will end the "Synthetic Subversion" in his state.

Learn more about his efforts: http://www.gatewood.com

Footage: Seattle Hempfest
August 21, 2010

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJjpJlCZ7mc

By David Vink

Ford Forschungszentrum says it is close to using polypropylene reinforced with 30% sisal fibres for injection moulding.

Ford's Maira Magnani was speaking at Kassel University's 8th Global WPC and Natural Fibre Composites congress and exhibition last month, held for the first time in Stuttgart-Fellbach.

The 30% sisal fibre reinforced parts have already passed FMC crash and head impact test requirements. A centre console made using the material weighs 20% less than talc filled PP. Other advantages include a 20% lower melt temperature and a 10% faster cycle time.

However, further work is needed on the sisal material, Magnani advised, as there are issues to be solved in terms of odour, colour matching with parts made with non-natural fibres, mould flow input data, crash simulation and natural fibre simulation modules.

The sisal reinforced PP was developed by Ford Motor Company (FMC) which has over the last few years developed natural fibre reinforced composites for injection moulding, for example the 50% kenaf fibre reinforced PP used in Ford Mondeo, Focus and Fiesta door panels.

Ford is also looking at using 30% hemp fibre reinforced PP made in the USA and Brazil in electrical/electronic housings and engine compartment applications. Material and component tests also indicated that this type of material is also “close to implementation”, says Ford.

By Steve Elliott, Toke of the Town & Special to Hemp News

If you've never been to Seattle Hempfest, the world's largest "protestival" based around marijuana, you really owe it to yourself. While it's hard to describe the vibe of being in a crowd of a couple hundred thousand like-minded people, those who have been there keep coming back again and again.

Hempfest, going strong since 1991, is one of the best and almost certainly the biggest marijuana rally in the world. This year's edition hits Seattle on Saturday, August 21 and Sunday, August 22, and is dedicated to the memory of legendary hemp activist Jack Herer, whom the movement lost this year.

Free admission, good music, friendly people, and a beautiful setting have always been among the reasons to attend -- and Myrtle Edwards Park on the lovely Seattle waterfront is guaranteed to be smelling really good once the party kicks in.

"The Seattle Hempfest is incredibly inspirational," said Paul Stanford of this year's primary sponsors The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF).

40,000 Square Foot Facility Utilized As Pilot Scale Facility For Crailar Decortication Process

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News Staff

The hemp industry in the United States has taken a step forward in the Carolina's as Naturally Advanced Technologies, Inc (NAT) has announced that it has signed a ten month sublease of a facility at 164 County Camp Road, Kingstree, SC, 29556.

NAT has always committed to unlocking the potential of renewable and environmentally sustainable biomass resources from hemp and other bast fibers and this decision to locate closer to the HanesBrand headquarters is no exception to their track record. The move will create a presence as the demand for organic fibers increases worldwide. NAT's positive studies at North Carolina State University with their 80% Cotton/20% Hemp blend show great promise to the development of organic fibers worldwide. (See Video)

By John Hoeffel, LA Now

The 200,000-member United Food and Commercial Workers, Western States Council, on Wednesday announced its support for Proposition 19, the initiative to legalize marijuana in California.

“The Western States Council is endorsing Proposition 19 based upon our previous support of the medical cannabis initiative, 1996’s Proposition 215,” George Landers, the council's executive director, said in a statement. “We view Proposition 19 as an enhanced version of the previous proposition, that creates taxable revenue and produces jobs in agriculture, health care, retail and possibly textile. We further believe that the proposition will deprive narcotics traffickers of a significant source of criminal revenue.”

Ron Lind, international president of the union, and Dan Rush of its Local 5 also spoke out in favor of Proposition 19.

“The marriage of the cannabis-hemp industry and UFCW is a natural one,” said Rush. “We are an agriculture, food-processing and retail union, as is this industry.”

The council is the political arm of UFCW in several Western states. It comprises the UFCW local unions in the states it covers.


Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/07/union-endorses-initiative-...

By Paul Stanford, Chief Petitioner, OCTA 2012

Oregonians for the Cannabis Tax Act 2012 (OCTA 2012) will soon begin gathering the initial 1000 registered Oregon voters' signatures needed to sponsor the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act 2012 petition. After gathering these required first signatures, the Office of the Secretary of State will certify a ballot title with the Attorney General, proposing a statutory initiative for the General Election of November 1, 2012.

OCTA 2012 will set aside two percent of the profits from the sale of cannabis in adult-only stores for two new state committees that will promote Oregon industrial hemp biodiesel, fiber and food.

It will also legalize the sale, possession and personal private cultivation of marijuana. People who want to cultivate and sell marijuana, or process commercial psychoactive cannabis, would be required to obtain a license from the state. Adults could grow their own marijuana and the sale of all cannabis strains' seeds and starter plants would be legalized with no license, fee nor registration. The profits from the sale of cannabis to adults will add hundreds of millions of dollars into the state general fund, as well as drug treatment and education.

Former Talk Show Host, U.S. Marine and MS Patient Urges Albany Lawmakers to Act Without Delay

By Salem-News, salem-news.com

(ALBANY, N.Y. ) - At a press conference in Albany on Tuesday, former talk show host, U.S. Navy officer and New York City resident Montel Williams urged New York Governor David Paterson and members of the Legislature to act quickly in order to pass New York’s medical marijuana bill.

The New York bill would create one of the best-regulated systems in the country for providing seriously ill patients with safe and effective access to medical marijuana. Mr. Williams suffers from multiple sclerosis, and uses medical marijuana to help ease the effects of his condition.

“New York needs to act now to make marijuana legally available for medical use. Every day that we delay is another day of needless suffering for patients like me all across the state,” Williams said.

“Thousands of New Yorkers suffer from serious medical conditions that could benefit from the medical use of marijuana,” said Assembly Member Richard N. Gottfried, Chair of the Assembly Health Committee and sponsor of the Assembly medical marijuana bill. “If the patient and the doctor agree that the most effective medicine is marijuana, the government should not stand in the way. It is cruel to turn suffering patients into criminals when they are following what their doctor recommends.”

By Michael Bachara, Larry L.K. Kirk and Nick Scranton, Hemp News Staff

On Saturday, June 26, organizers from across the state celebrated the 1st Annual Tacoma Hempfest at Wright Park.

The weather was perfect for a day out as thousands converged and brought attention to the cannabis plant, as well as highlighting the injustice done to Canadian citizen Marc Emery who many feel is wrongly incarcerated in the United States for selling seeds.

"Free Marc Emery" was the chant that could be heard throughout the day in opposition to his incarceration.

Musical acts and keynote speakers such Seattle Hempfest core member Vivian McPeak also inspired the crowd with moving dedications to fallen warrior Jack Herer, by declaring, "Every generation that comes along, it becomes necessary for somebody to step forward who can articulate a message of freedom and hope and show us a pathway away from tyranny to liberty. For this generation that was Jack Herer." He went on by stating, "Jack literally gave his life to the cannabis movement; he refused to stop!"

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Bills introduced in the New Jersey Legislature would delay the start of the state's new medical marijuana law until Jan. 1.

Legislation introduced in the Senate and Assembly calls for a three-month delay in the law giving chronically ill patients access to marijuana.

The bill would give the state Health Department more time to set up the system under which AIDS, cancer and MS patients could legally access the drug.

On Friday, Gov. Chris Christie proposed a centralized growing and distribution program with Rutgers University and state hospitals playing major roles.

Sen. Nick Scutari, a sponsor of the medical marijuana act, says he's considering Christie's suggestions.


Source: http://cbs3.com/wireapnewsnj/NJ.bill.would.2.1763870.html

ND governmental leaders get the brush-off from the U.S. Justice Department

By SUE ROESLER, Farm & Ranch Guide

North Dakota government leaders and producers aren't giving up on growing industrial hemp.

Another appeal of a lawsuit decision regarding the right of farmers with state licenses to grow industrial hemp without worrying about the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) arresting them was filed last week.

Two North Dakota farmers, State Rep. David Monson and Wayne Hauge, appealed a 2007 industrial hemp lawsuit decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia Circuit last week.

While North Dakota producers can purchase state licenses to grow industrial hemp, the DEA continues to ignore their requests for a federal registration - even after a district court judge called the agency out on it.

In 2007, U.S. District Judge Dan Hovland said he had to dismiss the farmers' lawsuit against the DEA because of federal law that lumped industrial hemp together with marijuana under the controlled substances act.

However, he chided the DEA for not responding to the farmers' and other agencies' requests.

At that time, Hovland said “there is no realistic prospect the plaintiffs (Monson and Hauge) will ever be issued a license by the DEA to grow industrial hemp.”

He called the DEA's action an “unreasonable delay.”

By Ted Smith, Cannabis Culture

On March 28, 2010, the Vancouver Island Hempology 101 Club hosted its 1st Annual Cannabis Convention, at which I had the honor of being the final speaker. Though I have hosted 11 similar conventions at the University of Victoria, this was the first time I scheduled speaking time for myself.

The crowd was an interesting combination of seasoned activists, students eager to act upon what they have learned, and medical users still new to the idea that the best way to maintain their health is to break the law. Therefore, I tried to focus upon strategies people can take to address various problems cannabis activists face and opportunities that some may not have considered.

Since my speech was not written down, those wishing to hear word-for-word what I said can easily watch the YouTube video, along with the rest of the convention. My intent in presenting this article is to cover the 10 points I raised in ways that compliment my original presentation.

In 1998, Washington became one of the first states to recognize marijuana as a legitimate form of medicine. Since then, many more states have followed suit, and recent polls show that a majority of voters in the country see marijuana as having legitimate medical purposes.

By The Spectator Editorial Board

However,the medical marijuana system is frequently abused. First started by legalization activists as an intermediate step, medical marijuana isn’t a medicine at all for some people, but merely a doctor-validated excuse to get high. When “doctors” use The Stranger to advertise their willingness to write marijuana prescriptions for a fee, you know something isn’t right.

The Spectator supports I-1068, the proposed initiative to legalize marijuana sale, possession and growing for adults in Washington. It’s already been decriminalized in Seattle and made the lowest police priority, so it makes sense to just drop the bureaucracy surrounding the substance and allow adults to use it with regulations similar to alcohol.

While the bill is still gathering signatures, this is an important issue that deserves attention on the ballot in November. Not only will it allow marijuana users to safely grow their own or buy it without going through risky third parties, it will also allow farmers to cultivate hemp, an extremely versatile, renewable fiber created from the marijuana plant. Hemp can be used to create rope, clothes, food and more.

By Dimakatso Motau

The composite materials industry has the potential to contribute to the growth of the local economy, says the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) chief researcher and research group leader for composite materials Dr Rajesh Anandjiwala.

This view is also supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Department of Trade and Industry, which have identified the growth of natural fibre-based industries as a significant agro economic tool.

Anandjiwala says that South Africa has the potential to become a tier-two supplier of composite products in future. However, he adds that the country must aim to become a tier-one supplier for higher benefits and job retentions.

However, to achieve this, the country must overcome certain challenges in the composites industry. Anandjiwala points to a lack of raw materials being manufactured locally, which results in the import of certain raw materials, such as natural fibres, some speciality chemicals and resins. He says the development of the industry is also hindered by the lack of a skilled workforce.

He adds that natural fibres in composites will also provide other benefits for industries in South Africa. The advantages of using natural fibres in composites include its light weight, which results in weight saving, a cheaper raw material price from the natural source, thermal recycling and the ecological advantages of using renewable resources, he explains.

By Associated Press

A Republican state legislator and farmer from northeastern North Dakota who wants to grow hemp is asking another federal appeals court to review his case.

David Monson from Osnabrock filed a petition for review on Monday in a federal appeals court in the District of Columbia. Monson and Wayne Hauge, a farmer from Ray in northwestern North Dakota, received the first state licenses to grow industrial hemp in 2007, but they`ve never received approval from the Drug Enforcement Administration, which considers hemp a drug.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in December affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit filed against the U.S government by the two North Dakota farmers.

Related: http://www.votehemp.com/legal_cases_ND.html#petition


Source: http://www.kfyrtv.com/News_Stories.asp?news=40164

By The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie is requesting more time to implement the medical marijuana law passed by the legislature in January, and scheduled to take effect in July, according to a report on NJSpotlight.com.

The governor's staff is requesting a six to 12-month delay, the report said, in order to sort out logistics of implementing the law. Changing the timetable would require passage of another bill by the legislature, the report said.

In March, The Star-Ledger reported that both Christie and acting Health and Senior Services Commissioner Poonam Alaigh asked to extend the timetable.

According to Alaigh, the department was having some issues.

"We are rigorously trying to meet the time frame, but the first priority is to create a structure" that will be the "most restrictive, in the way the law was meant to be," Alaigh said in March.


Source: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/05/governors_office_asks_for_exte....

Things about hemp that were not taught to Jack in school, he tried to teach others. He was a steward of the plant and devoted his life to the support of cannabis as he believed it was the greatest gift the world has ever known.

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News Staff

Hemp for Victory was a 1942 documentary produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to encourage farmers to grow outlawed industrial hemp for the war effort as a way to stabilize America during World War II.

As the War on Drugs proceeded onward, the United States Department of Agriculture Library and the Library of Congress stated no such movie was made by the USDA or any branch of the U.S. government. His creditability threatened, Jack Herer made it his mission to uncover the truth about Hemp for Victory. He knew it was a USDA creation and not simply folklore.

"We are looking for at least 3,000 people to show up and flex their rights. Anything less than that is unacceptable." Scott Gordon, Oregon NORML

By Anna Diaz, Oregon NORML/Hemp News

Portland, Oregon - Saturday, May 1, 2010 marks the eleventh annual Global Cannabis March in Portland , Oregon . This year's march and rally runs from 10:00am to 5:00pm. Participants will gather in Pioneer Courthouse Square to march at high noon through downtown Portland, accompanied by a police escort. Cures-Not-Wars and Urbage Designs join Oregon NORML as sponsors of this event.

Scott Gordon, Vending and Hemp Director for Oregon NORML reports, "This year's performers and speakers are all from the Portland area as part of our efforts to provide a more environmentally and economically responsible event."

Winner of the "Open 4 Snoop Dogg" contest, Bad Habitat, is just one of the bands set to perform. Madeline Martinez, Executive Director of Oregon NORML and founder of the Cannabis Café and Russ Belville, national NORML Outreach Coordinator and podcast host along with Delia Lopez, congressional candidate are just a few of the speakers who will fill out the day. Vendors and nonprofit groups will provide goods and services that support the hemp and cannabis community. Voter registration and educational information will be available to the public.

By Bennett Hall, Gazette-Times reporter

A pair of pro-marijuana events are coming to Corvallis as advocates push to get a measure aimed at legalizing the drug on the November ballot.

Local pot promoters are planning a Corvallis Marijuana March on Saturday to coincide with marches in other cities organized by Cures Not Wars, a New York-based group that opposes the war on drugs.

Sponsored by the Corvallis Cannabis Movement and Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, the local event will begin at 2 p.m. with a rally at the Benton County Courthouse. The march will start at 4:20 p.m., winding around the courthouse, the police station and City Hall before turning west on Monroe Avenue to Oregon State University and then heading back to Central Park.

In a news release announcing the event, the organizers said they’ll be looking for petition circulators to gather signatures for the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act.

The measure, which is being promoted by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, would make it legal for adults to grow and use marijuana in Oregon. It would also regulate pot sales, with part of the proceeds going to promote industrial hemp use.

The petitioners hope to collect 125,000 signatures by July 2, the deadline to place the ballot measure before voters in the November general election.

Center stage is exactly where Jack Herer belonged. A talented, “bombastic” man, Jack’s energy was contagious and his legacy is alive and well.

By Bonnie King, Salem-News/Hemp News

(SALEM, Ore.) - Jack Herer was born June 18th, 1939, in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York. In 1940 his family moved to Buffalo, where he was raised, the son of a collection agency manager. A “normal American nerd”, he grew into a respectable young man, joining the military, getting married and starting a family.

And then, at age thirty, he completely changed direction, becoming one of the very first American Cannabis activists, and inevitably the most world renowned leader for hemp education.

Jack didn’t start out as the “kind of guy” who smoked pot. He was a Goldwater Republican, in the sign maintenance business. In 1969, recently divorced, he was introduced to cannabis by a girlfriend. He wasn’t much interested in it before then, and after briefly trying it a couple of times he was fairly sure it didn’t “work on him”. Jack was therefore naive to the euphoric or medicinal properties of the herb. When he decided to really give it a try, he said he had the most incredible sex of his life.

That inspired him to learn more. What he learned, he shared.

By Liina Flynn, Echo

Klara Marosszeky has a vision for the future that involves revamping of the local farming industry to produce industrial hemp crops. Working with farmers, she has just harvested her first commercial crop of industrial hemp and is looking for innovators who want to utilise the product.

(Tetrahydrocannabinol) content and produces the longest, strongest plant fibres in the world. It is used in many countries in the manufacture of plastics, fiberglass, fabrics, food and building materials.

“In the UK, a major car manufacturer, Lotus, is making whole cars out of hemp,” Klara said. “Everything but the engine is hemp. Henry Ford would be grinning in his grave.”

Klara currently teaches sustainability courses at TAFE and envisions hemp as the solution to many of the sustainability issues that are affecting Australia today. Not only is she trying to create a hemp industry in NSW and open the way to using hemp seed as a food product, but she is out to make housing materials affordable. After looking around for alternative products to replace our current dependence on timber, Klara spent years experimenting with hemp masonry as a building material, with very successful results. Two years ago, she was a finalist for the Northern Rivers Regional Development Board’s innovation award for her hemp masonry.

By Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director

The Congressional Research Service (CRS), part of the Library of Congress, has a mandate to research and publish non-partisan, up-to-date and relevant information for members of Congress and their staff to help them craft legislation.

The most recent CRS white paper on medical cannabis in the United States is, in fishing parlance, a ‘keeper’. Released for public consumption on April 2, 2010, it is a well researched, scholarly and important document for reformers to download and keep close at hand as a very well presented primer on the history and current domestic legal status of medical cannabis. Of particular help are the many numerous citations and footnotes for greater reference and depth of understanding.

Very often, and rightly so, taxpayers–notably cannabis consumers–are frustrated at how state and federal governments spend tax dollars arresting, prosecuting, incarcerating; interdicting, eradicating and propagandizing in support of cannabis prohibition. But, this most recent CRS report (like many previous reports from them on cannabis and drug policy) is an invaluable report to add to one’s ‘reform library’ that you and I can feel good paying for.