The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation

By Sharon Ko, KDRV

MEDFORD, Ore. -- Some of the patients who lost their medical marijuana to federal raids got free pot on Monday.

So-Norml, The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation and The Greenery joined forces and came up with an idea to help patients who lost their medical marijuana. They asked patients who had overages, meaning they had more than they could legally have, to donate instead.

Lori Duckworth, Executive Director of So-Norml, says many patients went back to pharmaceutical drugs after the pot raids, but still helped 300 patients before Monday's free giveaway.

So-Norml says they collected nearly 72 pounds of marijuana for the event, and for each patient that came in, organizers gave away an ounce.

The executive director says the entire cannabis group in Oregon is working to put several petitions up in the future, so voters can have the opportunity to vote. She adds the several groups want to get the word out to more community members hoping to educate them about the benefits of medical marijuana.


Source: http://kdrv.com/news/local/231272

7th Annual Portland Hempstalk - September 10-11, 2011 - Kelley Point Park, Portland, Oregon

A compelling mix of upbeat music, a cannabis law reform message and a focus on industrial hemp as the answer to many of our practical needs, the seventh annual Portland Hempstalk is set for 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. September 10th and 11th at Kelley Point Park, located at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers.

Co-sponsored by The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF), Green Leaf Lab and John Lucy, Attorney at law, the event is free to attendees of all ages. With more than 40,000 people expected to attend, it will wrap up the summer festival season with a bang.

This year's Hempstalk will also feature over one hundred vendor booths offering delicious food and irresistible merchandise, and a Hemposium, which will feature informational panels on a variety of cannabis and hemp-related topics. Speakers include THCF director Paul Stanford, NORML outreach coordinator and radio host Russ Belville and many others. Headlining musical acts include Hempstalk 2011 Talent Search Winner, The Sindicate, iconic Las
Vegas rappers Los Marijuanos, and a plethora of bands committed to end the war on cannabis.

Very few doctors are willing to allow opioids and marijuana together

By David Rosenfeld, The Lund Report

June 17, 2011 – Christine Mullins was diagnosed two years ago with fibromyalgia, a condition causing complete body-wide pain. The only way she’s found relief has been a regular dose of Oxycontin, an opioid prescribed by her doctor.

The medication, however, causes nausea and Mullins, 38, is allergic to every anti-nausea medication on the market. So for the past year, she’s been using medical marijuana with a prescription from another doctor to relieve the nausea and regain her appetite.

But recently her pain management doctor has said she can’t continue using marijuana if she wants to keep her opioid prescription.

"He told me they don’t recognize it because they get federal funding and that I needed to choose one or the other," Mullins said. "He said he didn't care what I used it for. It was an illicit drug and if I continued using it he would no longer fill my pain medication."

The doctor who prescribed the marijuana, meanwhile, won’t prescribe opioids. Mullins said she’s contacted 150 doctors in the Portland-area and none of them are willing to prescribe both opioids and allow her to use marijuana.

And Mullins isn't alone.

Paul Stanford, president of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation headquartered in Oregon with clinics in 11 states, said he's received thousands of similar complaints from chronic pain patients in Oregon.

March for your Rights: May 7th, 2011 Download & Print GCMXII Poster - PDF

By Anna Diaz, Hemp News Correspondent/Oregon NORML
Photo by LK, Hemp News Correspondent/Oregon NORML

Portland, Oregon – Over two hundred cities world wide join Portland in the twelfth annual Global Cannabis March on Saturday, May 7, 2011. Participants will gather in Pioneer Courthouse Square to march at high noon through downtown Portland, accompanied by a police escort. The World Famous Cannabis Cafe, THCF Medical Clinics, UrbAge Designs and Cures-Not-Wars join Oregon NORML as sponsors of this event.

"More and more Americans agree that it is time to end cannabis prohibition. We need your support; come and be a part of the Global Cannabis March," is the call to action from Madeline Martinez, Executive Director of Oregon NORML.

Sanchez' Blues Review has just joined the roster for the rally, which runs from 11:00am to 2:00pm. Wy'East Drummers promise to inspire as they provide the send off for the march. the march. Speakers for the rally include Paul Stanford from THCF Medical Clinics and Chief Petitioner for the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, Madeline Martinez, Executive Director of Oregon NORML and more. Watch for a special appearance from J.Mack and Big Dub during the rally.

By Anna Diaz, Hemp News Correspondent/Oregon NORML
Photo by LK, Hemp News Correspondent/Oregon NORML

Saturday, May 7, 2011 marks the twelfth annual Global Cannabis March in Portland, Oregon. This year's March and rally runs from 10:00am to 2:00pm. Participants will gather in Pioneer Courthouse Square to march at high noon through downtown Portland, accompanied by a police escort. Cures-Not-Wars join the Oregon affiliate of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Oregon NORML) and the World Famous Cannabis Cafe as sponsors of this event.

Madeline Martinez, Executive Director for Oregon NORML reports, "We hope to increase the size of the march to over 3000 in light of the many challenges currently faced by cannabis consumers."

Wy'East Drummers promise to inspire as they provide the send off for the march. Speakers for the rally include Anthony Johnson, Oregon Green Free Clinical Services Director.

"I am honored to be asked to participate," stated Anthony, who, along with the Coalition for Patients' Rights is a recipient of the 2010 Oregon Medical Cannabis Awards Freedom Fighter of the Year Award.

By Susan Gager, KEZI

EUGENE, Ore. -- Just months ago, a marijuana dispensary measure failed on the ballot in Oregon. Now the push is on to legalize the drug across the board.

The creator of the new initiative wants marijuana to be taxed just like cigarettes and liquor. He and its supporters say it would generate millions for the state. But does it have any chance of passing? That depends on who you ask.

"I think that it's time for the nation to take the demonization out of marijuana," said Phillip Allen, family nurse practitioner.

That's what the director of the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation intends to do with a new initiative to get marijuana legalized in the state.

"It really does relieve a lot of pain and it can really help a lot of people," said Eliza Williams, student.

The executive director of the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation says if it were taxed like cigarettes and liquor, it could generate millions of dollars in revenue for the state's general fund.

"Alcohol revenue brings in about $75 million. It will create lots of new jobs, and create all these new industries. We think it'll create billions and billions of dollars in the long run," said Paul Stanford, Hemp & Cannabis Foundation Executive Director.

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

If Paul Stanford has his way, cannabis will become legal in Oregon next year. The executive director of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF) is working to get a measure on the ballot in 2012 to legalize marijuana in the Beaver State.

Pot should be taxed like cigarettes and alcohol to generate millions of dollars in tax revenue for the state, according to Stanford, who said cannabis would be regulated and sold to people over the age of 21, reports Joe Raineri at KATU.

"We want to regulate it so that businesses like bars and taverns that bar the admission of minors can offer that as a business," Stanford said.

According to Stanford, legal marijuana would bring a steady flow of cash for Oregon.

"Alcohol revenues bring in about $75 million," he said. "It will create lots of new jobs. It will create all these new industries. We think it will be billions and billions of dollars in the long run."

About 90 percent of the revenue brought in by legal marijuana would go to the state's general fund.

In order to get the measure on the ballot, Stanford needs to get nearly 90,000 signatures.

By Bonnie King Salem-News.com/Special to Hemp News

(SALEM, Ore.) - Paul Stanford, Executive Director of the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation walked 2200 signatures in to the Oregon Secretary of State's office on January 4th, 2011, officially sponsoring OCTA 2012- the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act. It could prove to be a historic turning point for a state well known for its grass roots movements.

Next, the signatures will be verified, and as long as 1000 are from registered Oregon voters, the Office of the Secretary of State will certify a ballot title with the Attorney General, proposing a statutory initiative for the 2012 General Election.

"If all goes as expected, activists will hit the streets in March," said Stanford. "We need to turn in about 140,000 more signatures, or 90,000 registered Oregon voters' signatures, by July 2012 to qualify for the ballot in November 2012."

"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.

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 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).

Wes Woods II, Staff Writer

Thomas Place, 55, of Rialto, wants more research conducted on the ingestion of marijuana to assist AIDS patients and has helped create an AIDS patient medical marijuana group to further the cause.

"I just want to help other people," Place said, after showing off his concoction of marijuana tincture, a concoction that he says has helped him overcome renal failure. "I've seen people in different clinics struggling."

Place's group, the Inland Empire HIV/AIDS Medical Marijuana Patient Support Group, meets at 7:30 p.m. Mondays in Riverside.

The support group, which is also open to caregivers and family members, has had open discussions on using marijuana for treating AIDS-related symptoms for about a month.

Meetings are for dispensing information such as using marijuana, methods of injection, legal ramifications and sources for obtaining it.

Members, who maintain they are not drug addicts, said AIDS medicines often bring with them side effects that marijuana does not have.

Place said he and group facilitator Lanny Swerdlow would not be allowed to promote using marijuana if the meetings were help in a public-owned facility, which is why the meetings take place at the THCF Medical Clinic & Patient Center.

By LIZ SHEPARD, Times Herald

Doctors are sorting through the state's medical marijuana law.

Some believe it is beneficial. Others say it's not for everyone.

Dr. Paul A. Meyer has worked at The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation clinic in Southfield for six months.

Meyer, who also runs a private practice in Saginaw, said he sees patients from throughout the metro area and as far away as Port Huron.

He said the plant can be used for multiple symptoms, including nausea, pain and seizures.

"I've never seen any individual plant or medicine that has such a wide range of effectiveness," Meyer said.

He said patients are screened by clinic staff before they reach him. Meyer evaluates them and decides if they qualify.

He started working at the clinic six months ago after seeing positive results with a few patients in his private clinic.

"I see many people who have been on dozens of medications and have not had relief, and yet cannabis helps with their problems," he said.

Meyer said medical marijuana patients are not using the drug to get high. His patients' average age is in the early 40s.

He said parts of the plant don't contain delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol -- referred to as THC for short -- which causes the psychological effects associated with marijuana. Some patients choose to use the THC-free part to avoid those effects.

"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 Steve Elliott, Toke of the Town/Hemp News

Oregon's marijuana legalization initiative, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act (OCTA), is kicking off its signature-gathering phase at the OR NORML meeting in Portland this Saturday, April 10.

Petitions have just been approved for circulation by the Oregon Secretary of State's Office, and OCTA said it expects more than 300 attendees to be among the first to sign the petition for this historic ballot measure.

OCTA will generate revenue by taxing commercial cannabis sales, which will be permitted to adults 21 and older. More than $140 million a year would be generated by OCTA for the state's General Fund, according to projections, paying for education, roads, health care, and other public projects.

"OCTA will transform Oregon," said co-chief petitioner Madeleine Martinez, executive director of OR NORML. "Supporting OCTA is a no-brainer."

According to OCTA's other co-chief petitioner, Paul Stanford of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF), the potential of industrial hemp for Oregon's economy is limitless, as it will turn the state into a national leader in ecological innovation and sustainable jobs.

"The entire hemp plant is useful, from its seeds which create a food source to its oil which can be made into bio-diesel to its stalks which can be woven into fabrics or turned into paper," Stanford said. "Hemp is the future, not just for Oregon, but for a sustainable planet."

By Marla Miller, Muskegon Chronicle

Gregory Adams grew up in the college town of Ann Arbor, home to some of the most lenient laws on marijuana possession in the country.

Adams, 25, has been involved in marijuana advocacy efforts since his high school days there. And he is bringing his passion to West Michigan as executive director of the Lakeshore Compassion Club. The club plans to meet monthly at Muskegon Community College to help interested individuals wade through the confusion of Michigan’s new medical marijuana law.

“This is what the people want here,” said Adams, citing the fact 67 percent of Muskegon County voters — the third highest county percentage in the state — approved the ballot referendum. “We’re just trying to get our information out to the community. It’s a touchy subject and everyone’s scared. We want everyone to come and get informed.”

That includes law enforcement, lawyers, community activists, regular residents and opponents of the law.

The Lakeshore Club, a nonprofit group run by volunteers, had its first informational meeting last December at Muskegon Community College and had more than 40 people attend. A second meeting Jan. 22 drew about 30 people.

“All those people were so happy when they left,” said Steve Lanore, also a board member of the Lakeshore Compassion Club. “This is legal now in Michigan. We don’t want people to be scared.”

Compassion clubs sprouting up

Human from The Human Revolution and Tim Pate & Friends Scheduled to Perform

View Larger Map

By Hempstalk Staff

Green is their signature color. Medicinal marijuana gardeners throughout the state of Oregon enjoyed a plentiful harvest last fall, and look to 2010 as a year of growth, and change.

By Bonnie King, Salem-News

(SALEM, Ore.) - “After living through arrests in the past for growing marijuana, to be able to do it legally, it’s almost entirely stress-free compared to when it was illegal. So to be able to help the people that need this - it warms our hearts,” said Paul Stanford, Executive Director of The Hemp & Cannabis Foundation. The fear of breaking the law has stopped most people for seven decades from considering marijuana, or cannabis, to treat their ailments. That is no longer the rule of the day, as this medical marijuana garden clearly proves.

By Tristan Scott of the Missoulian

Jim Swansiger took a road trip to Missoula on Monday. When he returned home to Great Falls, the 60-year-old retired construction worker was a legitimate medical marijuana patient.

“My paperwork’s all in order,” Swansiger said. “I’m just going to stop by the Capitol on my way home and drop it off.”

He’ll have to wait a few weeks before the state Department of Health and Human Services sends him an identification card in the mail, but he’s covered under the Montana medical marijuana law until then. That means he can legally grow six marijuana plants and possess up to an ounce of pot, which he intends to start using for pain relief in lieu of a prescription drug called oxycodone.

Swansiger suffers from peripheral neuropathy, a disorder he says causes pain and numbness in his legs and feet – “It’s like someone is jamming pins in the tops of my feet,” he says – and his preferred course of treatment is marijuana.

And so he drove to Missoula, where a nonprofit organization called The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation was offering an all-day clinic to help patients obtain their permits.

With medical records in hand, Swansiger and dozens of other patients sat in a conference room at the Grant Creek Inn. They paid a consultation fee, which is adjusted based on income, and waited to meet with Dr. Eric Eisenbud, an ophthalmologist from Boulder, Colo.

Marijuana prohibition isn't really about drugs, it's about the continued centralization of economic and political control.

The Restore Newsletter is an information service designed to end marijuana prohibition and promote industrial hemp. If you'd like to be involved in the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp, or just want to keep informed of important new developments, you are invited to subscribe to the CRRH Restore Newsletter. Restore Newsletter - Winter 2010 (PDF) Restore Newsletter - Winter 2010 (Flip Book)

"There is reason to believe there is hope for the 21st Century, and that's the way it will be." Walter Cronkite

Compiled by Hemp News Staff

1. California: DEA To Yield Marijuana Jurisdiction To States - 3/2/2009

Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is sending strong signals that President Obama - who as a candidate said states should be allowed to make their own rules on medical marijuana - will end raids on pot dispensaries in California.

"What the president said during the campaign, you'll be surprised to know, will be consistent with what we'll be doing here in law enforcement," he said. "What he said during the campaign is now American policy."

Source: http://hemp.org/news/us-to-yield-marijuana-jurisdiction-to-states



2. Washington State: Kitsap Medical Marijuana Defendant Acquitted - 3/24/2009

By CHARLIE BERMANT, Port Orchard Independent Staff Writer

A medical marijuana patient being prosecuted in Kitsap County Superior Court for drug trafficking was found not guilty on Tuesday morning, after a jury ruled that his use of the drug was within the law.

The jury deliberated for approximately two hours prior to its ruling.

RIVERSIDE - Riverside's first medical marijuana dispensary is expected to open today.

The Inland Empire Health and Wellness Center Medical Marijuana Collective, 647 N. Main St., is supposed to operate as a nonprofit organization where people with a doctor's recommendation will be allowed to buy marijuana from those permitted to grow it under state law, the Press-Enterprise reported.

In Los Angeles, pot shops have cropped by the hundreds over the past few years, while the City Council alternately stalled on regulating them or declared moratoriums on new ones.

William Sump, the general manager of the Riverside collective, said he and several attorneys had done their best to meet the city's requirements, which include having security guards on duty when the collective is open.

"I feel we have done as much as we possibly can to be compliant and at this point," he told the Press-Enterprise. "It's about access for the patients."

The collective has about 150 members, Sump said. Just across the street is the THCF Medical Clinic, where people can seek a doctor's recommendation for the formerly illegal weed.

Related: Medical Marijuana Dispensary Opens In Riverside (Video)
http://cbs2.com/local/medical.marijuana.Riverside.2.1351663.html

Medical marijuana facility to open in Riverside
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_W_wpot05.4a2a92...

Source: http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=11626134

THCF and Several NORML Chapters Join In

View Larger Map

By Paul Stanford and Michael Bachara, Hemp News Staff

Because hemp is the ultimate cash crop, producing more fiber, food and oil than any other plant on the planet.

By Paul Stanford, THCF/CRRH

According to the Notre Dame University publication, The Midland 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.