Search Results: sicard (17)

Cannabis Culture
Aaron Sandusky: “This is a terrible injustice. Nobody wins.”

Aaron Sandusky Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison
By Cheri Sicard
Aaron Sandusky, the president of G3 Holistics, which operated three legal (under state law) California medical marijuana dispensaries, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on Monday in Los Angeles. Once his sentence is served, Sandusky will then face five years of supervised probation, including random drug testing. 
He is also being compelled to complete a drug rehab program, despite any evidence he actually has a drug addiction problem.
Defense attorney Roger Diamond made an impassioned plea on behalf of  his client, highlighting the conflicting opinions not only between state and federal law, both also laws within the state of California. He pointed out that Sandusky provided much needed medicine to seriously ill patients in full and open compliance with California state laws.

All photos by Steve Elliott ~alapoet~
The glass entry case contained all 200 flower entries, and a couple dozen concentrate entries in the center wheel

The ninth annual Emerald Cup medical cannabis competition — a Humboldt County, California-based event in which only outdoor, sun-grown, organic marijuana and concentrates are allowed — was held this past weekend in Redway, and Toke of the Town was there.

The winning strain (left), entry #47, Chem Dawg, from Cannabis Aficionado

Two hundred strains of marijuana were entered (compared to last year’s 108 entries), as well as a couple dozen concentrates. Winners were selected, and the Grand Prize winner — entry #47, ChemDawg Special Reserve, grown by Leonard Bell and Elenah Elston (first female to take the top spot in this cannabis competition) — was announced. A very happy Leonard and Elenah, who together run the company Cannabis Aficionado, won an all-expenses paid trip to Jamaica for seven days and nights.
The winning strain, according to the lab results posted on Facebook by The Emerald Cup, contains 18.4 percent THC and 0.9 percent CBD.
Entrants in the Emerald Cup are judged by entry numbers only. It’s a completely blind judging process, i.e., the judges have no idea who grew it, what strain it is, or anything else about it. Entrants are judged on the high, appearance, smell, taste, and potency, with the high counting twice as much as the other components (and rightly so).

Cannabis Cheri

By Cheri Sicard
Here is the quintessential holiday dessert, kicked up with cannabis.
I’ve designed this recipe to make four mini pies, each containing a single serving and a single dose of cannabis concentrate. (If you prefer you could also make this as a larger 9-inch pie, although this would give everyone a large piece of pie in order to achieve the proper dose). 
Conveniently, you can wrap the cooled pies in foil and freeze so you can save some for another time. Just bring to room temperature and enjoy!
The dose below is only a suggestion. Be sure to read and understand Calculating Cannabis Doses in Edibles before attempting to cook with marijuana.

Cheri Sicard/Facebook
Joe Grumbine — who has fought so hard for the right of California medical marijuana patients to safely access their medicine — has been thrown back in jail

California medical marijuana defendant and activist Joe Grumbine was put in handcuffs and hauled off to jail at what was supposed to be a short scheduling hearing in court on Tuesday.

According to Cheri Sicard, who works with The Human Solution, a medical marijuana patient advocacy/court support group formed by Grumbine, the prosecutor brought up a traffic stop that happened in Riverside, Calif., a few months ago.


By Sharon Letts
Knee surgery this past week has me thinking about pain, true tolerance, and why so many Americans are bent on being anesthetized. 
The Institute of Medicine states, 100 million Americans suffer from some kind of pain at a cost of $635 billion a year.
ABC News reported in January of 2012, 80 percent of the world’s pain meds are consumed in the good old U.S. of A.
Experts site our increased life expectancy, cancers, and a soft, sedentary lifestyle as the cause, but what of the rest of the world? Why are Americans suffering so? Or are we?

Steve Baker
Cheri Sicard, Cynthia Johnson and Jessica Lux (all of NORML Women’s Alliance of Los Angeles) with the one candidate who responded, David Hernandez

Marijuana Advocacy Group Shifts Focus to Upcoming City Election
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) Women’s Alliance of Los Angeles announced on Monday it has scrapped its voter education project for California Congressional Candidates in Los Angeles County districts, as the group could only get four of the 34 Senatorial and Congressional candidates to even answer their requests for more information.
“I know politicians see cannabis as a third rail issue,” said Cheri Sicard, the group’s leader, “but the fact is 50 percent of all Americans favor outright legalization of marijuana, and 70 percent favor making it legal for doctors to prescribe to reduce pain and suffering (Gallup Poll, 10-17-11). We at the NORML Women’s Alliance think the time is long past due for our so-called representatives and candidates for public office to have a conversation about this.”
Sicard says even candidates who are known to agree with the group’s stances on issues such as marijuana legalization, medical marijuana, and prison reform didn’t respond, preferring to keep the issue in the background.

Rory Murray
Rory Murray on Facebook: “We begin the BOYCOTT of Long Beach ACE Hardware. Why? Because the owner hates California cannabis patients. They’re willing to discriminate? We’re willing to shut ’em down.”

Long Beach Store Manager Sponsors Friday Anti-Medical Marijuana Protest; Cannabis Advocates Plan Counter-Protest

Why does an Ace Hardware in Long Beach, California hate medical marijuana? Why on earth would a hardware store, of all places, take such a bizarre position — opposing safe access to the medicine that works best for a lot of very sick folks?

For whatever odd rationale, at least one Ace Hardware store feels it needs to protest against medicinal cannabis. The ownership of the Ace franchise at 4th Street and Olive Avenue in Long Beach’s East Village Arts District is organizing a Friday afternoon, September 21 protest rally in front of a medical marijuana dispensary across the street — and now patients and advocates are planning a counter-protest, reports Greggory Moore at the Long Beach Post.

Sharon Letts
Author Sharon Letts at home


By Sharon Letts
The spider-web-like mass in my right breast has me thinking about my mom, the farm she was raised on, DDT, Malathion, Rachel Carson, and Cannabis — in that order.
My mass hasn’t been diagnosed yet. I saw the configuration while peeking over the shoulder of both the mammogram and ultra-sound technicians. I had to peek because for some reason the medical community feels we need some sort of disconnect when it comes to our own health.
I broke an unsaid rule, but in my book, It’s called being proactive.
While I’m waiting for a biopsy, my educated guess after a little research is it’s Lobular Carcinoma. According to the Mayo Clinic’s website, this type of cancer begins in the milk-producing glands of the breast, or lobules, affecting 10 to 15 percent of all women in the U.S. It’s a mass, not a lump, as with the popular Ductal Carcinoma affecting up to 85 percent of women in this country.

Sharon Letts

By Sharon Letts
A good friend is convinced cannabis leads to heroin use. It happened to a friend of his, so he knows. This was a few years ago. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’d been using the herb off and on since I was 16 years old, and felt nary a pang to upgrade to any other substance. 
I grew up in the 1960s, and went through high school in the 70s, so drugs were no stranger. Having an alcoholic father, my childhood was one big cocktail party. Thankfully, alcohol wasn’t a draw for me, nor was tobacco at 13, or cocaine at 19. 
I had an undiagnosed processing problem. I appeared to be a good student, but could barely pull a C in most classes. After trying cannabis at 16, I did better in school – my concentration improved. I read like an alphabet-hungry animal; I wrote Haiku and poetry and was published at 19. And, as a bonus, I no longer needed to take liver damaging Midol for menstrual cramps.

Cannabis Cheri
Stuffed Strawberries: almost like a strawberry stuffed with cheesecake, this fruity finger food recipe is always a crowd pleaser (see recipe below)

“Let me take you down ’cause I’m going to Strawberry Fields.”

~ The Beatles
By Cheri Sicard

For me, the first arrival of local strawberries in the market — more than any other ingredient — signifies the official beginning of summer.
Here in California, strawberry season is already well underway, so I thought this would be an apropos time to explore summer’s favorite fruit from the cannabis connoisseur’s perspective, including some tasty medicated strawberry recipes, favorite strawberry marijuana strains, and even strawberry themed music to enjoy it all by.  
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