Yearly Archives: 2011

Photo: Holland Sentinel
Licensed medical marijuana growers in Michigan can call upon Michigan State University Extension personnel for advice

​Inquiries on how to cultivate marijuana have slightly increased in the past few years, according to Michigan State University Extension plant experts. MSU-E, mainly involved in more mainstream agricultural pursuits, is a resource for some medical cannabis suppliers looking for good information.

Having received about seven calls since medical marijuana became legal in Michigan, MSU-E senior educator Thomas Dudek said he tries to relay basic information on plant physiology to novice growers, reports Sara Qamar of Capital News Service.

Photo: Los Angeles Dispensaries

​​By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

1. No shady scenes.

We’ve all been there. A 7/11 parking lot, late at night, where every Slurpee-buying shopper looks like an undercover cop. Or you’ve just parked your buddy’s car near an apartment downtown where all the neighbors know why you’re walking towards that particular door.
Or worse, a friend of a friend who just got out of jail has some killer stuff that will make the whole crosstown drive worth it.
You name it — we all have a variety of reasons why we will go the extra mile to procure the best stuff possible, sometimes even when the risks are higher than you are.
Now, my closest dispensary is eight blocks away — a small industrial trailer where they may only have seven to 12 different varieties of medical marijuana — but I go to the old reliable, my mainstay downtown on Geary. (Funny story: I was on my way home on the bus with three clones in an odorless paper bag. There were two other dudes on the bus who were also clutching paper bags. Their all-knowing nods and smiles made me feel like we all belong to the same book club.)
Going to a dispensary is incredibly safe compared to my almost 40 years of scoring on the street.

Photo: ganj a farmer’s emerald triangle news

​By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

The people who live up here in the redwoods are notoriously known for being incredibly tight-lipped as a community. That’s what happens when generations of farmers are forced to live for decades under the radar. You learn not to talk.
You don’t ask what Tyler’s dad does for a living. If two women in the produce aisle at the market are chatting about some kind of lights and how much square footage they’re reaching, you keep walking, keeping your thoughts to yourself. There’s a shell of new greenhouse that’s being built off of Indian Bend Road but no one’s going to mention it until someone else does first. 
That’s the way it is in the Emerald Triangle. It is just like the Number One law of the streets. You keep your mouth closed at all costs. Loose lips sinks your mouther-effing grow faster than drawing the DEA a map. You never know who might be around listening. Who might be smart enough to put a few pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together? 

Photo: The Sustainability Ninja
Industrial hemp is a variety of cannabis with almost zero THC. Its fibers are useful for clothing, paper, cosmetics, and fuel.

​A bill that would have allowed Illinois farmers to grow industrial hemp was badly defeated Thursday in the state House.

House Bill 1383, sponsored by Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago), would have allowed farmers to get permits to grow hemp, a low-THC varietal of the cannabis plant. Hemp fiber can be used in clothing, paper, cosmetics, and ethanol, reports Andy Brownfield at the Springfield State Journal-Register.
“This is part of the new green movement across the nation,” Dunkin said. “This will put Illinois ahead of most states.”

Photo: THC Finder

​The Delaware Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved legalizing medical marijuana, despite reservations from some supporters who said the legislation has flaws.

The bill would allow adults with debilitating illnesses such as HIV or cancer to get authorization from their doctors to buy marijuana from state-licensed dispensaries, reports Chad Livengood at Delaware Online.
On an 18-3 vote, the Senate sent Senate Bill 17 to the House, where supporters believe there are enough votes to get the bill to Gov. Jack Markell’s desk for a signature. Of course, there were a few alarmists who claimed the bill puts Delaware on the path towards legalizing marijuana altogether, as if that’d be the end of the world.

Photo: Montana Legislature
Sen. Rowlie Hutton (R-Helena): This moron believes that God wants him to take medical marijuana away from patients. “Sometimes the most compassionate answer you can give is no, you don’t need this,” Hutton, a pastor, said of medical marijuana.

​The Montana Senate voted 29-21 on Thursday to repeal Montana’s medical marijuana law after an emotional debate marked by angry finger-pointing by senators from both sides.

After debating for more than an hour, the Senate finally gave preliminary approval to House Bill 161, by Speaker Mike Milburn (R-Cascade), to repeal the state’s medical marijuana law on July 1, reports Charles S. Johnson at the Helena Independent Record. The Senate will take a final vote on the bill Friday.
Earlier on Thursday, the Senate voted 36-14 to send SB 423, which would repeal and overhaul the medical marijuana law, to the House floor after it had stalled in the Senate on Wednesday. Because it missed a key deadline, SB 423 will now require a two-thirds majority in the House to s suspend the bil..
Montana’s medical marijuana law was approved by an overwhelming 62 percent of state voters in 2004.
Milburn said he was asking the House GOP to suspend the rules and take up SB 423 as a second option to the outright repeal bill, which he prefers.
During the debate on HB 161, Sen. Rowlie Hutton (R-Havre) claimed that, as a pastor, he has been asked to participate in “interventions” for people “addicted to marijuana.” He called for making medical marijuana illegal again.

Photo: WLBZ
The first medical marijuana dispensary on the U.S. East Coast is an unassuming looking home in Frenchville, Maine.

​It’s a historic day. The first medical marijuana dispensary on the East Coast of the U.S. has opened in Frenchville, Maine.

Safe Alternatives looks like a typical house, reports Jackie Ward at WLBZ. But there are video cameras and floodlights as required by state law; town officials said the security equipment operates 24/7.
The dispensary is less than a mile from an elementary school, but state law only requires it to be at least 500 feet away.
Predictably, some narrow-minded local residents seemed to be just looking for something to complain about.
“When I stopped by to take the picture there was nobody there, just a note on the door that said ‘Leave packages on the porch,’ whatever that means,” said Frenchville resident Cameron Price. (My highly educated guess it that “Leave packages on the porch” is secret code for “Leave packages on the porch.”)

Photo: WN.com
Committee Chair Rep. Janice McGeachin: “It’s probably much less toxic than a lot of the pharmaceutical drugs that are produced that people take now”

​The first hearing to review a bill that would permit the use of marijuana by seriously ill Idaho residents was held on Wednesday, marking the first time such legislation has ever been granted a public hearing in the Idaho House of Representatives.

The Health & Welfare Committee heard testimony in support of HB 19, which would allow seriously and chronically ill Idahoans to use marijuana to treat certain conditions with doctors’ recommendations.
This bill, introduced by Rep. Tom Trail (R-Moscow), contains very specific criteria to qualify for the program and for the production of medical marijuana. If passed, it would be the strictest and most tightly regulated medical marijuana law in the nation — which, unfortunately, also means it would be the least patient-friendly.

Graphic: NORML Stash Blog
“NCI apparently got a talking to from someone” ~ Radical Russ Belville, NORML


Welcome to Room 420, where your instructor is Mr. Ron Marczyk and your subjects are wellness, disease prevention, self actualization, and chillin’.

Worth Repeating

By Ron Marczyk, R.N.
Health Education Teacher (Retired)

You are witnessing cannabis history in the making.
You can clearly see what happened, in the illustration above. The government has changed the verbiage regarding cannabis on the National Cancer Institute’s cancer.gov website, only 11 days after it was added.

We demand that the original statement be re-posted as it was, and for the National Cancer Institute to stand by its original research statement.

This was a naked political move. Please call the NCI public inquiry phone line at 301-435-3848 or email them at http://www.cancer.gov/global/contact/email-us.

Photo: Sole Collector
Dude, it had to happen: Cheech & Chong-inspired footwear.

​​A new shoe from sports footwear manufacturer Nike salutes the world’s two most famous stoners — comedy duo Cheech & Chong. The legendary pair have released albums and movies since the 1970s based on the marijuana culture.

The Cheech and Chong Dunk Hi has heels designed as a tribute to the signature red bandanna headwear worn in the movie Up In Smoke by Thomas Chong, reports Brandon Richard at Sole Collector.
Accompanying each pair of shoes will be two sets of interchangeable black and — you guessed it — green laces.
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