Toke of the Town

Search Results: seeds/ (8)

Louisiana Man Sees Sentence for Two Joints Cut from Thirteen Years to Eight

0
By on News
He’s 50 and a father of seven.
Here’s your daily dose of pot news from the newsletter WeedWeek.
Bernard Noble, a Louisiana man serving 13 years for possessing two joints had his sentence reduced to eight years. He may be out in two.

In Michigan, MED patient fees fund marijuana enforcement including raid equipment.

Outgoing Vermont governor Peter Shumlin (D) offered to pardon anyone convicted for possessing up to an ounce. He supported an unsuccessful effort to legalize REC through the state legislature.

In Rolling Stone, the activist and rapper Killer Mike writes on how to bring more African-Americans into the industry. For more, see my story in California Sunday.

The NFL may be warming to MED. Switzerland too may be loosening up.

Ozy talks to a combat veteran who now grows cannabis. A dispensary in Massachusetts is giving away free seeds.

Joe Dolce’s new book “ Brave New Weed” gets a fond review by Matt Taibbi in the New York Times.

Boulder Weekly published a piece called “ Marijuana and the Thinking Teenager.”

Canadian dispensary chain Cannabis Culture opened an illegal store in Montreal and gave away “ free nugs” to an approving crowd.

The L.A. Times went to the Emerald Cup in Sonoma County. It contrasts the revelers against, “a panel of entirely sober government officials [who]discussed the ramifications of marijuana legalization, California’s complex and evolving regulatory structure, and tried to answer questions about the future of the cannabis industry that seem, at this point, unanswerable.” The piece has many more great descriptions. Read the whole thing.

Some parents are upset that Amazon is sells children’s pot-leaf leggings. (I recently saw a pair, for adults, on sale in Aspen for $75.)

Now there’s CBD-infused water.

Social network MassRoots acquired online ordering platform Whaxy.

Mic put out an update on the state of cannabis investing.

First Industrial Hemp Seeds Certified by Colorado Department of Agriculture

0
By on News

The Colorado Department of Agriculture has not only created the first hemp-seed certification program in the country, but it just certified its first three seed varieties. Passing state-regulated THC and observation trials, these industrial hemp seeds are now eligible to be grown by the Colorado Seed Growers Association for production as a “CDA Approved Certified Seed.”

“This moves hemp toward mainstream agriculture and the same practices of other crops,” says Duane Sinning, assistant director of the CDA’s division of plant industry.

Kentucky state officials sue federal govt over held up hemp seeds

0
By on Follow that story, Growing, Hemp

VH HAMMER/FlickrCommons


Earlier this year, on February 7th, President Barack Obama signed a new farm bill, backed by a rare display of bipartisan politicking. Originally introduced by cannabis-friendly Congressmen Jared Polis (D – CO), Earl Blumenauer (D – OR), and Thomas Massie (R – KY), the bill contained a very special amendment. For the first time in decades, the federal government had made an allowance for the cultivation of hemp. The hemp caveat only applies to states that have passed their own form of hemp legalization, and Massie’s Kentucky is one of those states.
Also from the Commonwealth of Kentucky is Republican Senator Rand Paul, who has made clear his support for hemp cultivation in the state. The senior Senator from Kentucky and possible-Sleestack Mitch McConnell was reported to be instrumental in making sure that the bill that the president signed retained the hemp growing amendment.
Kentucky was poised to re-establish its roots in a hemp trade that flourished in the state until it was banned by the federal government in 1937. Today, however, the state finds itself embroiled in a lawsuit against the federal government, and their first hemp harvest hangs in the balance.

Read More

Toke Interview: ‘Heart of Dankness’ Author Mark Haskell Smith

0
By on Culture, Growing, Products

Library Foundation of Los Angeles

Editor’s note: Los Angeles writer Mark Haskell Smith’s new book Heart of Dankness sprang from his news coverage of the Cannabis Cup for the L.A. Times. Novelist Smith sampled varieties of marijuana that were unlike anything he’d experienced before, unlike any typical stoner weed. In fact, it didn’t get you “stoned,” as such. This cannabis possessed an ephemeral quality known as “dankness.”

Haskell began a journey into the international underground where super-high-grade marijuana is developed. He tracked down the ragtag community of underground botanists, outlaw farmers, and renegade strain hunters who pursue excellence and genetic diversity in cannabis. The dank journey climaxes at Amsterdam’s Cannabis Cup, which Mark portrays as the Super Bowl/Mardi Gras of the world’s largest cash crop.

Cannabis writer and connoisseur Caitlin Podiak got a chance to chat with Haskell Smith about the book, about good cannabis, and about what, exactly, constitutes a state of dankness. Enjoy!

Discussing Dankness
By Caitlin Podiak
Special to Toke of the Town
Caitlin Podiak: Your quest for the “heart of dankness” centers on the annual High Times Cannabis Cup event in Amsterdam. But how relevant do you think those awards are to cannabis users in California? I know many of the strains we have here come from Dutch seeds, but beyond that, I wonder how much the Amsterdam Cannabis Cup results should matter to us in the United States.
Mark Haskell Smith: Oh, I think they’re very relevant to what goes on in California. The strains that win the Cannabis Cup ultimately become the popular strains you find in medical dispensaries or being sold by dealers. AK-47, Super Silver Haze, Willie Nelson, Lavender, LA Confidential… these are all fairly common strains nowadays, but they were first introduced at the Cannabis Cup. I imagine Kosher Kush, which is originally a SoCal strain, will become huge in the next year or two because it just won the Indica Cup in Amsterdam. It’s sort of like Coachella for cannabis. It’s where the unknowns get their shot at the big time. And that resonates in California. We want those seeds.
Read More

5 Best Cannabis Holiday Destinations…That Aren’t Amsterdam

0
By on Culture, Global, Products

John Moore
A man smokes a joint at a 4-20 celebration in front of the state capitol building, April 20, 2010, Denver, Colorado

​
By Artemis Hendy
Special to Toke of the Town
From all over the world, people regularly make hazy pilgrimages to the Mecca of cannabis smoking, Amsterdam. It is not only home to liberal drug laws and a huge selection of cannabis cafes; it is also a stunningly beautiful city with picture perfect canals all over the place, historic churches lurching out of the scenery and quaint buildings on every corner. You can’t help but want to move there. 
But chances are you have been there and bought the t-shirt — and now, Amsterdam is threatening to ban foreign “weed tourists,” anyway.
So why not try an alternative cannabis-conscious destination? Such as…
Read More

Coming Into Los Angeles, Pt. 2: Toke Tags Along To The Cannabis Cup with NORML Women’s Alliance

0
By on Culture

LOLdrugs
Cheri Sicard started using cannabis medicinally in 2009 after a suggestion from her doctor. She was astonished at how well it worked.

​By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
Sharing the NORML Women’s Alliance booth this weekend at the High Times Medical Cannabis Cup in Los Angeles will be two notable authors.
First is Cheri Sicard. Cheri spent much of her childhood and early adult life, interestingly enough, traveling the country and the world as a circus performer, magician and mentalist.  Along the way she started writing about travel and food which lead her to become an internet entrepreneur back in the days when it was just a series of tubes.
She is the author of The Great American Handbook: What You Can Do For Your Country Today and Everyday (2002 Berkley Books), US Citizenship for Dummies (2003, Wiley, co-author with Steven Heller, Esq.), Everyday American (2008, Bookspan, ISBN: 1582882975), and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Easy Freezer Meals (2011, Alpha Books, ISBN: 1615640649).
Read More

Here’s What Pot Freedom Feels Like: Report From Spain

0
By on Culture, Global

Photo: Bubbleman’s Hideout
Very strong privacy laws prevent Spanish police from entering your house — even if they can see weed. How cool is that?

​British citizen Andy was looking for weed freedom — and he believes he’s found it in Europe. But he’s not in Holland. Andy’s chosen abode is not yet known as a stoner mecca, but judging by his account, it may soon be.
For a fascinating look at the Spanish cannabis scene, let’s travel to Andalusia now with our host, who writes on the excellent website “Dope Smoker.”
~ Steve Elliott
…….
Freedom To Act Without Fear
By Andy
Dope Smoker
I am smoking a joint whilst sitting by my front window.
Actually, that’s right where I rolled it too, and people were walking by the house. Sometimes, I pass the joint out the window to a neighbor on the street.
Read More