Growing

Patient Advocacy Group To Train DC Marijuana Dispensary Staff

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 10, 2013 Dispensaries, Growing, Medical

Americans for Safe Access will hold its first compulsory training course on February 1st

The medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) was awarded a permit by the D.C. Department of Health last week to implement its compulsory training for cultivators and distributors licensed by the District. ASA Foundation was selected to be the Medical Marijuana Certification Provider based on its longstanding experience providing such trainings across the country.

Alarm Co. Cancels Contract With AIDS Patient Because Of Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 7, 2013 Growing, Medical, News

KCRA

Alarm company ADT refuses to service medical marijuana patients who legally grow their own cannabis

A Sacramento, California AIDS patient who grows medical marijuana said his home alarm company of three years dropped him after a repairman saw cannabis plants inside his house.

“I still want to call the governor,” said the homeowner, Jay, who wanted to remain anonymous. “If this company doesn’t want to recognize our state laws, they maybe we shouldn’t license them [in California],” reports Richard Sharp at KCRA.

Pot-Growing School ‘THC University’ Opens In Denver

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 3, 2013 Culture, Growing, Products

Marijuana Groups Back Mendo’s Refusal To Give Records To Feds

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 2, 2013 Growing, Medical, News

Marijuana Times

Advocates support county’s motion to quash, argue Obama Administration is attempting to undermine state law, violate patient privacy

Three medical marijuana groups have teamed up to support Mendocino County officials in their effort to fight a sweeping federal subpoena filed in October, seeking “any and all records” for the county’s medical marijuana cultivation program, otherwise known as County Code 9.31.

On December 21, Mendocino County filed a motion in San Francisco federal court to quash the Justice Department’s subpoena, and on Wednesday Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and the Emerald Growers Association (EGA) filed a joint amicus “friend of the court” brief in an attempt to protect the private patient records being sought.

Humboldt Stories: Branding Humboldt’s Finest

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 29, 2012 Culture, Growing

WKOW

Humboldt Stories

“It’s not Weeds, it’s real.”

By Sharon Letts

“Did she say eight?” Caitlin asked, fidgeting with the coffee server.

“Eight-ish, I think she said. She talked so fast,” Nick laughed. “She’s New York all the way, you know? Manhattan, Dahling,” Nick mocked.

“I just hope we’re doing the right thing,” Caitlin said. “Seems like packaging and branding right now is putting the cart before the horse, so to speak. If Prop. 19 would have passed it wouldn’t be so much of a problem — maybe.”

Liberia Says It Faces ‘Huge Task’ Against Marijuana Farmers

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 28, 2012 Global, Growing

Please Distribute

Bong County, Liberia is the center of that country’s marijuana cultivation scene (if I’m a-lyin’, I’m a-dyin’!)

Police in Liberia claim “weak drug laws” are making it hard to crack down on marijuana farmers in that West African nation. Cannabis activity in Liberia is centered — and I promise I’m not making this up — in the nation’s central region of Bong County.

Many farmers in Liberia are reportedly turning to cannabis cultivation to make ends meet, reports the Monrovia Heritage. The Liberian trade in marijuana seems to be largely domestic, according to a report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which also says that many African countries, including Liberia, have “ideal growing climates” for the herb.

“I grow marijuana,” said Nathaniel Cico of central Liberia, reports Voice of America. “It is what I have been doing over the past year to sustain my family and myself. There are no jobs in the country. Things are very tough. How do people expect us to survive if things are very tough, no jobs?”

One-quarter of the world’s marijuana is grown in Africa, UNODC estimates. It reports that up to 13.5 percent of the adult population of the continent uses cannabis, much higher than the global average of between two and five percent.

German Medical Marijuana Patients Allowed To Grow Their Own

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 27, 2012 Global, Growing, Medical

Cannabis Culture

A court in Germany has ruled that seriously ill patients may grow their own cannabis for medicinal uses. However, the strict stipulations in the ruling could still prevent cultivation by some patients.

The December 7 ruling, which has not yet gone into effect, was made by a Federal Administrative Court in Münster, reports DW. Under the ruling, severely ill Germans — for whom no other therapies are available or effective, but who may receive a medical benefit from cannabis — may be allowed to grow medical marijuana at home.

Patients who wish to take part can apply to the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) for permission to treat themselves with homegrown marijuana, with use monitored by a medical doctor.

Cannabis Indica Volume 2 Released

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 27, 2012 Culture, Growing, Products

The first volume of S.T. Oner’s lush Cannabis Indica examined 100 strains from 100 leading marijuana breeders. Now it’s time for another trip through the dankest, fattest buds this side of the Hindu Kush, featuring information about the genetic history, growing traits, taste and effects of some of the very best cannabis grown across the globe.

The second book of the Cannabis Indica series (there’s also two volumes of Cannabis Sativa already out) continues the exploration of indica strains. From Afghan Mountain Black to Zindica, 100 more indica strains are showcased in all their glory with full color photos and encyclopedic information. (The planned series will eventually include six books, presumably three volumes of Indica and three of Sativa.)

Master cannabis grower and Cannabis Cultivation author Mel Thomas provides the introduction to Cannabis Indica, Volume 2. But Mel’s contribution is far more than a typical introduction; it’s title “What the Kush? A History of the Cannabis Indica Plant” lets you know the ambitions considerably exceed that humble appellation. Thomas’s quest to find pure indica at its source — as he had done for pure sativa in Thailand, a few years before — makes for some eye-opening and informative readcing.

DC’s First Marijuana Dispensaries 3 Miles From FBI Headquarters

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 19, 2012 Dispensaries, Growing, News

Weed Quotes

The District of Columbia’s long-awaited medical marijuana program took a big step forward this week when officials issued occupancy permits for DC’s first marijuana cultivation center and dispensary. Both locations are less than three miles from the J. Edgar Hoover Building, headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The step was widely viewed as one of the last hurdles to a working medical marijuana program that almost 70 percent of DC voters approved in a referendum 14 years ago, reports In The Capital. Congress spent years blocking funding for the program before finally getting out of the way after President Obama was elected. Then a tortuous three-year regulatory process began, which has only recently been completed.

Book Review: Medical Growing – A Garden of Peace

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 12, 2012 Culture, Growing, Products

Amazon

My friend Daniel Boughen has a green thumb, and he comes by it naturally. With a family history of organic horticulture, this British Columbia resident had a solid foundation when he began growing cannabis, the world’s most medicinal plant.

Medical Growing: A Garden of Peace begins by ably pointing out the evil folly of the tragic War On Drugs, contrasting that with the numerous social, medicinal and economic benefits of cannabis and industrial hemp. Boughen shows a keen consciousness of the forces currently impacting the marijuana community, including the impending danger of corporate control.

In what I personally believe to be one of the most crucially important sections of the book, Boughen contrasts the corporate model of legalization with a more community-centered model. Daniel spares no words in condemning those who would make marijuana just another tool for big corporate profits.

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