| Dallasboy/WikiCommons. |
Until the very end, last Tuesday night’s demonstration in Dallas against the grand jury’s decision in the Ferguson case was uneventful. Marchers congregated at Dallas Police Department headquarters in the Cedars then walked through downtown to protest the grand jury’s decision not to indict Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson for killing unarmed teenager Mike Brown.
“Tonight I’m somewhat numb, but I’m also saddened,” Michael Bowie Jr., new senior pastor of St. Luke Community United Methodist Church in Dallas told The Dallas Morning News at the protest. “First it was Trayvon [Martin], now it’s Michael Brown. And it’s sad that killing of black males is justified and legal.”
If you want legal medical cannabis products in Minnesota, it’ll be coming from LeafLine Labs or Minnesota Medical Solutions. The state Department of Health announced earlier today that the two groups will be the sole providers of cannabis for the state medical program.
Raw cannabis isn’t legal in the Minneota program, only concentrates and edibles. The manufacturers will be responsible for making those products.
Despite fears that a young, conservative faction could have taken ahold of the government and ended the program prematurely, Uruguay has elected a liberal president and secured the safety of the program – for now.
Former Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez was re-elected on Sunday with a 52.8 percent vote to serve a five-year term.
Add another link to the growing chain of studies showing that certain chemicals found in the cannabis plant can help Alzheimer’s patients. A study published earlier this year in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease shows that THC can slow or end the progress of the disease.
But it’s more complicated than giving patients a joint to toke — though puffing apparently has it’s benefits as well. Researchers at the University of South Florida treated isolated Alzheimer’s cells in a lab with varying amounts of THC. The results show that THC reduces or eliminates the protein buildup associated with the disease.
Virginia isn’t very friendly when it comes to cannabis. Less than a half-ounce can get you up to a year in jail and $2,500 in fines and anything over a half-ounce nets you anywhere from a mandatory year in jail to 10 years. Even paraphernalia can get you a year in the pokey.
But a proposal from Virginia state Sen. Adam Ebbin would ease some of that by decriminalizing an ounce or less of pot and dropping the fine to $100. The bill would also lessen the penalties for people caught growing six plants or less – though that would still remain illegal.
| “People in the state of California unfortunately have to be aware of the inherent risk that the feds may come in and shut you down.” – Nathan Shaman, CA-based Attorney |
Earlier this year, 25-year old Zack Curcie was at work as a gardener on a 10-acre parcel of land being used to cultivate medical marijuana in the foothills of southern California.
Though the grow site was legal under California state law, and the people behind it went to great lengths to follow the state’s 18-year old pot laws as best they could, on September 24th Curcie, an Iraq War vet, found out what it is like to be on the other side of a military-style raid as aggressive San Diego-based Narcotics Task Force (NTF) agents stormed the property with weapons raised.
Charlo Greene, the infamous Alaska news reporter who quit her job on-air to become a full-time cannabis business owner and activist, has been ordered to comply with a subpoena regarding alleged campaign finance misdoings.
As we reported last week, the state Public Offices Commission says Greene may have run afoul Alaska state laws with an online fundraising they say went directly to Alaska’s Ballot Measure 2, which legalized small amounts of pot for adults 21 and up.
Jon Loevy, a notable civil rights attorney in Illinois, says that if his group is allowed to open up a legal medical marijuana farm they will donate half of their earnings to education initiatives around the state.
“Illinois has created a real opportunity for profits, and a lot of the groups chasing this are hedge funds and private equity firms trying to get rich,” Loevy told the Chicago Sun-Times. “We see this as an opportunity to reroute millions of dollars to education in Illinois when it’s really needed.
The Canandian health department has issued a warning to the country’s medical cannabis growers and sellers, saying that advertising the benefits of medical cannabis online and in print has gone too far.
Health Canada sent letters to 20 licensed pot growers that outline how and when they can advertise their products – including banning photos of actual buds or linking to any third-party websites that the government deems to be “promoting” weed. Producers can’t even talk about which strains help certain conditions.
Denver International Airport is suffering through one of its busiest weeks of the year as Thanksgiving travelers jam the ticket and security lines, baggage claims and cab stands, and the restaurants and souvenir shops. And while their suitcases may be full of warm sweaters, early holiday presents and leftover pie, travelers won’t be able to find many last-minute marijuana-themed souvenirs while they’re waiting for a delayed flight.
And soon, DIA may not allow the sale of any pot-themed merchandise at all.