Although hemp (and of course, its THC-friendly sibling, marijuana) are still illegal at the federal level, Colorado’s Amendment 64 has paved the way for new legislation allowing farmers to register to grow hemp on a large scale. And earlier this month, that bill passed. After paying a fee and verifying that their future crops will have a THC concentration of no more than three-tenths of one percent, Colorado hemp farmers will soon be on their way toward reaping what bill SB 241 sows.
For more on the new law, read Westword‘s full story.
Is the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis, Missouri afraid of marijuana reform? Advocacy group Show-Me Cannabis says the management at the theater denied the organization’s vendor application for the Pointfest music festival — specifically because it worried about damaging its reputation. The venue apparently didn’t want to be associated with “illegal” activities.
It was especially frustrating for the group, because Show-Me Cannabis isn’t even pushing for legalization at this time — just local decriminalization reforms. Volunteers just wanted to hand out pamphlets and sell t-shirts. Riverfront Times has the story.
| Wikimedia.com |
| The bladder. |
All of what you take into your body comes out somewhere, and that somewhere is often in your urine. Gross thought, but it has some major health implications when it comes to carcinogens like cigarettes and other tobacco products that can increase your risk of bladder cancer.
But that doesn’t seem to be the case cannabis according to a recent Kaiser Permanente study in Los Angeles. In fact, the good herb might lower your risk of developing such problems.
While the cannabis communities of Colorado and Washington await a response to recently-passed marijuana laws from Attorney General Eric Holder, it seems he’s busy writing other speeches: graduation remarks for the University of California at Berkeley law school commencement, which as held over the weekend.
Ganja activists took the opportunity to swarm the campus and even went so far as to fly a custom banner over the outdoor Greek Theater that read: “Holder: End Rx Cannabis War #peace4patients,” according to the Huffington Post.
You probably know the rules by now: in New York City, if you’re caught in public view with pot, or in possession of 25 grams or more, you’re getting a violation. Because of this (well, at least, partially), New Yorkers made up 99.2 percent (149,951) of the entire state’s marijuana-related arrests of 155,048 stoners last year.
But lately, the external pressures placed on internal agencies by the incredibly high rates has become an engine for policy shifts. This is why Governor Cuomo continues to try to outlaw the public view provision in the criminal code last year. And why Bloomberg has opted out of the ‘stay overnight in jail, be at court in the morning’ situation for marijuana offenders. And why NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly has even told his officers to chill with the pot arrests. Luckily, it looks like these efforts are actually showing real-time results. Village Voice has the 4-1-1.
It’s Friday, so you’re likely sitting at your desk (or hiding from your boss on your smart phone) waiting to get off work. We feel your pain. But keep this in mind, your life could be much worse.
Take it from one of these unfortunate grow/stash owner stories culled from around the world this past week:
| Wikipedia commons. |
Regular marijuana users don’t have an increased risk of cancer compared to people who only toke every now and then.
That’s the findings of a report submitted at the annual American Association of Cancer Research this week that includes data from six case-controlled studies between 1999 and 2012.
An Illinois Senate committee voted 10-5 Wednesday to move House Bill 1 to the full Senate for a vote, despite a push from law enforcement to shut down the bill.
As it stands now, the bill creates a four-year pilot program would allow qualified patients and primary caregivers to purchase and possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana every two weeks from a state-regulated medical marijuana center.
| L.A. Weekly/Susan Slade |
| L.A.’s famous KFC collective. |
Medical marijuana measures D, E and F on L.A.’s May 21 ballot are incredibly high-stakes, and we do mean high. More than 1,000 dispensaries exist in L.A., taking in tens of millions of dollars annually and attracting 100,000-plus clients. Success at the polls will determine which of them get to stay open — and which must close their doors.
There are three rival measures. To win, a measure must get more yes than no votes. But if more than one reaches that level of support, the one with the highest total of yes votes wins. If no votes outweigh the positives for all three measures, nothing changes — we continue in the current limbo.
L.A. Weekly has the rest.
The Vermont senate gave their final approval yesterday to a bill that decriminalizes small amounts of cannabis.
The bill also makes legal small amounts of hash and possession of paraphernalia, but leaves crimes in place for sales and cultivation.