| Floris Leeuwenberg |
| Cannabis coffeeshops are an integral part of Dutch culture, and have been for decades. A Dutch cannabis consumers group, WeSmoke, says the shops are worthy of preservation as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. |
The Netherlands, for reasons known only to the conservative government, seems intent on barring foreigners from its world-famous “coffeeshops” where cannabis is sold. That’s wholly nonsensical, since the shops are a major source of tourist dollars for Amsterdam and most of the other cities where they operate.
But curtailment of the shops — or even complete closure, which could be one of the repercussions of the new rules — would be more than an economic loss to the Netherlands, according to one Dutch pro-cannabis group. It would be a tragic loss of cultural heritage, as well.
Because of that, the Dutch cannabis consumer association WeSmoke has asked that the coffeeshops of the Netherlands be included on UNESCO World Heritage Site list, giving them protection as the unique cultural icons they are.
“World Heritage Sites are commonly understood to be culturally and/or natural important heritage that can be considered irreplaceable, unique and property of the entire world,” said Dimitri Breeuwer of WeSmoke. “This is why we can only conclude the unique Dutch coffeeshop, the very center of the cannabis legalization policies belongs on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.”
| Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy |
Groundbreaking FDA Hearing Will Consider Expanding Access to Overdose Antidote That Has Saved Tens of Thousands of Lives
Leading Experts Will Testify at FDA Hearing and Capitol Hill Briefing
Drug Policy Alliance Releases Policy Brief Urging Greater Access to Naloxone
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will on Thursday hold a public hearing to consider making naloxone more available outside of conventional medical settings in order to reduce drug overdoses from opioid drugs such as OxyContin, Percocet and heroin. This groundbreaking hearing will bring together many of the leading overdose prevention experts in the United States to strategize ways to improve access to naloxone.
| Chronicle Books |
After near 40 years in the business, High Times has published its first-ever cookbook. The deliciously definitive guide to cannabis-infused cooking features easy recipes and advice which demystify the experience of cooking with marijuana.
With recipes inspired by Snoop Dogg, Cheech & Chong, and Willie Nelson, as well as beautiful (and, fair warning, hunger-inducing) color photos, The Official High Times Cannabis Cookbook is authored by Elise McDonough, who started working at the magazine a decade ago.
Toke of the Town had a chance to chat with Elise about the book and about her life experiences which led up to it.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed researching edibles and testing recipes for this book!” McDonough told us. “I wanted to include stories from counterculture heroes, and so we included recipes for activists like Jack Herer, Brownie Mary and the folks at Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana (wamm.org).
| CTI Career Search |
| “Oh dear God… what if little Jimmy’s on WEEEEEEED?!” |
If you thought the laughable Reefer Madness hyperbole and tall tales were a thing of the past — a relic, perhaps, of your 20th Century schooling — think again.
The extremist anti-drug group “notMYkid,” just in time for the 4/20 holiday this year, is indulging in the same, lame rhetoric of the past century, darkly mentioning in a Tuesday press release, “With nearly 40,000 drug-related deaths each year, ‘National Weed Day’ can be the start down a tragic path.”
They somehow seem to have forgotten a couple of things, notably, (1) NONE of those 40,000 deaths is attributable to marijuana, and in fact NO death EVER in human history is directly attributable to cannabis; and (2) most of those 40,000 drug deaths aren’t even due to illegal drugs at all — but instead represent overdoses on legal pharmaceuticals manufactured by, surprise, surprise! — the same Big Pharma giants who fund this nonsensical anti-pot propaganda in the first place.
Via: Online Degrees
Alcohol — in no small part due to its legal status, for sure — is by far the most popular drug on college campuses in the United States.
| Aeon Byte Gnostic Radio |
Jack’s Timeline of the History of Cannabis
By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
• Your Higher Power provides Cannabis to the Earth.
• 2737 BCE: Shen Nung’s Pen Ts’ao, in China, refers to Cannabis as a “superior” herb in the world’s first medical text, or pharmacopoeia.
• For the next several thousand years, Cannabis and Hemp are utilized in almost every major civilization in the Old World including everything from paper to sails.
• 1632 AD, America gets a new cash crop when the Pilgrims bring Cannabis to the New World in their carry-on luggage.
• 1776 AD: Declaration of Independence drafted on hemp paper.
| WeedWiki |
Israeli cannabis activists have mounted their legal challenge to a police ban on a Marijuana Day rally, an annual event in which people publicly smoke the herb to protest its illegal status.
The Israel Police notified the activists that any such rally in Tel Aviv, Israel’s capital city, would not be tolerated, reports Yaakov Lappin at the Jerusalem Post. Law enforcement refused to authorize the event, claiming it constitutes a “blatant violation” of the law.
The activists, represented by a group called Dor Emet (Truth Generation), placed a High Court appeal against the ban.
| The Coming Crisis |
President Obama to Attend Summit of the Americas in Colombia This Weekend: Discussions to Include Drug Decriminalization, Legal Regulation and Other Drug War Alternatives
First Time Ever that Sitting Presidents are Calling for All Options to Be Put on Table to Reduce Drug Prohibition-Related Crime, Violence and Corruption
This week, President Obama will join more than 30 other heads of state from throughout the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia for the Summit of the Americas. For the first time ever, a major focus of the summit – both in official meetings and behind closed doors – will be the need for alternative strategies to the failed war on drugs.
The urgency of the discussion is growing in light of the prohibition-related violence in Mexico that has killed more than 50,000 people since 2006, the growing war zones in Central America, and South American governments worn down by decades of disastrous U.S.-sponsored eradication and interdiction efforts that have bred institutionalized corruption and routine violence.
| The Weed Blog |
San Francisco United for Safe Access campaign compels statement from Mayor Lee and others
A coalition of medical marijuana patients, activists, dispensing centers, and concerned citizens has compelled public officials to stand up to recent federal attacks. Last week, the coalition “San Francisco United for Safe Access” held a press conference with several city supervisors and state officials, decrying the Obama Administration’s aggressive tactics before a crowd of more than 500 supporters.
By Friday, San Francisco United had secured a statement from Mayor Lee, expressing his opposition to “recent federal actions targeting duly permitted Medicinal Cannabis Dispensaries…that aim to limit our citizens’ ability to have safe access to the medicine they need.”
| DFW NORML |
Calling all creative cannabis consumers! The Dallas-Forth Worth chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (DFW NORML) has announced a 48-Hour Hemp T-Shirt Design Contest.
In the next 48 hours, the group has to decide on its second hemp t-shirt design. The best design wins $50, two copies of the shirt and a free one-year membership to DFW NORML.
The contest is to perfect the first t-shirt design specifically for Texas marijuana activists — but you do NOT have to live in Texas (or even in the United States) to enter.