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It’s a controversial theory.

The following is excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.

In Esquire, author Don Winslow argues that legal weed is responsible for the opiate epidemic. As demand for Mexican marijuana has fallen, The Mexican Sinaloa Cartel “increased the production of Mexican heroin by almost 70 percent, and also raised the purity level, bringing in Colombian cooks to create ‘cinnamon’ heroin as strong as the East Asian product. They had been selling a product that was about 46 percent pure, now they improved it to 90 percent.

Nimbin Television

Exclusive Interview: Adam Scorgie, Writer, The Union

By Anthony Martinelli
Special to Toke of the Town

The Union: The Business Behind Getting High is a groundbreaking documentary released in 2007, seen by millions, that focuses on the logistics of the illegal cannabis industry, as well as the history and harms of prohibition. Now the writer of that film is preparing to make the long-awaited follow-up, provided financial backing falls into place.
With interviews and quotes ranging from Harvard psychiatry professor Dr. Lester Grinspoon, to Fear Factor host Joe Rogan (“I didn’t start smoking pot till about five years ago; I thought pot made you stupid. Then I realized when I was like, 30 years old that I was tricked. I was like, you gotta be fucking kidding me!”), The Union has played a vital role in opening up the public conversation on cannabis law reform.
Now, five years later, a sequel is in the works, and as with most films independent of big studio dollars, “in the works” implies very boldly that a lot of work needs to be done. In this case, the makers of The Union are calling upon supporters to pre-purchase copies of its sequel, which would be titled The Culture High, in order to assure that it even gets made.

Medical marijuana patients and supporters will converge on Wednesday, July 4, in the nation’s capitol for the Rally to Reschedule Marijuana as Medicine and 43rd Annual Smoke-In. Oddly, given the fact that the event continues to be labeled a “Smoke-In” after four decades, attendees are being asked not to smoke cannabis.
The event will begin at noon across from the White House at Lafayette Park (located at 16th Street and H Street). Scheduled to appear are medical marijuana pioneer Dennis Peron, Richard Eastman, Kim Quiggle, John Pylka, Miguel Lopez, Julia (curator of petermcwilliams.org) and Wayward Bill at a rally to educate elected officials and voters, march and demonstrate for First Amendment rights, and the right to choose marijuana as medicine.
Demonstrators will tell President Obama, “Keep your promise,” asking him to end the federal raids against state-legalized medical marijuana dispensaries.
The U.S. Marijuana Party, chaired by Wayward Bill, will be holding it’s first annual political convention at the Smoke-In.

flickrhivemind.net

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

I wish Marijuana could still be honored and treated like it was when I was growing up. In those days, life was delineated by politics and cultures; it was easy to know who your friends were. If they smoked grass, were against the Vietnam War and liked the new long-grooved FM music that was floating off the radio, they were cool.
You were either cool or uncool. Hard to believe how binary we were in those days. 

Idaho HOPE Fest

​​Boise, Idaho’s first hemp festival is coming to Julia Davis Park on September 25. According to organizers, the Idaho HOPE Fest is the first annual event being held in Boise to advocate for the end of the federal government’s war on cannabis consumers, and to promote the re-legalization of industrial hemp.

“We will feature live entertainment, guest speakers, vendors, and educational exhibits on cannabis and the politics, culture science and controversy surrounding it,” event organizers say on the HOPE Fest website.
Organizers said they have a number of goals for this year’s inaugural event:
• To collect signatures for the Idaho Medical Choice Act, a citizen’s initiative to legalize medical marijuana for Idaho’s seriously ill patients
• To promote the re-legalization of industrial hemp
• To educate the public on the growing cannabis industry, a legitimate market providing jobs and economic growth to states that have legalized its medical use
• To push for public discussions on the legalization of marijuana.

Photo: All Access
Willie Nelson could be sentenced to between six months and two years for being busted with six ounces of marijuana on Friday.

​Thanks to our fearless Border Patrol, music legend Willie Nelson, 77, could face up to two years in prison for his marijuana possession arrest, according to a criminal defense attorney in Austin.

The attorney told website TMZ that Willie’s arrest for six ounces of weed at a Border Patrol checkpoint could get the singer six months minimum and up to two years in prison.
However, ace L.A. pot attorney Bruce Margolin — who’s also director of the Los Angeles chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws — said that Willie might dodge prison time if he could convince a jury that he just forgot the pot was on the bus.
Margolin believes Nelson should say the pot was California-grown, with California, of course, being the first of 15 states which have legalized the medicinal use of cannabis.
The bust went down at the Sierra Blanca, Texas checkpoint after Nelson’s tour bus pulled in Friday morning and a Border Patrol officer smelled marijuana through the vehicle’s open door.

Photo: Luke Thomas/The Green Cross
Kevin Reed: “I like to hear what medicine or strain that people like or maybe want more of.”

4th Annual Medical Cannabis Competition  Sunday, Nov. 14
Article and Interview by Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
Kevin Reed first started Green Cross Dispensary in 2004; soon the dispensary became too big for the neighborhood. Green Cross was shut down. After many negotiations and jumping through hoops with the city over possible locations, the best deal Reed could cut was to open a delivery service-only dispensary. That is where the situation stands today, except that he is looking aggressively for a new location.
“I miss not having the physical space of a dispensary,” Reed said. “I miss the interaction with patients. I like to hear what medicine or strain that people like or maybe want more of. Now the best I could I do is talk to my drivers. They tell me stories about the patients or their experiences. I really get jealous.”