Oooohhhhh Canada

By: Erikush Growski

There has been some bad winds blowing across the stinky Detroit River. Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and his conservative right-winged agenda, has now pushed through new restrictions on Canada’s medical marijuana patients. They will not be allowed to grow for themselves anymore. In addition, the current government licensed facility in Manitoba which supplied patients who could not grow for themselves, is being closed. This new change is to be in effect April 1, 2014.

Canada, as small as it’s population is, has more than 30,000 medical marijuana patients who are now left with few options to obtain the much needed medication. Apparently, the plan of the administration is to license local facilities to grow and dispense marijuana. Very little has been said as to where these will be and how accessible.

It is ascertained by Canadians that marijuana for medical use will become much to expensive to obtain and use as a treatment for the average/lower income Canadian. The concern stated by the government is that too much overage is being sold on the black market and patients are growing more than needed and selling it to non-patients. So the government’s solution is to take growing rights away and make it too expensive to obtain for those in need?

I am saddened by this as Canada, in many ways, is more progressive than the U.S. A movement in this direction is a win for law enforcement agencies (more money in fees, fines, and arrests!), but a blow for the average bloke caught up in this political mess. The newly-licensed facilities will supposedly be highly monitored and regulated. However, instead of using tax dollars for that, just require any grower to submit to inspections and pay for them; which in turn would require them to be within proper limits and in compliance with all fire safety codes. That must be too simple a solution than to deny patients medication and develop a new sector of government. Poor Canadians. Your bacon is really ham and your medical marijuana program is really bullshit.

 

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FREE THE WEED 30 by John Sinclair

Highest greetings from Amsterdam. I’m happy to report all sorts of positive activity on the marijuana legalization front this month, from the decision of the South American nation of Uruguay to legalize weed for all citizens to the call by New York City Comptroller John Liu—a candidate for mayor this fall—to legalize medical marijuana and allow adults to possess an ounce of pot for recreational use, measures that he reckons would pump more than $400 million into the city’s coffers.

As Larry Gabriel reported in the Metro Times a couple of weeks ago, Uruguay’s General Assembly passed a bill that would legalize growing, selling and possessing the plant. The measure still has to pass the Senate and be signed by President José Mujica, but “it would seem there’s no contest there,” Gabriel says, “as the Senate is reportedly more in favor of the legislation than the General Assembly—and Mujica proposed it in the first place.”

HempMedsPX Exhibiting at Michigan Medical Marijuana Conference

(Via NASDAQ) 

Company Will Exhibit Cannabidiol (CBD) Products at State's Medical Cannabis Conference in Ann Arbor From August 23-25, 2013

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 19, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medical Marijuana Inc. (OTC Pink:MJNA) is pleased to inform shareholders and the general public that HempMedsPX—the master distributor and contracted marketing company for the Medical Marijuana, Inc. corporate portfolio—will be attending and exhibiting at the Michigan Medical Marijuana ConferenceAugust 23-25 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

"This conference will introduce HempMedsPX to the Michigan medical cannabis market," said Charles Vest, Director of Communications for HempMedsPX. "We will have the opportunity to showcase all current hemp-based products under the HempMedsPX umbrella and establish distribution networks throughout the state.

Organic Morality

by Rick Weller, Founder of Organically Done Plant Products

We all have the need to vent occasionally and this is one of those times for me.

I spent the weekend with a group of pretty informed folks and we talked about politics, economics, the environment and yes, some less serious things – basically ‘what’s going on in the world’ stuff.

Most everyone knew about the George Zimmerman / Trayvon Martin trial, that the Tigers are in first place and that Kim Kardashian just had her first baby. There were a lot of blank stares when I brought up topics like GMO food products and honeybee colony collapse. I was a bit surprised given the importance of these issues. 

Comments I heard this past weekend...

• “...if the government allows all of those pesticides on the shelves, they must be safe...”

• “...why would farmers plant GM crops if they weren’t safe...”

• “...I can’t tell food companies what to put in their products...”

• “...there’s not much I can do about global warming...”

VGIP- Medical Marijuana Conference and Local Initiatives

By: Ben Horner 

By the time this has been printed, petitions for Jackson, Ferndale and Lansing to decriminalize possession of an ounce of marijuana for adults on private property will be turned into the appropriate municipalities. Barring any legal challenges, the question will be placed on the corresponding ballots in this upcoming November election. There are some notable local leaders that have helped make this happen.

Shirkey announces area drug enforcement town hall meeting in Jackson County on Aug. 14

State Rep. Mike Shirkey will host a citizen town hall event in Jackson County on Aug. 14 to help create a public dialogue on drug enforcement strategies and policy. Shirkey said the debate needs to happen, based on both the citizen initiative that legalized medicinal marijuana and the introduction of legislation such as House Bill 4623, which would impose fines instead of jail time for the possession of small amounts of recreational marijuana.

"Michigan citizens expect and demand that we strive to balance the needs of personal freedom, public safety, pain management and a host of other factors as we determine how to best spend the people's tax dollars," said Shirkey, R-Clarklake.  "Are we forcing law enforcement to police and jail recreational marijuana users instead of using time and money that should be going to battle our meth lab epidemic?  Are we limiting reasonable options to end-of-life pain management by putting excessive restrictions on medicinal marijuana?  Those are questions that politicians, law enforcement, and most importantly the general public, need to actively discuss and answer."

The town hall, which is free and open to the public, takes place from 5-7 p.m. at the Grass Lake Township Hall, 373 Lakeside Drive.

Shirkey is inviting several people to speak and is hopeful for a large turnout, regardless of people's position on the issue.  State Rep. Jeff Irwin, the author of HB 4623, will attend as will former prosecutor James Gierach, a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).

Seventeen states have some type of marijuana decriminalization laws on the books, according to LEAP, and the organization said they were interested in coming to the Jackson area in part because of a local petition drive addressing decriminalization.

"My time working with law enforcement as a Cook County prosecutor and municipal attorney showed me firsthand how frequently we are turning average citizens into criminals and not spending enough time tracking down and dealing with the true bad guys in this equation," Gierach said.  "You can be both tough and appropriate with drug enforcement once you start to differentiate and realize the serious downsides of a one-size-fits-all policy.  We've already seen that with alcohol and prohibition, and I think we're going to see that very soon with recreational marijuana use as well."

People with questions may call Rep. Shirkey's office at (517) 373-1775. Gierach will also be making himself available for private meetings with interested public officials by appointment, and can be reached through the LEAP offices at (315) 243-5844.

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Save The Last Dab For Me

By Erikush Growski

The Michigan Court of Appeals' recent decision in People v. Carruthers, issued July 11, 2013, has ruled that marijuana brownies made with cannabutter are not covered by the affirmative defenses allotted to Michigan medical marijuana patients. Their reasoning is that "under the existing statutory scheme, an edible containing THC extract from marijuana resin is not 'useable marijuana' under the MMMA" (Michigan Medical Marijuana Act).

Curruthers was stopped in traffic and found to be in possession of marijuana, brownies, and cookies. As he was in a possession of an amount appropriate for him and his patients, the marijuana in baggies was allowable under the law. However, the lower court denied the defendant the right to use the affirmative defenses of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act for the brownies, as the People's expert stated that THC (Delta 9 tetrahydrocannibinol) was present when tested, but no actual leaves or flower particles were detected within the brownies. The defense admitted they were prepared with cannabutter as well.

Hemp Blurb

Did you know, in 2012, three Michigan counties passed resolutions for Industrial Hemp? Montmorency, Presque Isle, and Oscoda counties: Three very important steps in the direction towards an end of Cannabis Prohibition in Michigan. It is important for everyone to understand what these resolutions mean, and also how we can build off from it and experience equal success in our surrounding counties for industrial hemp.

Pot For Pets

By: Ricki Stern

Would you give your pet pot?  I don’t mean your old college roommate’s method of  blowing thick bong rips into the face of a squirming Fido.  Dr. Doug Kramer is a veterinarian leading a growing movement of vets and pet owners who believe that marijuana may provide medical benefits for animals.

While tending to the health concerns of others’ animals at the Vet Guru Animal Veterinary Center in California, Dr. Kramer’s own Siberian Husky, Nikita, was diagnosed with untreatable cancer.  After exhausting all the traditional pain medications, even steroids, without success, and just before euthanasia, Dr. Kramer turned to marijuana.  “She was nearing the end…she had nothing to lose…at the first dosage, she was up and around.  I didn’t cure her.  It was just…increasing her quality of life and putting off inevitably euthanizing her” Kramer said.