• BY: DEBORAH MORGAN
  
   
  This November, voters in Arkansas will have the opportunity to pass legislation to implement a medical marijuana program in the state. If successful, Arkansas will be the 18th state in the U.S. – and the first southern state in history – to enact a medical marijuana program to help ease the suffering of sick and dying patients.
  With Medicare’s financial woes affecting senior citizens across the nation, the mature residents of Arkansas stand to gain great benefit with safe and affordable alternatives to expensive pharmaceuticals. Arkansas residents who suffer from chronic pain and debilitating conditions will benefit from non-lethal medication which has been proven over 6,000 years of recorded human use.
  Unfortunately, Missouri failed to garner the required signatures to put similar legislation on the ballot for 2012. Perhaps when Arkansans pass the bill this fall, Missouri will finally evolve and come into the 21st century.
   
  Complete article here:
  http://www.examiner.com/article/while-arkansas-will-vote-on-medical-marijuana-missouri-still-won-t-evolve

by Eric Steenstra
The 2012 election campaign is in full swing and President Obama’s campaign is hard at work raising money to fund his reelection effort. The campaign even has an online store featuring a wide variety of items for sale. One of the items offered is a beautiful hemp and organic cotton scarf made by fashion designer Monique Péan.
The scarf is listed as “made in the USA.” What the Obama store doesn’t tell you is that the scarf is made from imported hemp blend fabric made in China. Unfortunately the Obama administration has confused non-drug industrial hemp with marijuana and blocked American farmers from growing the crop. This outrageous policy has forced American companies to import hemp textiles, auto parts, building materials, nutritious foods and more from overseas increasing our trade deficit and offshoring farming and manufacturing jobs.
 
Complete article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-steenstra/the-obama-reelection-camp_b_1684999.html

by Phillip Smith

 
A decade after the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis (CRC) filed its petition seeking to have marijuana moved from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the federal courts will finally review the scientific evidence regarding the therapeutic efficacy of marijuana. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals announced late last week that it will hear oral arguments in October in a lawsuit filed by Americans for Safe Access (ASA) to force the government to act.
 
Complete article here: http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2012/jul/30/medical_marijuana_rescheduling_l

 
Flyers fans will remember Riley Cote as the tattoo-covered heavyweight enforcer who would drop the gloves to protect a teammate. His last fight on the ice took place April 1, 2010, but look at Cote now, and he resembles nothing of the guy who could spar with the toughest men in the NHL.
The stress and pressure of his next fight created an unhealthy lifestyle and Cote was left looking for an alternative – not just professionally, but personally.
That next season, Cote joined the Adirondack Phantoms as an assistant coach, and in the process, he remarkably knocked off around 20 pounds from his bulky 6-foot-2 frame. He looked more equipped to run a 5k than serve five minutes for fighting.
“I wanted to change the way I was eating, change the way I was feeling,” Cote said. “It was an evolution for me. My version of health and fitness is completely different from my version today. I’ve tried every protein on the market and every vitamin to help my performance to being an athlete. That’s what athletes do. They try and find an edge and try to eat the right stuff. For me, a lot of things I use to eat, I don’t eat anymore. Plus now, I don’t have to train the way I did when I played because I’m not an athlete anymore. I’m just trying to pass on the knowledge I have to a player or two on our team to get them to eat the right way, trim up and be lean. Name of the game is speed and you have to be lean.”
Cote’s revolutionary health kick has also helped educate him on the uses of hemp, the world’s most perfect plant from seed to leaf, according to his website, hemphealsphilly.com.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.csnphilly.com/hockey-philadelphia-flyers/flyers-talk/Former-Flyer-Riley-Cote-takes-on-another?blockID=747893&feedID=695

Sarah Eyre

 
I’m a mom and I use marijuana. I know, it’s a shocker, right?
When I read that Jane couldn’t get anyone to write about pot-smoking moms who are tired of being judged by wine drinkers, I thought: OH, SHIT, THEY ARE PLAYING MY SONG. My ability to drink is severely limited due to the medications I take, but I use marijuana on a daily basis. Sure, I take it medically for spasticity and insomnia, but I’m a daily user, and I don’t hide it from anyone, and I have many thoughts on this subject, people.
When I was growing up, my mother kept one of those large, gallon-sized jugs of white Zinfandel in the refrigerator at all times. You know the ones — with the thumbhole, to keep it super-classy. My mom wasn’t an alcoholic; she was just a lower-middle-class woman with a small amount of disposable income, four children (and frequently foster children, often in sibling groups), and almost no free time who needed to have alcohol readily available at all times, because her ability to leave the house was seriously hindered by her responsibilities at home. I get it.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.xojane.com/healthy/marijuana-moms

In a lifeless economy, the Los Angeles City Council took the unusual step on Tuesday of voting 14-0 to immediately close down up to 762 thriving businesses within city limits.According to the LA Times: “Medical marijuana activists who had packed the council chambers jeered when the vote came down. More than a dozen Los Angeles Police Department officers were called in to quell them. Under the ban, medical patients and their caregivers will be able to grow and share the drug in small groups of three people or less But the activists say most patients don’t have the time or skills to cultivate marijuana. One dispensary owner told the council that it would cost patients a minimum of $5,000 to grow marijuana at home.” The report then notes, “In a seemingly contradictory move, the council also voted to instruct city staff to draw up an ordinance that would allow a group of about 170 dispensaries that registered with the city several years ago to remain open. Councilman Jose Huizar, who voted against that motion, said it might give the public ‘false hope’ that the ban would not be enforced. He said the ban would be enforced, especially against problem dispensaries that have drawn complaints from neighbors. ‘Relief is on its way,’ he said.”
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.thefix.com/content/LA-week-weed-marijuana90441

Kevin Edmonds

 
Despite the war on drugs being lost long ago, the debate on a progressive drug policy in the Caribbean is showing positive signs of revival due to increased campaigning on behalf of community organizations, farmers, and academics. Earlier this month, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders met in St. Lucia to discuss regional issues in the usual fashion but were joined outside by a small but vocal demonstration campaigning for the decriminalization of marijuana.
Andre DeCaires, Chair of the Cannabis Movement of St. Lucia, and leader of the St. Lucia Green Party, stated that the demonstration’s purpose was not confrontation but to spark dialogue within St. Lucia and throughout the region. DeCaires commented on how Central and South America are already making important progress in thinking of alternatives to the status quo policies and that “We just want a conversation; we don’t want anybody to change anything now. We’re not expecting any change, but we want dialogue on the issue.”
The Cannabis Movement is certainly doing its best to make sure that happens. Despite being only a little more than a year old, the organization has already hosted information booths at public events and educational exhibits in the Castries Town Hall, where they discussed the benefits of the Cannabis “herb” as a medicinal as well as an industrial crop. The organization’s public relations officer Gordon Rae added that “On the advice of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force, the Movement has added a prevention component so that the public is made aware that our intention is not the promotion of the use of marijuana but the decriminalization of the plant in all its beneficial forms”.
 
Read complete article here:
http://nacla.org/blog/2012/7/26/war-drugs-caribbean-going-smoke

 
This week the potential for developing a commercial industrial hemp growing industry in Tasmania has been detailed at a state parliamentary inquiry.
An unusual case was put by a small northern Tasmanian recycled plastics manufacturer that wants to use hemp in its products.
Envorinex is a speciality plastics manufacturer with a strong research and product innovation profile.
The international director from the company Michael Turner says industrial hemp can help provide new markets for the plastic products.
 
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/tas/content/2012/07/s3554282.htm?site=northtas

A recently developed green walling material, has helped to create a newbuild sustainable home in Hillingdon, London – as part of a pioneering council-run scheme to create high quality, affordable housing on disused garage sites.

Designed by Paper Project architecture and design and built by Hill Partnerships (Western), the project forms part of a regeneration programme launched by the London Borough of Hillingdon in 2008 to convert underused spaces into affordable and sustainable housing. The four bedroom house is one of 47 homes that have already been redeveloped as part of this innovative scheme. A key element in the construction was the use of hemcrete for the creation of highly insulated walls for the timber frame home – helping the building to achieve Level 5 of the Code for Sustainable Homes. Developed by Lime Technology, Tradical® Hemcrete® is produced from UK grown hemp and a lime binder, absorbing CO2 in the hemp growing. It is ideal for the construction of thermally efficient and cost effective homes.

 
Read complete article here:
http://www.greenbuildingpress.co.uk/article.php?category_id=1&article_id=1243

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted 14-0 to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. The measure, which the mayor is expected to sign, would force the city’s 762 dispensaries to shut down immediately or face legal action.
Read complete article here:
http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2012/7/25/la-city-council-bans-medical-pot-dispensaries.aspx