Category Archives: Cannabis, Annotated

select links and resources about hemp cannabis and related topics – especially hemp culture in Japan and other countries

Cannabis, Annotated

Big Cannabis vs Activism – The Great Marijuana Divide In Canada | Marijuana

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Source: Big Cannabis vs Activism – The Great Marijuana Divide In Canada | Marijuana

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Cannabis, Annotated

Boycott Canada’s Medical Marijuana Profiteers | Cannabis Culture

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Moreover the riches of the earth are for all … – Ecclesiastes 5:9, the Peshitta (Aramaic Bible), circa 2nd century BCE That we may work in righteousness, and lay the Foundation of making the Earth a Common Treasury for All, both Rich and Poor … – Gerrard Winstanley, The True Levellers Standard Advanced, April 20, 1649 There is a debate in the cannabis activist community.

Source: Boycott Canada’s Medical Marijuana Profiteers | Cannabis Culture

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Cannabis, Annotated

Hemp: how one little plant could boost America’s economy | Society | The Guardian

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The plant is almost magical, advocates say, with a range of applications from paper to medicine. So why is it illegal to grow?

Source: Hemp: how one little plant could boost America’s economy | Society | The Guardian

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Cannabis, Annotated

Drug unit busts 22 members of alleged Nagano ‘pot communities’ | The Japan Times

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The alleged marijuana smokers chose sparsely populated parts of Nagano to host music events and get high, a special narcotics unit says.

Source: Drug unit busts 22 members of alleged Nagano ‘pot communities’ | The Japan Times

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Cannabis, Annotated

Mendocino setting the standard for medical marijuana access

Aside

Mendocino Supes Add Measure G to County Code

Dear Friends,

Living in Mendocino is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. People here are different and living here is like living in the future of your wildest dreams.  Just take a look at what we’ve persuaded the County Board of Supervisors to adopt as law:

“Neither the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, nor the Sheriff, nor the District Attorney shall spend or authorize the expenditure of any public funds for the investigation, arrest, or prosecution of any

person, or the seizure of any property in any single case involving

25 or fewer adult flowering female marijuana plants or the equivalent

in dried marijuana, nor shall the Auditor Controller or the

Treasurer- Tax Collector approve any such requests for such expenditures of public funds, or authorize or approve the issuance of any form of payment should such expenditures be made.”

Below is a press release that just went out to explain what has happened here.  Don’t look for any media play now, because we are probably too far in the future for them to understand, but here in

Mendocino, the future is NOW!

Let freedom grow,

Steve

————–

Release Date:

April 19, 2007

Contacts:

Steve Kubby, National Director

The American Medical Marijuana Association (AMMA)

http://www.americanmarijuana.org/

707-964-7743

Board of Supervisors Office

bos@co.mendocino.ca.us

(707) 463-4221

(707) 463-4245 Fax

Mendocino Supes Add Measure G to County Code

UKIAH — Six years after the voters of Mendocino County passed Measure G with a whopping 60% landslide, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors have finally taken the first steps to add Measure G to the County Code.

The American Medical Marijuana Association applauds this historic action by the Board and salutes those who helped make this victory a reality, including Dr. William Courtney, Jim and Trelanie Hill, Rob Garzini, Dane Wilkins, Dale Gieringer, Pebbles Trippet, Kristen Peskuski, Ralf Laguna, Paula Deeter, Edie Lerman, Dr. Michael Baldwin, and advisors John Gilmore and Tom Knapp.

Special recognition should also be given to Richard Johnson, the author of Measure G and head of the Mendocino Green Party.  Thanks Richard for this historic victory!

Measure G is to be incorporated into Chapter 9 of the Code as Section

9.36.010-090.

Below is the full text of Mendocino’s new Ordinance:

Section 9.36.10: FINDINGS

The People of Mendocino County find as follows:

A)  Cannabis sativa (marijuana) is a beneficial plant with a respectable heritage and hundreds of well-known industrial, medicinal and recreational uses;

B)  Two decades of marijuana law enforcement in Mendocino County has not stopped cultivation here but has unnecessarily marginalized a large number of otherwise law abiding citizens who grow and use marijuana;

C)  Those who grow for personal use are not responsible for violent incidents sometimes associated with marijuana cultivation, but are vulnerable to theft;

D)  The Institute of Medicine has found that marijuana has bona fide medical uses and is not a gateway to hard drug addiction;

E)  Law enforcement has carried out investigations, confiscations, and arrests against persons cultivating and using medical marijuana under Proposition 215 in Mendocino County;

F)  The cities of Berkeley and San Francisco have longstanding ordinances which instruct police to minimize the priority of marijuana enforcement.

Section 9.36.20: PURPOSE

The Ordinance codified in this Chapter will:

A. Instruct the county government to support all efforts toward the decriminalization of marijuana;

B. Instruct the county sheriff and district attorney to make marijuana enforcement their lowest priority with respect to other crimes;

C. Establish a maximum limit of plants and weight for cultivation and possession of marijuana for personal use in Mendocino County, and prohibit the expenditure of public funds for enforcement of marijuana laws against cultivators and users in possession of quantities below that limit.

D. Remove the fear of prosecution and the stigma of criminality from people who harmlessly cultivate and/or use marijuana for personal medical or recreational purposes.

E. Extend police protection to those growing or possessing marijuana for personal use;

F. Provide for the continued enforcement of marijuana laws against those who cultivate, transport and possess marijuana for sale.

The purpose of this chapter is to establish Cannabis enforcement policy for Mendocino County.

Section 9.36.30: DECRIMINALIZATION OF CANNABIS IN CALIFORNIA

It is the desire of the people of Mendocino County that the cultivation for personal use of Cannabis be decriminalized in

California. In this context, the board of supervisors is directed to lobby state and federal governments for the immediate decriminalization of the personal use of Cannabis, specifically by repealing Sections 11357, (possession), 11358, (transportation), and

– 11359, (cultivation), of the California Health and Safety Code. The people also urge the Sheriff and District Attorney to publicly support such decriminalization.

Section 9.36.40: LAW ENFORCEMENT PRIORITY OF CANNABIS

Through its budgetary authority, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors shall seek to ensure that the Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney give lowest priority to the enforcement and prosecution of marijuana laws.

Section 9.36.50: SHERIFF OFFICE ARRESTS AND CITATIONS

The Board of Supervisors shall use its budgetary authority to ensure that the Sheriff’s Office makes no arrests and issues no citations for violations of the above state Health and Safety Code sections in any single case involving 25 or fewer adult flowering female marijuana plant or the equivalent in dried marijuana.

Section 9.36.60: DISTRICT ATTORNEY PROSECUTIONS

The Board of Supervisors shall use its funding authority to ensure that the District Attorney shall not prosecute any violations of the above state Health and Safety Code sections nor seize any property in any single case involving 25 or fewer adult flowering female marijuana plants or the equivalent in dried marijuana.

Section 9.36.70: EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS FOR CANNABIS ENFORCEMENT

Neither the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, nor the Sheriff, nor the District Attorney shall spend or authorize the expenditure of any public funds for the investigation, arrest, or prosecution of any person, or the seizure of any property in any single case involving 25 or fewer adult flowering female marijuana plants or the equivalent in dried marijuana, nor shall the Auditor Controller or the

Treasurer- Tax Collector approve any such requests for such expenditures of public funds, or authorize or approve the issuance of any form of payment should such expenditures be made.

Section 9.36.80: REPORTING

The Board of Supervisors shall instruct the Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney to report on December 1 of each year regarding marijuana law enforcement and prosecution activities engaged in by themselves and by state, federal, and/or other law enforcement agencies within the County of Mendocino.

Section 9.36.90: SERVERABILITY

The people of Mendocino County intend that in case a court of competent jurisdiction should find one or more of the above Sections illegal, the remaining Sections remain in full force and effect.

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Cannabis, Annotated

Japan’s First Lady Touts Revival of Hemp Culture via WSJ

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Source: Japan’s First Lady Touts Revival of Hemp Culture – Japan Real Time – WSJ

Dave Notes:

“Very glad to see this article discussing a very fascinating aspect of Japan culture. I worked as a mushroom farmer and hitchhiked throughout remote rural areas in Japan and saw cannabis culture of all sorts — from traditional handicrafts and religious artifacts to folks harvesting wild cultivars for smoking and extracting.

A few annotations if i may:

1) My 1996/8 research essay traces the history of hemp in Japan and various uses and appeared in Cannabis Culture, Journal of International Hemp Association and Hemp Horizons

2) JapanHemp.org has gathered a massive repository of hemp artifacts and information in English and Japanese.

3) Note the wandering warrior poets Basho and Kobayashi Issa wrote about hemp on their journeys and hemp in mentioned in other literary classics.

4) The National History Museum in Sakura has many garments with unmarked cloth which are clearly not silk, cotton or mulberry, but not labelled as hemp – in fact the characters do not appear anywhere in the museum though the movement and trade form Korea and India was discussed as was the advent of silk production.

5) A commenter below mentioned wild Hokkaido cannabis and i can concur that these tall, robust, wild and THC-laden plants indeed do exist on roadsides and country areas.”

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Japan’s first lady raised eyebrows after telling a Japanese magazine that she has considered becoming a hemp farmer to help revive the traditional culture.

By JUN HONGO, Dec 15, 2015

There seem to be few dull moments in the life of first lady Akie Abe, who sometimes spends her time hosting a web-based talk show, harvesting honey from a bee farm and even paying occasional visits to the contentious Yasukuni Shrine.

Most recently, Ms. Abe raised eyebrows after telling a Japanese magazine that she has considered becoming a hemp farmer to help revive the traditional culture.

In an interview with Spa!, Ms. Abe was quoted as saying that she had become interested in hemp cultivation and considered applying for a permit to grow the plant after studying its history.

“Hemp is a plant of which all of its parts can be used effectively,” Ms. Abe is quoted as saying. “While it is not yet permitted in Japan, I think it can be put into great practical use for medical purposes as well.”

Of course, hemp and marijuana come from the same plant, and Japan maintains a hard line on marijuana. The Cannabis Control Law enacted in 1948 bans the import, export, cultivation and purchase of marijuana. But prior to that, hemp was widely grown in Japan and used to make fabric and for use in imperial ceremonies. There are legal hemp farms in Japan, but they are rare and require a special permit.

Ms. Abe said in the article that she’d like to revive Japan’s tradition of growing hemp. “I’ve even considered myself to apply for a permit to grow hemp,” she was quoted as saying.

The article included a photo of the first lady visiting a legal hemp farm in western Japan in August and posing for a photo in the middle of the plants.

Ms. Abe has promoted the article on her personal Facebook page, encouraging those interested in the topic to pick up a copy.

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Cannabis, Annotated

Bong tokes for Michael Phelps

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In-trouble Michael Phelps coming to Vancouver

By Jeff Lee 02-05-2009

http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/insideolympics/archive/2009/02/05/troubled-michael-phelps-coming-to-vancouver.aspx

Today was not a banner day for U.S. swimming star Michael Phelps. In the wake of that problematic photo showing him dragging on a bong, he’s had take a significant hit on his credibility. Even if he’s never said whether the bong contained marijuana.

He’s had to do some swift damage control – and we saw a measure of that on Sunday after the story broke when he issued a mea culpa statement to Associated Press.

“I engaged in behaviour which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment,” Phelps said in a statement. “I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”

Michael Phelps Should Not Be Sorry
6 02 2009
This Product Contains Cannabis [by me]

ZOMG, this product contains cannabis!

Michael Phelps has nothing to apologize for. I understand the reality he faces, however, and why he has to say what he said. But let’s go beyond the breathless theatrics and think about the core issue. “He broke the law,” the pundits are saying, as if that is necessarily the end of the conversation. Sorry, but Phelps was not wrong; our marijuana laws are wrong. Really wrong.

http://www.cosmictap.com/michael-phelps-should-not-be-sorry/

http://stash.norml.org/flashback-phelps-2004-dui-didnt-cost-him-kelloggs-endorsement/

Flashback: Phelps’ 2004 DUI didn’t cost him Kellogg’s endorsement | NORML’s Daily Audio Stash
Michael Phelps was convicted of illegally using a hard drug (alcohol is a hard, though legal, drug and Phelps was 19, not legal age to use it) when caught driving a car, running a stop sign, and pushing the legal limit for intoxication. Michael Phelps could’ve caused a serious accident and injured or killed himself and others. Kellogg’s didn’t seem to have a problem with that being “not consistent with the image of Kellogg”.

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Cannabis, Annotated

Can Hemp Save Us From Global Warming? | High Times

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Can Hemp Save Us From Global Warming? | High Times.

 

A report published by the Family Council on Drug Awareness, Europe (don’t let the name throw you –it’s a pro-pot organization) introduced the Cannabis Biomass Energy Equation (CBEE), a formula delineating the manner in which cannabis uniquely produces energy that is less polluting and less expensive than fossil fuels and uranium, and is therefore capable of economically replacing them.
One of the primary CBEE tenets is that hemp grows well in almost any cli- mate and reaches its maximum biomass yield in only four months, allowing at least two harvests per year producing 20 tons of cannabis biomass per acre, which in turn will generate 2,000 gallons of methanol to be used in biodiesel production.
The report also answers those skeptics who discount the extensive cultivation of hemp due to economic factors, calculating that only 6 percent of agricultural land in the United States would be necessary to produce sufficient cannabis biomass to supply all of the country’s current needs for oil, gas and diesel.
Even if that 6 percent turns out to be a lowball estimate and more land is required, given the fact that there are almost 600 million acres of unused land in the United States — with some 30 million of that total comprising agricultural land being kept idle by farmers who are paid nearly $2 billion a year by the US government not to harvest — there’s more than enough acreage for hemp cultivation to produce the required biomass.
Hemp for Victory: The Sequel
It’s been over 75 years since cannabis was outlawed by the federal government — but just a few years after deeming it illegal, the United States was forced to embrace the versatility of hemp with the onset of World War II (as immortalized in the 1942 US government film Hemp for Victory). Many would argue that global warming is the worst crisis we’ve faced since the Second World War, so it’s no doubt fitting that hemp could again be in demand — once legalized — as a crucial material to help combat the planetary threat of climate change.
While this needs to happen sooner rather than later, there are encouraging signs. Besides the ever-increasing awareness in the culture at large, there’s been action on the political front. The Huffington Post reported that more than 70 hemp-related bills have been introduced in various US states since January 2014—double the number in 2013.
The US Farm Bill, signed by President Obama this past February, permits any state to legalize the cultivation of hemp for research purposes, and the number of states who have done just that has now reached double digits.

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Cannabis, Annotated

Bringing it Home Movie | A documentary film about industrial hemp

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Bringing it Home Movie | A documentary film about industrial hemp 

A father’s search to find the healthiest building materials leads him to the completion of the nation’s first hemp house. Hemp with lime is a non-toxic, energy efficient, mildew, fire and pest resistant building material. The drawback — although research is legal in some states, hemp remains off-limits to almost all U.S. farmers.  Industrial hemp is a non-psychoactive plant, grown in 31 other countries that makes 1,000′s of sustainable products and offers solutions for global warming, nutrition, poverty and deforestation.  Here in the U.S., hemp could be a money-making crop for farmers and create jobs. But why can’t we grow it here? BRINGING IT HOME tells the story of hemp: past, present and future and a global industry that includes textiles, building materials, food products, bio-plastics, auto parts and more.

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Cannabis, Annotated

Cannabis May Be Best Treatment For Fibromyalgia, Survey Finds – Leaf Science

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Cannabis May Be Best Treatment For Fibromyalgia, Survey Finds – Leaf Science

A new survey from the National Pain Foundation suggests medical marijuana may top currently available pharmaceuticals for treating fibromyalgia.

The survey, conducted online, asked more than 1,300 patients with the chronic pain disorder to rate the effectiveness of treatments that they’ve tried. Medical marijuana was compared with the only three drugs approved by the FDA for fibromyalgia: Savella, Lyrica and Cymbalta.

Just 8% of patients that tried Cymbalta and 10% that tried Lyrica or Savella found the drugs to be “very effective” for managing symptoms of the disorder.

For each of the three drugs, over 60% of patients reported that it “does not help at all.”

On the other hand, 62% of patients who tried medical marijuana found it to be “very effective.” Another 33% said it “helps a little,” and only 5% felt that using cannabis for fibromyalgia “does not help at all.”

“I’ve found nothing that has worked for me, apart from marijuana,” explained one patient in the survey. “Nothing but medical marijuana has made the greatest dent in the pain and mental problems,” wrote another.

fibromyalgia-survey-2-04-21

Fibromyalgia is a disorder of the central nervous system that affects 2-4% of the population, predominately females. But while scientists still puzzle over the true cause of fibromyalgia, the latest findings shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

In a 2011 study conducted by Spanish researchers, patients who used cannabis showed improvements in pain, stiffness, relaxation and perception of well-being.

“The use of cannabis was associated with beneficial effects on some fibromyalgia symptoms,” noted the authors.

Likewise, a 2012 survey found that 1 in 8 Canadians living with fibromyalgia relies on marijuana to cope with their symptoms.

“We think that there’s probably a role for that class of compounds, the cannabinoids in general,”explains Dr. Mark Ware, associate professor of anesthesia at McGill University and co-author of the Canadian survey. “It’s just a question of working out how that’s going to be put into practice,” he adds.

An earlier study by Dr. Ware and his team revealed that nabilone, a pill containing marijuana’s active ingredient, THC, could help fibromyalgia sufferers sleep better. Nabilone has also been shown to reduce pain and improve quality of life scores in patients with the disorder.

Still, some patients prefer natural cannabis over synthetic versions, which are known to have more potent side effects.

“I have patients with a range of pain syndromes who have failed all their other treatments and for whom herbal cannabis has been the only reasonable option that they have that controls their symptoms,” says Dr. Ware.

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Cannabis, Annotated

LSD and other psychedelics not linked with mental health problems, analysis suggests

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LSD and other psychedelics not linked with mental health problems, analysis suggests

The use of LSD, magic mushrooms, or peyote does not increase a person’s risk of developing mental health problems, according to an analysis of information from more than 130,000 randomly chosen people, including 22,000 people who had used psychedelics at least once. The researchers found no link between the use of psychedelic drugs and a range of mental health problems. Instead they found some significant associations between the use of psychedelic drugs and fewer mental health problems.

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Cannabis, Annotated

Does researching casual marijuana use cause brain abnormalities?

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Does researching casual marijuana use cause brain abnormalities?

In reading the news yesterday I came across multiple reports claiming that even casually smoking marijuana can change your brain. I usually don’t pay much attention to such articles; I’ve never smoked a joint in my life. In fact, I’ve never even smoked a cigarette. So even though as a scientist I’ve been interested in cannabis from the molecular biology point of view, and as a citizen from a legal point of view, the issues have not been personal. However reading a USA Today article about the paper, I noticed that the principal investigator Hans Breiter was claiming to be a psychiatrist and mathematician. That is an unusual combination so I decided to take a closer look. I immediately found out the claim was a lie. In fact, the totality of math credentials of Hans Breiter consist of some logic/philosophy courses during a year abroad at St. Andrews while he was a pre-med student at Northwestern. Even being an undergraduate major in mathematics does not make one a mathematician, just as being an undergraduate major in biology does not makes one a doctor. Thus, with his outlandish claim, Hans Breiter had succeeded in personally offending me! So, I decided to take a look at his paper underlying the multiple news reports:

This is quite possibly the worst paper I’ve read all year (as some of my previous blog posts show I am saying something with this statement). Here is a breakdown of some of the issues with the paper:

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