Tag Archives | Cannabis

Washington State and Colorado Join the Fray: Cannabis Legalized

By on November 7, 2012 in News 11

via chycho

The big news from last night is not that the lesser of two evils won the US presidential elections, but that “Washington and Colorado voters legalized recreational use of marijuana.”

“’It’s very monumental,’ said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a Washington-based group that advocates legalization. ‘No state has ever done this. Technically, marijuana isn’t even legal in Amsterdam.’”

Under the measures, “personal possession of up to an ounce (28.5 grams) of marijuana would be legal for anyone at least 21 years of age. They also will permit cannabis to be legally sold and taxed at state-licensed stores in a system modeled after a regime many states have in place for alcohol sales.”

In addition, the cultivation of up to six plants for personal use will be legal in Colorado while still remaining illegal in Washington State.… Read the rest

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Amsterdam Disregards a Ban on Tourists

By on November 2, 2012 in News 4

Picture: LeDeuxAlpe (PD)

Bureau Official: Here is an example: A fifteen-year-old lad apprehended in the act of staging a holdup — fifteen years old and a marijuana addict. Here is a most tragic case.

Dr. Carroll: Yes, I remember. Just a young boy… under the influence of drugs… who killed his entire family with an axe.

- Reefer Madness

Terrible news Disinfonaughts, despite all our campaigning, the evil herb will still be available in Amsterdam to anyone who wants to smoke it.

The BBC reports:

The mayor of Amsterdam says he will not ban foreign tourists from using the city’s famous cannabis cafes, after months of argument over new drug laws.

The move comes after the new government of the Netherlands said it would be up to local authorities whether or not to impose such a ban.

Mayor Eberhard van der Laan said banning the sale of the drug to foreigners could lead to more crime.

… Read the rest

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Heavy Teenage Cannabis Use Linked with Anxiety Disorders in Late 20s

By on August 11, 2012 in News 35

Photo: Burning joint, Czech Republic (CC)

Newly published findings by the Centre for Adolescent Health at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne and published in Addiction show that heavy marijuana use by teenagers is likely to result in later adult anxiety disorders.

From the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre in Australia’s site:

Those who used frequently in their teens and continued to use on a daily basis at the age of 29 were three times as likely to have an anxiety disorder compared with non- or infrequent users. Those who used minimally in their teens but became daily users in their late 20s were two and a half times as likely to have an anxiety disorder. But the really striking finding say the authors is the persistent association between frequent teenage cannabis use and adult anxiety disorders up to a decade after cannabis use has ceased. The relationship between cannabis use and anxiety disorders was present even after the researchers took into account other possible explanations such as mental health problems in their teens or other drug use in their twenties.

… Read the rest

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Netherlands Judge Backs Cannabis Cafe Ban For Foreign Tourists

By on April 29, 2012 in News 8

Cannabis CafeVia BBC News:

A judge in the Netherlands has upheld a new law to ban foreign tourists from entering cannabis cafes.

While soft drugs are tolerated, there is growing concern at tourists visiting just for drugs, and foreign dealers selling illegally at home.

The ban is due to start in three southern provinces next month, and go nationwide by the end of the year.

A group of cafe owners argued at The Hague district court that the ban was discriminatory against foreigners. Under the new law, Dutch residents will still be allowed into the cafes, as long as they have valid identification, or possibly hold a new “weed pass”, which is also being debated. There are about 700 coffee shops, as they are called, in the Netherlands. The cultivation and sale of soft drugs through them is decriminalised, although not legal; police generally tolerate possession of up to five grams of cannabis.

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4/20 Goes Mainstream In California’s Bay Area

By on April 20, 2012 in News 2

California NORMLStoners everywhere recognize April 20th (4/20) as a day to celebrate their favorite herb, but perhaps nowhere has this “holiday” of sorts entered the mainstream to the extent it has in California’s Bay Area, where the local NBC station reports on celebrations:

The holiest of days in many a marijuana users’ calendar is upon us: The 20th day of April, the hallowed 4/20. There’s much on in the Bay Area today to mark “the stoners’ Christmas,” as the day has been dubbed.

But there’s also much more going on than the annual smoke-outs at 20 minutes past four in the afternoon at Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park, the University of California Santa Cruz campus, and essentially anywhere else marijuana users are known to congregate (read: anywhere). The time — 4:20 p.m. — is important. In the 1970s, a small group of hippie stoners at San Rafael High School would go out every day at that time to smot pot, and their “club” name just stuck.

… Read the rest

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Will Big Pharma Take Over The American Market For Medical Marijuana?

By on April 20, 2011 in News 13

MedMarjIf the hundreds of uses for cannabis doesn’t plead the case for its legalization, the money made from its medical industry just might do it. The Washington Independent reports:

The American Independent has previously reported on the growing corporatization of the incipient medical marijuana industry at a time when medical marijuana dispensaries scrabble to hold on to their businesses in the face of a multi-pronged federal crackdown. But there are signs afoot that it just may become ever more corporate if a Big Pharma push to get the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to recognize a cannabis-derived drug is successful.

Last week, British prescription drug manufacturer GW Pharmaceuticals announced a licensing agreement with drug giant Novartis, maker of Ritalin and Excedrin, to begin selling GW’s drug Sativex in markets across Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Middle East. The medication is already available in Britain, where it’s produced and marketed by Bayer, and in Canada and Spain.

… Read the rest

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Happy 4/20! Top 5 Marijuana Stories from Disinfo.com

By on April 20, 2011 in News 10

4/20 is a day of fun, activism, and healing for millions of marijuana users throughout the world, so here are five of the dankest cannabis stories we have posted on Disinfo.com. To read all the pot-related stories in our news archive, go here. Does anyone know the origin of 420? If you’ve heard an urban legend about this most baked of numbers, please share…

Top Five Marijuana Stories:

1. Chronic Art: Making Amazing Mosaics From Roach Papers

2. Graham Hancock on Marijuana & Consciousness

3. Don’t Just Smoke a Joint on 4/20, Take Action Against Marijuana Prohibition

4. Marilyn Monroe: Pot Smoker?

5. Californians [Voted] On Legalizing Pot… Read the rest

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Inside Oaksterdam University: ‘Where Marijuana Gets You Higher Education’

By on April 5, 2011 in News 6

OaksterdamJason Motlagh writes in TIME:

On the second floor of the downtown campus, a motley group of students listens to a lecture titled “Palliative and Curative Relief Through a Safe and Effective Herbal Medicine.” Not the sexiest of topics on the face of it, but there’s a catch: this is Oaksterdam University, and the medicine being discussed is marijuana. At “America’s first cannabis college,” in Oakland, Calif., the sallow-faced hippy-skater types that one expects to find sit beside middle-aged professionals in business attire, united in their zeal for the pungent green leaf. No one dares speak out of turn, until instructor Paul Armentano, a marijuana-policy expert, cites a news report that U.S. antidrug authorities plan to legalize pot’s active ingredient exclusively for drug companies’ use. “More stinking profits for Big Business,” mumbles a young man wearing a baseball cap. His classmates groan in agreement.

More than 17,000 students have enrolled since Oaksterdam opened in late 2007.

… Read the rest

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Medical Marijuana Is Now A $1.7 Billion Market

By on March 25, 2011 in News 13
MMS

Medical Marijuana shop in Denver, Colorado. Photo: O'Dea (CC)

The medical marijuana market has had a significant growth this year. With seven states who have opened shop and five more states planned to approve medical marijuana outlets this year, cannabis could save many states’ economies. Medical News Today reports:

Medical marijuana is now a serious $1.7 billion dollar market, according to a new report released this week by an independent financial analysis firm that specializes in new and unique markets. Currently, 24.8 million people are eligible to receive a recommendation and purchase marijuana legally under state laws, and approximately 730,000 people actually do.

Ted Rose, editor of the new State of the Medical Marijuana Market 2011 report, comments:

“Medical marijuana markets are rapidly growing across the country and will reach $1.7 billion this year. We undertook this effort because we noticed a dearth of reliable market information about this politically charged business.

… Read the rest

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