So you thought you understood what the face of marijuana legalization looks like? A new day and age has come, and with the changing demographics of today's adult population, marijuana is gaining a much deserved political foothold among today's mothers.
While the federal government refuses to acknowledge that marijuana has a legitimate role as a medicine, in particular one that can offset many of the symptoms and conditions associated with aging, it is nevertheless apparent that a growing percentage of the public, and older Americans, especially, are becoming increasingly aware of this plant's safety and efficacy. — Paul Armentano, deputy directory of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)
So you thought you understood what the face of marijuana legalization looks like? A new day and age has come, and with the changing demographics of today's adult population, marijuana is gaining a much deserved political foothold among today's mothers.
Seizures are becoming the most well known disease that cannabis oil can drastically help. Though controlled, trial evidence is lacking and use for seizures is highly debated, a recent series of articles published in "Epilepsia" examines the hopeful experiences of some parents using medical marijuana, particularly cannabis oil, to treat severe forms of epilepsy, such as Dravet syndrome, in their children. - Chronic Therapy in Wheat Ridge Colorado pictured
Multiple Sclerosis is a nervous system immune deficiency disease. In April a review by the American Academy of Neurology found that certain forms of medical marijuana (spray, oral) helped treat symptoms of MS, including spasticity, pain and overactive bladder.
Millions of people are effected by Migraine Headaches. Though cannabis has been used, primarily orally, to treat migraine pain for 1,500 years, only recently did a study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, describe the hopeful connection between the plant and the endocannabinoid system, the center of the brain where pot works its magic. - Healing House dispensary in Denver pictured
Diabetes is a very common disease that cannabis can treat. University of Nebraska researchers found that current cannabis users had significantly healthier levels of insulin than nonusers, a key finding for diabetics, who need insulin to regulate their blood sugar. - Mile High dispensary in Denver pictured
The image of females in the cannabis community is one that most people are not fond of. While being able to understand that sex does sell in the media today, stand by the fact that we cannot market marijuana as a medicine if it is presented by mostly naked females. Pharmaceuticals may not be truthful and the pills may not work but they understand that medicine is not sexy. Everyone who loves marijuana should be able to be involved equally. Female growers deserve recognition just like male growers. Females need to get involved and be proud of the intellectual contributions that they can bring to the legalization of cannabis. There are some girls who, as said above, will use themselves to promote, well, themselves and there are others who will try to promote cannabis to the best of their abilities, in the most positive way possible. - Caregivers For Life dispensary in Denver pictured
Women make money from, buy, use and support the legalization of weed in increasing numbers. Women belong in weed, and barriers to their full inclusion can and should be removed, requiring not only a significant shift in thinking on the role of women in the industry in particular, but a massive paradigm shift on the role of women in society as a whole. A prevailing culture in which rigid and limiting gender roles reduce women to one dimensional props, caretakers, wives and behind the scenes 'helpers' will never be a place in which women can participate fully and equally, including in the weed industry. It's time to switch it up, for women and for the health of the movement.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), affects many more of us than just our soldiers in the military. Recent clinical research supported a conclusion that smoking cannabis is associated with 75 percent of PTSD symptom reduction in some patients, yet clinical trials are still needed, to prove this medically.
More than 10,000 marijuana activists and hippies descended on the mountain village of Nimbin, Austrailia, about 780 kilometers north of Sydney, for the 19th annual Mardi Grass Festival in April of 2011. Ever since revelers stayed put after the 1973 Aquarius Festival, an event sometimes described as Australia's Woodstock, the tropical region has been the dope growers' capital of Australia. It's home to characters like the long-bearded, alien-spotting "Rusty" Harris, who attracted musicians and flea markets during his 20-something court appearances while successfully appealing a marijuana possession charge. - CNN - Bonggirls musical entertainment pictured
As of midnight on July 17, 2014, possession of an ounce or less or marijuana cannot be made a criminal offense by police in the District of Columbia. Before you start sparking up celebratory blunts, remember, although it is not a criminal offense pot is NOT legal in the District. The decriminalization only means that those caught in a first offense of an ounce or less, for personal consumption, won't get jail time nor have it put on their criminal record. It will be a minor civil violation carrying a fine of $25 and confiscation of the pot. D.C. is not the first to pass this law, notable states have passed decriminalization laws within these past few years. - WKYS fm.com, DC
With the legalization of medical marijuana in various states, expect a slight increase in the number of Med Grow Cannabis College attendees! Located in Southfield, MI, the College offers a plethora of cannabis growing and management courses aimed at helping students succeed in the medical marijuana industry. Classes are offered online or in person for up to six weeks, during which students can be exposed to "Hydroponics 101" (a study of the art of growing plants without soil using mineral nutrient solutions), medical marijuana law, and "Financial Planning 101" to start their business. So if you're looking to get into the medical marijuana business, pack your bags and head to Southfield! But first, make sure you can legally use your newfound knowledge wherever you choose to work. - Huffington Post
It takes a couple of hours just to get acclimated, just to take it all in. Hempfest stretches on and on for miles or just seems that way when you're walking in one of two main rivers of people going roughly in opposite directions amid the booths of bongs and pipes and vaporizer sellers with their product promotion women chatting up potential customers. It's like a giant bazaar just unfolded itself overnight along the shore of Puget Sound, intact, dusty, loud and ready for business. Speakers' voices ring out over loudspeakers in all directions, mixed in with amped music and voices, the constant vibration of voices. - Seattle pi
A woman who looked to be in her 60s, in a dress like she'd been downtown shopping and was walking through on her way home, was slightly bending down and listening to a young guy. He was sitting in the shade of a fence blocking off a backstage area in a long row of young people all thoroughly tanned, clearly they'd been spending their summer at a lot of festivals. It was loud there and he was miming how to work the pipe in his hand. Pointing to the carburetor hole and making the motion of inhaling and releasing the carburetor. She watched and then took the pipe. She put it to her mouth and inhaled. She stood straight, exhaled a pretty good sized plume. Smiled and waved at the youngsters and moseyed on down the path. Hempfest is about learning, relaxing, creating, buying, selling, meeting new people and most of all sharing with our neighbors, the best way to begin to change reality. - Seattle pi
First and foremost, Hempfest is truly an enormous undertaking that requires several days of long hours to assemble the stages and hundreds of individual exhibitor and vendor booths three days of long hours to manage, including a security team to guard the park overnight and provisions to feed the hundreds of volunteers each day and then several days of equally long hours to disassemble everything, clean the grounds and replace any damaged turf. Also keep in mind this is an all volunteer event sponsored by Seattle Events, a not-for-profit corporation, and is also free to the public. The event costs the Hempfest organization nearly $900,000 to put on, and the money raised is largely from vendors, exhibitors and sponsors. The volunteer effort is headed by Hempfest co-founder and Executive Director Vivian McPeak. McPeak leads a core group of volunteers who meet year around to plan for the next Hempfest, and who run a downtown store called Hempfest Central selling all sorts of hemp based products. - NORML Seattle
First and foremost, Hempfest is truly an enormous undertaking that requires several days of long hours to assemble the stages and hundreds of individual exhibitor and vendor booths three days of long hours to manage, including a security team to guard the park overnight and provisions to feed the hundreds of volunteers each day and then several days of equally long hours to disassemble everything, clean the grounds and replace any damaged turf. Also keep in mind this is an all volunteer event sponsored by Seattle Events, a not-for-profit corporation, and is also free to the public. The event costs the Hempfest organization nearly $900,000 to put on, and the money raised is largely from vendors, exhibitors and sponsors. The volunteer effort is headed by Hempfest co-founder and Executive Director Vivian McPeak. McPeak leads a core group of volunteers who meet year around to plan for the next Hempfest, and who run a downtown store called Hempfest Central selling all sorts of hemp based products. - NORML Seattle
This year's Seattle Hempfest is the most important one of them all. The goal of legalization has been reached, so advocacy has changed from "legalize it," to how to run legalization. Things are really serious now, so advocacy must be stronger than ever. The benefit to all society through the benefit of legalization must be enacted.
Indoor growing has become increasingly common over the past decade because of the increased availability of equipment, seeds and instructions on how to cultivate. So called grow-ops (growing operations, often located in grow houses) are seen by many marijuana enthusiasts as a much cheaper way to gain a steady, higher quality supply of cannabis. On a larger scale they have proven a viable commercial venture, with some law enforcement agencies finding grow-ops large enough to yield several kilograms of cannabis. More expansive grow-ops are generally more susceptible to detection than smaller operations.
Marijuana, or cannabis, as it is more appropriately called, has been part of humanity's medicine chest for almost as long as history has been recorded. Of all the negative consequences of marijuana prohibition, none is as tragic as the denial of medicinal cannabis to the tens of thousands of patients who could benefit from its therapeutic use. Modern research suggests that cannabis is a valuable aid in the treatment of a wide range of clinical applications. These include pain relief, particularly of neuropathic pain (pain from nerve damage), nausea, spasticity, glaucoma, and movement disorders. Marijuana is also a powerful appetite stimulant, specifically for patients suffering from HIV, the AIDS wasting syndrome, or dementia. Emerging research suggests that marijuana's medicinal properties may protect the body against some types of malignant tumors and are neuroprotective. - NORML
