Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana, but scientific research into its appropriate uses has lagged. Dr. Mark Ware would like to change that. Dr. Ware, 50, is the director of the Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids and the director of clinical research of the Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit of McGill University Health Center. Medical marijuana has been legal in Canada for 16 years, and Dr. Ware, a practicing physician, studies how his patients take the drug and under what conditions it is effective. [continues 1078 words]
KINGSTON, Jamaica - Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Anthony Hylton, says Jamaica intends to lead a charge in the United Nations to effect changes to the international treaties concerning marijuana. The aim is to change the schedule class of marijuana in light of scientific studies that have proven its therapeutic benefits and medicinal value. "We believe that the schedule in which marijuana is now placed, which is one of the highest schedules as a drug, we believe that it should be removed from that schedule and looked at in the light of... the evidence, which has revealed its strong medicinal (value)," Hylton said, while addressing a session of the recently concluded Jamaica Investment Forum (JIF) at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James. [continues 237 words]
During a visit with reggae singer Bob Marley in 1978, I asked him about the effects that smoking marijuana had on him. Relaxing in the sunroom of his home in Kingston, Jamaica, he said marijuana clarified his inner vision and inspired songs about peace and justice. Out of the "holy smoke," as Marley called it, came a plume of music that wafted far beyond the Jamaican shores, such as "Get Up, Stand Up" and another, written by fellow reggae singer Peter Tosh, called "Legalize It." [continues 632 words]
THE EDITOR, Sir: I don't want to be singled out as the naysayer in this euphoria that is surrounding the decriminalisation of marijuana. It would, however, be remiss of me if I did not sound caution and indicate that the very same ingredients that make it positively potent will be progressively problematic if abused. This is not a view that the plant should not be used and researched and made to benefit Jamaica and Jamaicans; it is a call for care and public education in the use and abuse of this product. [continues 280 words]
On the heels of Jamaica decriminalizing marijuana, Denver-based United Cannabis Corp. is proposing to create a "Ganja Cooperative" to help Jamaican farmers grow pot. Marijuana is a cultural icon of the Caribbean island, and farmers have been growing it-successfully-for decades. But under the United Cannabis proposal, growers will have access to high-tech genetics and training in cultivation practices to produce standardized crops. Jamaica's Parliament earlier this week passed a law decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of cannabis - known colloquially in Jamaica as ganja - and establishing a licensing agency to regulate a medical marijuana industry. [continues 253 words]
(AP) - Marijuana has been pervasive but illegal in Jamaica for decades, but on Tuesday night Parliament gave final legislative approval to an act decriminalizing small amounts of it and establishing a licensing agency to regulate a lawful medical marijuana industry. The amendments pave the way for a "cannabis licensing authority" to be established to deal with regulating the cultivation and distribution of marijuana for medical and scientific purposes. Officials say the island's governor-general will soon sign the measure into law. The act makes possession of up to two ounces of marijuana a petty offense that could result in a ticket but not in a criminal record. Cultivation of five or fewer plants on any premises will be permitted. And tourists who are prescribed medical marijuana abroad will soon be able to apply for permits authorizing them to legally buy small amounts. [end]
Hemp from Granny A pair of Park County paramedics are bringing hemp back. Karen Kinne and JoDee Weaver will soon open Colorado's first cultivation and retail hemp store, Granny's High Altitude Super Hemp (38321 Hwy. 24, Lake George). "The [state] Department of Agriculture is just so excited for the hemp industry to come back," says Kinne. "It was a huge industry all the way up to the '50s. It was shut down when marijuana was classified as a Class I drug, and hemp went with it." [continues 376 words]
EXECUTIVE director of the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), Michael Tucker, has warned that the misinformation circulating among Jamaicans at this time about marijuana could be dangerous. "Misunderstanding and misperception is very dangerous in an environment like this," Tucker told the Jamaica Observer yesterday. "There is no legalisation on the table right now... It's not acceptable or legal for any and everybody to grow or sell marijuana. In fact, it's not even legal to buy it. So there is a lot of misunderstanding about what really is happening... more needs to be said, and people need to know what is really happening," he stated. [continues 492 words]
KINGSTON, Jamaica - Senators today poked more holes in the legislation now being debated in the upper house to decriminalise ganja. The Opposition, although agreeing that the law is a good move, are not the only ones asking for the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Bill to be tidied up. Government Senator, KD Knight, said limiting the cultivation of marijuana to the Rastafarian community was "unfair", while suggesting that allowing the use of ganja for medicinal purposes, would in essence make it legal, even though legalising ganja is not the aim of the Bill. [continues 298 words]
Regarding Louis Moyston's excellent column in The Agenda of Sunday, February 1, 2015, Jamaica should by no means let the petty concerns of the 'drug war' official, William Brownfield of the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, stall ganja law reform. An obsolete United Nations treaty passed in ignorance back in 1961 that violates human rights conventions is no reason for Jamaica to remain stuck in the past. A far more important US representative is US President Barack Obama. [continues 149 words]
Hey can I get an update on what's been happening in the Wide Wide World of Weed? - -Jeff Yes, you can! So much has happened in the last week. It's been incredible. And away we go. In legalization news, Jamaica is proceeding with plans to decriminalize and regulate marijuana. This is incredible news. Everyone thinks of Jamaica as a bastion of ganja freedom, but weed has been illegal there seemingly forever. The bill to decriminalize, which also contains language to permit the growing and selling of marijuana, has passed the cabinet and went to the Jamaican Senate last week. [continues 433 words]
US Not Comfortable With Jamaica's Push to Decriminalise Weed WASHINGTON, DC, USA - The United States Government has signalled some discomfort with Jamaica's move to decriminalise marijuana for specific uses. According to assistant secretary of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), William R Brownfield, there is a possibility that the move could increase inflows of marijuana from Jamaica that now accounts for 80 per cent of ganja illegally smuggled into that country. Brownfield said that, while the US must be tolerant of national policies to combat the illicit trade of ganja, Jamaica must be mindful of international drug treaties to which it is a signatory. [continues 708 words]
THE report 'Ganja worry' (Jamaica Observer, January 29, 2015), presents the thinking of William R Brownfield, assistant secretary of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, on the recent developments of the new ganja regime in Jamaica. He was quick to point out that this change will see increased export of the crop to the United States, and warned of Jamaica's legal obligation to the international treaties. He speaks as if Jamaica is the only country moving towards change. He is obviously oblivious about changes all over the world, including its major ally Israel. The international treaties Jamaica has signed are not written in stone. They were prepared for a world very much different from the present. Their foundations were built on myths and anecdotal evidence. Since 1922, there have been many commissions and research projects providing scientific studies, dispelling those myth and anecdotal evidence. The time has come to reform those treaties. Who will lead the process in Jamaica? [continues 961 words]
THE United States Government says it welcomes discussion and debate on drug policy and that it is up to the people of Jamaica to decide which policies are most appropriate for the country within the realms of international law. Yesterday's declaration came amidst a Jamaica Observer report suggesting that the US is uncomfortable with recent moves to decriminalise ganja for personal use in Jamaica. "We recognise that it is important to examine what works and to discuss the trends and challenges our neighbours are facing. The US and Jamaica have a strong law-enforcement and security partnership. Our law enforcement agencies work together to combat transnational criminal networks and international drug trafficking and the violence they breed," Joshua Polacheck, counsellor for public affairs at the US Embassy Kingston, told the Observer. [continues 130 words]
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - Jamaica's Senate on Friday started debating a bill that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot and establish a licensing agency to regulate a lawful medical marijuana industry on the island where the drug has long been pervasive but prohibited. Justice Minister Mark Golding, who introduced the legislation to the upper house, said it would establish a "cannabis licensing authority" to deal with regulations on cultivation and distribution of marijuana and industrial hemp for medical, scientific and therapeutic purposes. [continues 371 words]
But new venture shouldn't be construed as support for broader cannabis use, he says Ernie Eves has gone from politics to pot. While other politicians tend to join law firms, become consultants or work on various other staid pursuits, the former Progressive Conservative premier of Ontario has chosen to branch out. He has joined Timeless Herbal Care - a Jamaican medical marijuana company with ties in Canada and Israel - as its chairman. But Eves says his medical marijuana work shouldn't be construed as support for broader use and he insists he hasn't sampled the merchandise. "No, my standard response to that was only for (Toronto Argonauts football) games, but that was about 40 years ago when the Argos were brutal," the 68-year-old says, laughing in a telephone interview. [continues 255 words]
I ran across several stories about Bethenny Frankel, a reality show personality, who, after apparently being spotted coming out of an Aspen dispensary and tweeting her delight at the experience, is rumored to be wanting to cash in on the cannabis business. Frankel developed the Skinnygirl ready-to-drink cocktail line, and "insiders" say she wants to sell a special strain that would not induce the munchies. This is hardly news. Google "munchies and pot" and you'll find recommendations for strains that don't necessarily force the unsuspecting into wolfing an entire giant bag of jalapeno potato chips in 15 minutes. Recent studies are indicating that cannabis opens olfactory receptors, which then helps activate appetite. But really, "the munchies" concept seems little more than a marketing device, developed and perfected from the 1970s, when pot was highly illegal yet flourishing and depicted in a long parade of stoner movies and advertising, from Cheech and Chong and Animal House to Jeff Spicola in Fast Times at Ridgemont High up through Seth Rogen's Pineapple Express. [continues 766 words]
United Cannabis Signs Consulting Deal to Grow Medical Pot on Tribal Lands. Denver-based United Cannabis Corp. is proposing to team with Native American tribes in California to grow and manufacture medical marijuana products. United Cannabis has signed a consulting and licensing deal with a company that will build up to three cultivation and processing facilities on tribal lands. Fox Barry Cos. LLC, a firm that helps tribes with economic development projects such as farms and casinos, has pledged $ 30 million to develop the facilities. Fox Barry, in turn, will have exclusive distribution rights for United Cannabis products in California. [continues 349 words]
As Narcotic Trade Shifts Toward Caribbean, More Coordination Is Possible The river of illegal drugs rushing north through Central America and the Caribbean tends to avoid one conspicuous hook-shaped obstacle. Cuba is surrounded by countries used as cartel way stations. But it has distinguished itself as a tough place to traffic drugs - and as an unlikely behind-the-scenes partner with its decades-long rival, the United States. While the U.S. and Cuban governments have squared off over politics and the American economic embargo for generations, they have also quietly cooperated on drug-enforcement issues, passing information on movements of suspected drug boats through the Caribbean. As relations may be warming between the United States and Cuba, and Latin American drug flows to the United States are shifting away from Mexico and toward the Caribbean, the narcotics issue could be a source of further cooperation between the two countries. [continues 1055 words]
Why the reggae legend's fans are so incensed about a new venture Bob Marley's compelling features - his aquiline nose, soft brown eyes, slightly sallow cheeks and trademark dreadlocks - have long been used as a commercial tool, often in ways that the late King of Reggae might not have appreciated. The most visible of the products he's been inadvertently marketing since his death in 1981 are the hundreds of different Marley T-shirts worn by devoted fans all over the world. [continues 1116 words]
