Global Marijuana Marches 2008 – New Sense of Urgency

            On Saturday, May 3rd, I traveled to the Capitol grounds of my home state of North Carolina (a “Decrim“, but ”No Medical Necessity Defense” state, for those versed in the inequitable hodgepodge of laws regarding Cannabis across the country) to attend our annual Raleigh Marijuana Rally & Music Festival, hosted by the North Carolina Cannabis Association. It was a beautiful day, a pleasant, yet energized gathering of many ages, races and hair styles - all declaring their support for the Cannabis Hemp plant, advocating for change in the laws and enjoying the music and culture associated with this versatile gift from Nature. In Colonial times, North Carolina was famous for the quality of its’ hemp,  so it seems appropriate that we celebrated among statues of our forebearers. Global Marijuana Freedom March 2008 – Raleigh, NC, USA

Under the watchful Assyrian gaze of Hammurabi’s statue high atop the Law & Justice building across the street ( Undoubtedly a Hashish user like his fellows, Hammurabi was responsible for the first written laws - set down on clay tablets. Cannabis Hemp was not prohibited by the Code of Hammurabi.), the different speakers at the rally brought out several important issues that the prohibition of Cannabis has complicated – access to herbal medicine; environmental benefits of hemp; and the enjoyment of personal freedoms guaranteed under the U. S. and NC Constitutions.

The same issues that face us in North Carolina are experienced in cities around the world, as fellow compatriots join the Global Marijuana March, still coordinated by long time activist Dana Beal and Cures-Not-Wars in New York. In a show that aired just before the marches, Dana discusses Cannabis politics in Europe and America; problems with the United Nations Drug Policies and the admission by the U.N. Drug Czar that prohibition does have unintended consequences; harm reduction; reform of the Rockefeller-era drug laws; medical marijuana science and more.Dana Beal on the Marijuana March in New York City

Dana calls on the United Nations to “Change Drug War to Drug Peace.” On Saturday, marchers around the world shared the same visions of hope and unity. Here are a few of the marches, beginning with New YorkMarijuana March May 3 2008 NYC UN Tompkins Square Pot Pt.2/7

In Canada, emotions are running high as the new “Conservative” (sic) government is preparing to throw Marc Emory to the DEA/White House wolves to serve time in a U. S. prison for an activity that was legal in Canada. You can help Marc out of this travesty of justice by visiting www.NoExtradition.net. Marc appeared at the Toronto Marijuana March Saturday and cheerfully exhorted everyone to talk to everyone about marijuana and to “Get ‘em High!”Marc Emery, Prince of Pot, May 3, 2008 – 1

In Marc’s home town of “Vansterdam” (Vancouver, British Columbia), the people will soon be even more up in arms, as the Canadian federal government is planning to end the licencing of medical marijuana “grows” by individuals, after it works out problems with it’s own program to supply medical grade Cannabis to Canadian patients. Pot-TV, founded by Marc Emory (along with Cannabis Culture magazine) posted this coverage of the Vancouver march.Global Marijuana March Vancouver BC 2008

When in Rome, Italy, do what these people did! Here’s a highly creative video that lets us experience the excitement of this march:Street Parade Roma 2008

Oslo, Norway - The Global Cannabis March in Oslo garnered two nights of news coverage and looks like a good time was had by all. Could someone tell me the current status of Cannabis laws in Scandanavia?MarihuanaMarsjen i Oslo 2008

Back in the U. S., several hundred marchers took to the streets of Seattle, Washington- one of the legal medical marijuana states. Certainly on everyone’s mind was the recent death of Tim Garon (See Post Below), who was denied a liver transplant due to his legal prescription for medical Cannabis.Seattle Marijuana March 2008

All over America, everyone is seeking support for legislation recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives:

H.R. 5842 - “The Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act“, which would allow possession of 100 grams and money-free transfer of one ounce.

H.R. 5843 – “Act to Remove Federal Penalties for the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults“, which would end DEA “raids” on buyer’s cooperatives and patients in states that have legalized Cannabis for medicine.

In Denver, where citizens have voted to legalize small amounts of Cannabis, medical marijuana patients and other supporters of the herb gathered on the Capitol steps – temporarily.Marijuana Patients Kicked off Capital Steps! Marijuana March

In Philadelphia, the “City of Brotherly Love” and the home of the Liberty Bell, the enthusiastic marchers invoked freedoms cherished by the framers of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.PhillyNORML GCM 2008

Headline: May 6, 2008 – US: Reports Find Racial Gap in Drug Arrests - This news story verifies what the young African-American man at our North Carolina rally was saying – that, because of his color, he would be more likely to be arrested and jailed than others as we left our festive event. The arbitrary nature of marijuana laws and their enforcement is one good reason to end our modern prohibition of a God-given plant.

Rights come from GOD not the state. You have rights antecedent to any earthly governments, rights that can not be repealed or restrained by human laws - Rights derived from the great
legislator, God.
- John Adams

 

Ethanol from Corn = Disaster; Cellulosic Ethanol from Hemp = Sustainability

Headline: April.14.2008 – Riots, Instability Spread as Food Prices Skyrocket – Impoverished peoples around the world have taken to the streets protesting rapidly rising food prices and runs on staple commodities like rice are causing shortages even in developed countries.  The reasons for the crisis include high fuel prices and demand on food crops like corn for ethanol fuel production.

As the following video explains, government subsidies for ethanol production have exasperated the situation, raising feed costs and prices for all meat, dairy and egg products, in addition to cereal grains and other foods.Biofuel Backlash

Ironically, corn is actually a poor choice for ethanol production and has other consequences for the environment. Sugar-rich plants like Sugar Beets and Cane yield more fuel than starchy corn, while corn makes high demands on the water and land.  Many experts now believe that ethanol should be made from cellulose, especially in climates where sugary plants do not grow. And what plant did the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommend as a superior choice for long-term cellulose production? Decades ago, the government knew that Cannabis Hemp yielded four times more cellulose than pine trees over twenty years.

Craig Lee, from the Kentucky Hemp Museum and Library, explains how hemp hurds could provide stock for Cellulosic Ethanol production, as well as highly nutritious Hempseed food and oil products that would actually supplement food supplies and provide economic stability in his native Kentucky – where his family had grown hemp for generations.Hemp for Cellulosic Ethanol

In America, President Bush has called for increased production of Ethanol, despite it’s economic fallout and damage to the land, bowing to the large agribusiness corporations that benefit enormously from the rising demand and profits from corn, supplemented by taxpayer funds. Yet, under his administration, the DEA has refused to issue permits for farmers in North Dakota wanting to grow industrial hemp, like their neighbors to the north in Canada.

In this video, courtesy of Vote Hemp, the North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture explains why his state could benefit from returning Cannabis Hemp to it’s traditional place in the crop rotation.North Dakota’s Agriculutre Commissioner Backs Hemp

In addition to cellulose from the pith of the stalk (hurds), Cannabis Hemp provides another source of fuel – biodiesel from hemp seed oil! The following video of the “Hemp Car” at the at an Ohio County Fair shows how micro-biodiesel facilities can utilize hemp seed oil.Hempseed Biodiesel Car at Ohio County Fair

“Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere.” -President George Washington, 1794

Cannabis Hemp Extract Cures Disease – Inventor Sentenced to Time Served!

Headline: March 18.2008 – Hemp Oil Supplier Slams Laws- A man from Nova Scotia, Canada, is attracting world-wide attention from the concentrated medicinal oil he makes from the Cannabis Hemp plant (marijuana).  Rick Simpson founded ”Phoenix Tears” to manufacter the concentrated oil - pressed from the female flower tops, not the hemp seed oil now well known for it’s Essential Fatty Acid profile.

“Mr.  Simpson is in an unusual position, because unlike other people engaged in the drug trade, he was not engaged in trafficking for financial gain,” Judge Beaton said Monday.  “He was engaged in an altruistic activity and was firm in his belief that he was helping others.”

“The resin is the medicine”, says  Simpson, on “Run From the Cure“, a documentary about the amazing healing herb, his battle with the authorities to continue making the medicine for people with ”incurable” illnesses and some of the three hundred patients who report “miraculous” cures from many conditions, including cancer. ”Run From the Cure – The Rick Simpson Story“, by Tidal Lake Prductions can be viewed in seven parts on You Tube:RUN FROM THE CURE – The Rick Simpson Story (Part 1 of 7)

“Phoenix Tears“, being a natural extract of Cannabis flowers, features two key ingredients - ”Trichomes” – tiny Cannabinoid-laden, crystal-clear stalks sometimes refered to as “Kief”, that bristle like hairs on the mature flowers; and “Terpenes” – medicinal oils that coat the surface of the flower. These oils are now recognized to be a very important component of the therapeutic profile of Cannabis.

At the 2002 Cannabis Therapeutics Conference in Portland OR, Dr. Geoffrey Guy, Founder and President of GW Pharmaceuticals, U.K.,  a company that grows large amounts of high and low THC Cannabis for whole plant extracts, refers to the medicinal value of terpenes and Cannabinoids in his presentation on medicinal strains of Cannabis:Medical Cannabis Strains – Geoffrey Guy, MD

Cannabis Therapeutics Conferences sponsored by Patients Out of Time

Like Rick Simpson, GW Pharmaceuticals is growing Cannabis to extract the concentrated essence of the plant, not a synthetic isolate like Marinol (pure THC). Whole extracts of Cannabis have been trusted for centuries as a safe, effective and amazingly non-toxic herbal medicine. Our ancestors in America knew it well, as Cannabis tinctures and other compounds were in one third of all medical preparations in the 1800’s, making it the most prescribed medicine of that century.

In 21st century, exciting new science has confirmed the miraculous healing powers of the Cannabis Hemp plant, as well as the “Endo-Cannabinoid system” – the mechanism in all mammals that maintains balance in many systems in the body, including immune; respiratory; neuromuscular; gastrointestinal; reproductive and more.

Dr. Robert Melamede, Professor of Biology at the University of Colorado, eloquently explains the intricate workings of the Endo-Cannabinoid system and it’s role as “homeostatic regulator” – facilitating neurotransmission and balance in inbalanced conditions like auto-immune diseases and cancers.Cancer Cure – Cannabis & Cannabinoids,by Robert Melamede,PhD 

Calling Cannabis a “Miracle Drug”, Dr. Melamede postulates that Cannabinoids from the plant act as a suppliment to the body’s own Cannabinoids, especially when the Endo-Cannabinoid system is over-taxed by biological or biochemical stresses, like the increasing plethora of toxins in our environment that elevate free-radical production.

Ironically, the first commercial end-product from GW Pharmaceuticals, “Sativex“, has been licensed for trials and distribution in Canada. Like Rick Simpson’s “Phoenix Tears“, Sativex is a whole plant extract with a remarkable safety profile. However, Rick Simpson faced prosecution for providing Cannabis medicine compassionately, while a corporate pharmaceutical company is allowed to market essentially the same thing for profit.

This inbalance in justice bodes ill for Canada, whose citizens would benefit from a safe, economical herbal preparations, made with loving care by people with intimate knowledge and experience with the Cannabis Hemp plant. Expensive products like Sativex will be welcomed by the medical community and will undoubtedly be highly effective. But to deny the people equal access to this precious gift from nature – a birthright like all natural medicines - would be nothing short of a sin.

“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.”   -  Genesis 1:29 (KJV)

Hemp Industry News – Jan, 08 – Hemp in the U.K.

Headline: Work Under Way On Suffolk Hemp Factory (U.K.)- Hemcore has begun construction on what is to be the largest hemp factory in the world, eventually processing 50,000 tonnes on hemp fiber per year.  More hemp farmers and acreage will be put under contract to supply the plant, producing materials used in the automobile industry and insulation.

America used to have regional hemp processing mills, producing environmentally-friendly, high-quality industrial fiber produscts. In this video, you can see the types of products produced by Hemcore. Craig Lee, of the Kentucky Hemp Museum, demonstates a traditional, hand – operated ”hemp break”, producing long fibers, short fiber “tow” and the “hurds” – rich in cellulose.Hemp Break with Craig Lee & KY Hemp Museum

Headline: – Jan.23.08 – VT: Proposed Legislation Would Permit Cultivation of Hemp - Vermont has joined five other states authorizing farmers to return to hemp farming, now a growing industry in neighboring Canada. Unfortunately, the federal government has given the DEA authority over hemp, because of marijuana prohibition, and the agency has so far refused to issue any permits to hemp farmers.

The 1942 documentary, Hemp for Victory, shows the history and potential of the hemp industry in America. This film was discovered by historian Jack Herer in the Library of Congress, which denied it’s existence.Hemp For Victory

Industrial Hemp 2007 Archive

Headline, Feb 07: The Hemp Vote- The new year began on a hopeful note as Rep. Ron Paul, (R) TX, introduced HR 1009 - the “2007 Industrial Hemp Farming Act”, co-sponsored with 9 democrats (including Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D) OH), showing how true conservatism and true populism can come together on an issue affecting economics and the environment.

Headline, Feb 07: North Dakota Issues Hemp-Growing Licenses- ND joins six other states which have authorized the farming of industrial hemp.North Dakota’s Agriculture Commissioner backs Hemp

Headline, March 07: (Canada) Decade of Legalized Industrial Hemp Celebrated- Meanwhile, our neighbor to the north has been growing hemp for 10 years, groing into an important  and diversified industry. Manitoba Harvest, a premier manufacturer of hemp seed oils and foods, featured on CBC in October

Headline, May 07: Hemp, Canola Studied For BC Bioenergy- Also from Canada, hemp is being considered as a good source of vegetable oil for biodiesel, as well as ethanol. Hemp is better suited to dry climates than corn and soybeans, saving precious water and requiring little fertilizer/weed/pest control. Roll-out of Hempseed Biodiesel powered car at NORML  - Washington, DC