Cannabis Hemp News

Cannabis crisis shows Japan’s drug allergy Reuters 18 December 2008 Daiy News and Analysis http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1215162 TOKYO: First a sumo wrestler, then an actor, now students at elite universities and a tennis player — the list of people caught using marijuana has sparked fears of reefer madness in Japan. Over 2,000 people were arrested on dope charges between January and October this year, a 19% increase on the same period last year, according to the National Police Agency. “(The) increase in marijuana abusers, as well as tightening regulations, are both factors that pushed up the number of arrests,” Shingo Katsuno, vice president and an ex…

Mark Thompson 18 December 2008 http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/34The...m-in.4805066.jp ©2008 Johnston Press Digital Publishing HAPLESS John Allison tried to set up his own cannabis farm in yoghurt pots – but forgot to put the bulb in the lamp he bought to help them grow. Allison's attempt was labelled "the poorest cannabis farm in town" after police raided his home and stumbled across 10 drooping plants in tiny pots, which were dying because there was no light. But his "laughable" attempts still landed him in court where he was slapped with a fine for cultivating cannabis. Hartlepool magistrates heard how police discovered the plants by chance as they c…

16/12/08 http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/16/2447563.htm © 2008 ABC Police have charged an Angle Vale man with cultivating cannabis after his hydroponic crop sparked a fire this morning. The 39-year-old has also been charged with possessing illegal equipment. The fire at the man's Huon Road property destroyed a shed and two old cars. A firefighter was hurt while fighting the blaze and was taken to the Gawler Hospital with minor injuries.

Wed, Dec 10, 2008 11:27 am http://hightimes.com/video/ht_admin/4879 Host of "Red Eye" censored by own network for joking about Bill O'Reilly's secret stash On Tuesday night, HIGH TIMES Senior Editor David Bienenstock appeared as a guest on the Fox News Channel to promote his new book, The Official High Times Pot Smoker's Handbook. At one point, he jokingly claimed that Fox News' green room was stocked with the best weed in the world. Regular Fox News panelist, writer and producer Bill Schulz then countered, on the air, with "Mr. Bill O'Reilly doesn't like it when you get into his personal stash." A very funny joke. But when the show aired, the clip ran thusly: …

Tue, Dec 09, 2008 1:45 pm http://hightimes.com/news/ht_admin/4877 Source: pinknews.co.uk A woman from Hull has been convicted of drug dealing after admitting to police that she was selling cannabis to pay for her civil partnership ceremony. When her home was searched by officers in September they discovered 174 grams of cannabis resin and more than £300 in cash. Lisa Nicholson, 25, of De La Pole Avenue in West Hull, claimed some of the money was gifts from friends towards the cost of the ceremony. The Hull Daily Mail reports that she was given nine months, suspended for two years, and 150 hours community service at Hull Crown Court yesterday. Her partner Emm…

NZ's worst drug 15 December 2008 The Nelson Mail http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/nelsonmail/4793670a23218.html It is difficult to argue with the logic in a call over the weekend by Wellington doctors for tough and urgent action over the nation's main problem drug - alcohol, the Nelson Mail said in an editorial on Monday. However, more than logic will be required to prompt even greater efforts to combat a situation which is essentially of epidemic proportions. As with dealing with any problem, the first step is in recognising it exists. The evidence against booze is overwhelming. Researchers say on average, around three people a day die of alcohol-related illnesses or a…

Grow your own hemp industry By Andy Parks
andyp@echonews.com The Northern Rivers Echo http://www.echonews.com/index.php?page=New...4&issue=375 Hemp researchers and growers Keith Bolton (pictured with a trial hemp crop) and Klara Marosszeky (pictured with bricks made from hemp masonry) are excited about the potential for a hemp industry on the Northern Rivers. China’s insatiable demand for iron ore has been the basis for Western Australia’s booming export industry, but another natural resource has been making its way to the East. According to Nimbin-based hemp researcher and grower Klara Marosszeky, a Western Australian hemp grower is exporting all of his crop to…

Alcohol major cause of drug rehab admissions, again DANNY ROSE, MEDICAL WRITER 15/12/2008 1:23:00 PM Independent Weekly http://www.independentweekly.com.au/news/l...in/1386569.aspx Alcohol has again topped harder drugs like ice and heroin as the addiction which drives the most Australians into crisis rehab. Seventy per cent of people admitted to the major not-for-profit rehab centre Odyssey House, based in Sydney, in the past financial year listed alcohol as among their reasons for seeking treatment. For almost one in three (29 per cent), alcohol was their primary addiction - up from 28 per cent in 2006-07 and 20 per cent in 2005-06. Amphetamines such as speed, ecst…

Dagga farmer loses case Zelda Venter December 15 2008 http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&am...55356615C925003 The Pretoria High Court has ruled that the police were justified in arresting a Kameeldrift cannabis farmer for dealing in drugs as he could not provide a permit. Russell de Beer instituted a R620 000 damages claim against the minister of safety and security, claiming that he was unlawfully arrested and detained on drug charges while he had a permit for the 1.2 tons of dagga in his possession. De Beer, 37, was arrested for drug trafficking in February 2004 when the police raided his farm. He was kept in police cells for a night and subsequently …

Hey all, I'm about to head up from Victoria to NSW over Christmas and am just wondering how widespread roadside drug testing is up there? I know you've got it there, but am not sure if it's every single booze bus like it is down here now? Also they say it only detects THC for 'several hours following administration' but I dunno... is 24 hours enough room to leave? Anyone have any experience with this? Thanks, any info much appreciated!

CannaZine.co.uk In the week its been announced Germany has joined forces with Belgium, Holland, Switzerland Spain and Portugal in implementing European medical cannabis programs, the British Cannabis Lobby has called for the UK government to follow suit, by removing patients who consume cannabis with their doctors knowledge, from the war on drugs. Recently a South Wales man who suffers from an incurable auto-immune condition called Hidradenitis Suppurativa, which sees the sufferer experiencing debilitating boils and lesions around the groin and genitals as well as under the arms and on the face, wrote to the office of Lib-Dem leader Nick Clegg, to ask if he supported …

NORML Blog President-Elect Obama, The People Have Spoken; Will You “Answer” Their Question? December 12th, 2008 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director Marijuana is #1. To follow up on yesterday’s post, change.gov (the website of President-Elect Obama’s transition team) has now closed the webpage “Open for Questions.” NORML wishes to thank all of you who took the time to visit the website and demanded the incoming administration to reform America’s marijuana laws. Your message got through loud and clear. After receiving nearly 100,000 total votes on more than 10,000 separate public policy issues, the most widely voted on question for Obama is: “Will you co…

NORML 11 December, 2008 Toulouse, France Marijuana use is not an independent predictor of delinquent behavior by young people, according to data to be published in the journal Addictive Behavior. Investigators at the French University de Toulouse-Le Mirail reviewed survey data from 312 high-school seniors. Researchers performed multiple regression analyses to investigate the potential contribution of cannabis use and other cofounding variables in delinquent behavior. Investigators concluded, “Cannabis use was no more a significant independent predictor of delinquent behaviors after adjustments for alcohol use and [other] variables.” Authors did cite an assoc…

AlterNet By Phillip S. Smith, Drug War Chronicle. Posted December 12, 2008 For more than 30 years under the policy of "gedoogbeleid," which could best be translated as "pragmatic tolerance," the Dutch have allowed the sale of personal amounts of marijuana through the coffee house system, even though doing so is technically illegal. But lately, especially for those of us on this side of the water, a black cloud appears to be hovering over the coffee shops. The number of coffee shops has contracted from about 1,500 in 1995 to 720 now, as successive governments have tightened the screws. The current national government is hostile, if somewhat divided on the issue, and re…

NORML December 11, 2008 - Baltimore, MD, USA Marijuana use is prevalent among patients suffering from chronic pain, many of whom are likely using the drug in order to self-medicate, according to findings published in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology. Investigators at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland analyzed a total of 13,948 urine specimens from patients at 31 pain clinics in six states. A total of 10,922 specimens tested positive for at least one licit or illicit substance. Nine-hundred and sixty-seven samples (8.9 percent) tested positive for the presence of cannabis metabolites. Authors speculated that the high prevalence of ca…