Cannabis Digest Issue 37

FREE Issue #37

SUMMER 2013

FIGHT MMPR

SENSIBLE BC

JAMAICA

P. 3

P. 6

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ISSUE # 37 SUMMER 2013

CREDITS Publisher

Ted Smith <hempo101@gmail.com>

CONTENTS

Editor-in-Chief

Andrew Brown <editor@hempology.ca>

Graphics Editor

Owen Smith <rainbowensmyth@gmail.com>

Web Editor

Coalition Fights MMPR............................P.03

Distribution/Ads

Dieter MacPherson <dietermacpherson@gmail.com>

Updates, Warnings, Suggestions..........P.04

Jim Mooney <cannabis.digest.advertising@gmail.com>

Editorials............................................P.05

Contributors

Sensible BC Update.................................P.06

Gayle Quin Owen Smith Diane Walsh Ted Smith

Clubs and the MMPR................................P.09 Access to Extracts...................................P.10

Al Graham Debbie Stultz-Giffin Steve Finlay

Activists Visit Jamaica.............................P.12 2013 TY Expo............................................P.14

Cover by Gayle Quin

Trouble in Maritimes................................P.17 For editorial questions, letters, or information on submitting: <editor@hempology.ca>

Hemp Oil...................................................P.18 Update From the US................................P.20 Wordsearch / Comics..............................P.22

826 Johnson Street V8W 1N3 Phone: 250-381-4220 www.hempology.ca

The Cannabis Digest will not be held responsible for claims made within the pages of the newspaper, nor those made by advertisers. We do not suggest or condone illegal activities, and urge readers to research their country’s laws, and/ or talk to their doctors, before engaging in any activities that could be deemed as illegal or dangerous to one’s health.

Colour the Cover Contest!!!!

Colour in the cover of this issue—with markers, pencil crayons, paint, crayons, or anything spurred by your imagination—and you could win a prize!

1st prize: a 55/45 Hemp/Cotton printed T-shirt 2nd prize: a special prize pack 3rd prize: a Hempology 101 gift pack Bring your entry to the club, or take a picture and email it to <hempo101@gmail.com> by Sept. 15th, 2013 Winners will be contacted shortly after—make sure to include some contact information.

Entries will be judged on originality, effort, and all around hempiness.

Cannabis Digest • Summer 2013

3

Patients Fight to Save Their Medicine Lawyer John Conroy Leads Battle Against MMPR

By Steve Finlay As expected, Health Canada has announced new regulations for medical cannabis, replacing the often criticized Medical Marihuana Access Regulations (MMAR). The new rules, called the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR), remove some of the bad features of the MMAR. For example, they remove the need for patients to hold an authorization from Health Canada before they can possess cannabis legally, and they provide for the creation of highly regulated “licensed producers” as the primary producers of Cannabis (marihuana) for the medical market instead of only one, through Health Canada.

These improvements, however, are outweighed by the cancellation of Personal Use Production Licences (which authorize “personal grows”) and Designated Person Production Licences (which authorize “caregiver grows”).

When the MMAR are repealed on Mar. 31, 2014, the regulations authorizing such licences are also repealed. Under the MMPR, everyone approved by their “health care practitioner” will have to obtain their medicine through a “licensed producer” at a drastically increased cost according to Health Canada’s own estimates, making this medicine far too expensive for thousands of patients whose health, and in some cases lives, depend upon it.

By Health Canada’s own estimate, the cost will increase from $1.80 to $5 per gram to $8.80 per gram–going up by nearly 400 percent. That amounts to $5,000 per year for a patient who uses an average dosage; much more if a higher dosage is needed.

Roughly 60 percent of medical cannabis patients depend on PUPLs or DPPLs for their medicine. The impact of shutting these down will be extensive and severe.

The MMAR Coalition Against Repeal is leading a legal challenge against these destructive changes. The Coalition is raising funds and collecting evidence to support a constitutional challenge against the removal of PUPLs and DPPLs from the MMAR, and the failure to provide for them in the MMPR, and has retained as counsel John W. Conroy QC to lead this effort. John has acted in numerous cannabis and other drug cases, as well as a wide variety of criminal and prison law matters and test cases. He sits on the board of the International Society for the Reform of the Criminal Law, is an honorary board member of the Pivot Legal Society, and is counsel to VANDU (The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users). Mr. Conroy and his office have already contributed a significant amount of time and energy to this cause.

Patients’ Constitutional Rights Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects the rights to life, liberty and the security of the person, and the right to not be deprived of any of those rights, except in accordance with “the principles of fundamental justice” and subject only to such “reasonable limits” as are prescribed by law and are demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society (S.1 of the Charter). Past court cases have found that Section 7 is violated if a patient with a serious illness which is relieved by marijuana is deprived of the right to use it as treatment. This led to the creation of the MMAR. Recently, the Ontario Court of Appeal affirmed that there is a constitutional right to reasonable access to marihuana as medicine that is protected by S.7

if the patient qualifies by way of approval from his or her doctor.

Health Canada’s current marijuana regulations (the MMAR) were found to violate Section 7 in various aspects in a number of cases. The limitation allowing production for no more than one person was found to be too restrictive, as was the limitation permitting no more than three licenses at one site. The government’s response was to allow one to produce for two people and to have up to four licenses at one site. Now it proposes to abolish the right to produce for oneself or another completely unless one is a “licensed producer.”

Therefore, the questions now are whether the new regulations (MMPR) provide for reasonable access by patients; and whether the limitations upon such reasonable access are “reasonable limits” within the meaning of Section 1. The Coalition’s position is that the shutdown of PUPLs and DPPLs creates an entirely unreasonable barrier to access; that is, an “unreasonable limit”; and that the repeal of such licenses and the MMPR’s failure to continue to provide for them must be subjected to a court challenge.

Impact statements received by the Coalition clearly show that many patients cannot afford the inflated costs, fear the production of their medicine by others outside of their control, and have developed and maintained particular strains of medicine that work for them. They fear others will not be able to produce them at the quality they have developed. Other issues with the MMPR include the continued limitation to only “dried marihuana” and not allowing any other forms, and not permitting any production in any “dwelling house,” which is undefined. These too are arguably unreasonable limits that are not demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.

Consequently, removing PUPLs and DPPLs will not only cause an unreasonable cost increase, it will also make it far more difficult for patients to obtain unique and specialized strains that are often the only effective treatments for their conditions. In addition, personal growers and designated producers who have invested significant money and effort in cultivation facilities, equipment, nutrients, and security in order to produce their own cannabis at a reasonable cost will no longer be able to do so. The cancellation of these licenses will mean the total loss of this investment.

The New Regulations The main points of the new MMPR are as follows: •Health Canada will be responsible for issuing licenses to the new “Licensed Producers,” subject to stringent standards for security, quality, and good production practices. HC will no longer have a producer controlled by them under section 56 of the Act. Prairie Plant Systems will of course be free to apply for one of the new licenses, and may have an edge, due to previous “research and development” in relation to strains that they were not allowed to market. They will no longer be compelled to market the one ground-up strain that provoked significant negative reaction from patients.

•An adult (18 years of age or older) who ordinarily resides in Canada, or a company that has its head office in Canada or operates a branch office in Canada and whose officers and directors are all adults, who wants to produce medical cannabis, can apply to Health Canada for a license to produce it. License holders must meet elaborate and expensive security, record-keeping,

and other quality and production requirements. Although this is to be expected if one is going to sell a medicine that otherwise remains illegal to the public, it could make licenses unaffordable for small growers. Multiple sites are permitted, so cooperatives need to be explored for cost-sharing purposes. If the MMPR allowed patients to continue producing for themselves, and not for sale to the public, these elaborate requirements would be unnecessary.

•PUPLs and DPPLs will expire on Mar. 31, 2014.

•In order to possess cannabis, patients will not need to have an Authorization to Possess (ATP) from Health Canada.

Therefore, patients will not need to wait for Health Canada to approve ATP applications. This is an improvement; the long waits for approval have been a serious problem ever since the MMAR were first created. Patients who hold current ATPs will be allowed to use them, instead of the new “medical document,” until Mar. 31, 2015 for the sole purpose of becoming registered as a client of a licensed producer. It is recommended that ATPs see doctors to obtain the new “medical document” before Mar. 31, 2014, and not wait until 2015.

•Unfortunately, the removal of Health Canada’s role will create other problems for some. First, patients must have a “medical document” from a health care practitioner in order to obtain cannabis from a licensed producer. In many parts of the country, these documents are very hard to get. In effect, Health Canada is handing over its “gatekeeper” function entirely to doctors– but without asking the doctors for agreement first. Most doctors and their Colleges are quite unhappy about this. Second, the patients will no longer have a “medical marijuana card” or document from Health Canada. Instead, they will have the new “medical document” from their “health care practitioner.” This will cause confusion and problems not only for some patients, but certainly for the police, who frequently seem to have difficulty accepting the validity of Health Canada’s documents.

•Medical cannabis is still limited to “dried marijuana,” which disallows tinctures, juices, oils, creams, sprays, and so on.

It must not be sold or provided with any additive or in any dosage form, such as a roll or capsule. For many patients, these extracts provide better treatment and are more easily tolerated. This restriction has already been struck down by the courts in British Columbia, and litigation is ongoing.

•Like the existing MMAR, the new MMPR do not provide any way for medical cannabis dispensaries or compassion clubs to operate legally. These organizations have provided patients with safe and reliable products, as well as conscientious, ethical, and reliable information. Their support for patients, designated growers and their caregivers has significantly improved the health and quality of life of thousands of Canadians. The federal government has ignored significant recommendations that this be the model for medical marihuana distribution. There is a hint that the federal government is of the view that this is up to the provinces to regulate, as they do “doctors, pharmacists, hospitals, and other healthcare providers.”

Even though Health Canada failed to publish the MMPR on Mar. 31, 2013 as originally promised, the ministry has maintained most of the dates that they previously proposed. New applications for ATPs, PUPLs and DPPLs will not be accepted

after Sept. 30, 2013. Existing ATPs, PUPLs and DPPLs will expire no later than Mar. 31, 2014, regardless of the date on the document.

How to Fight The MMAR Coalition Against Repeal will seek a declaration that the failure to include PUPLs and a limited form of DPPL (for the true caregiver responsible for the patient) renders the MMPR unconstitutional to that extent, and perhaps in other ways in which it restricts reasonable access.

We will seek to file this action on or before Sept. 30, 2013, and at the latest. before Mar. 31, 2014. We will also seek interim relief pending the trial or hearing of the action in the form of a stay, restraining order, or injunction to prevent the repeal of the PUPL (and a limited form of DPPL) provisions in the MMAR. We will file this action and bring the application in the Federal Court Trial Division, so that it applies across the country, with the objective being to preserve the status quo in relation to PUPLs (and the true caregiver, DPPL) and preserve reasonable access for Canadian patients until the court can rule on the resulting constitutional questions. If the court rules in our favor and finds the constitutional violations, it will maintain the status quo, giving the government a period of time to try to make the law constitutional. If the court rules against us, we will either appeal, or proceed with a class-action lawsuit for the damages suffered by all those who have lost their investments.

Two things are urgently needed: financial support, and patient impact statements.

The total cost of the court challenge is estimated at $200 thousand to $300 thousand. The majority of funds contributed so far have come from the indoor cultivation industry, and from concerned citizens. In accordance with the rules of the Law Society of BC, all funds are monitored using generally accepted accounting principles and procedures. Every donation, no matter how small, is valuable and important. Donation boxes will be placed in many dispensaries and other selected locations across Canada.

For full details about how to donate in support of the Coalition’s efforts, visit <www.mmarcoalitionagainstrepeal.com> Patient impact statements are just as necessary; several hundred have been sent in already. If you are a patient or caregiver who depends on a PUPL or DPPL, the MMPR’s impact on you will be severe. You can help stop that from happening by sending an impact statement to the Coalition, or by submitting an impact statement at <www.johnconroy.com>. An impact statement should stick to facts, and it should clearly say how the elimination of PUPLs or DPPLs will affect both your financial situation and your health. The impact on health is most important, because evidence of serious damage to the health of patients strongly supports a preventive injunction.

The success of this court challenge depends on all of us. Passionate commitment, tireless efforts, and overwhelming evidence are needed. If we work together for victory, patients will enjoy the right to reasonable access to the medicine that they depend on for their health and well-being.

j

Issue Number 37

4

Updates, Warnings, and Suggestions

By Gayle Quin Happy Summer! I hope you’ve had as much fun this spring as I have. The Reach For the Pot Tournament has been exceptionally quick and high scoring this season. With teams very closely matched, there has been lots of excitement for teams and on-lookers alike. I’d like to give a big thanks to all the players, and hope too see you again next year.

We’ll let you know the winners of the coveted trophy bongs next issue. Check out the shows on Hempology 101’s YouTube channel.

I Hope everyone had a Happy Cannabis Day! In Victoria, we host a 420 on the front steps of the courthouse. Glad so many could make it out for all the fun, and if you missed it, there is always next year! After all the long hours we have spent inside the courthouse, it’s great to go have fun outside the courthouse.

I’d like to give a special thanks to Marco Renda for hosting the 4th Treating Yourself Expo, in Toronto. Ted and I finally got to attend with the Hempology 101 textbook and Cannabis Digest in tow. It was a very busy and exciting three days. We met many new contacts for products and advertising, saw lots of folks we don’t see often, and many folks who had come to one of Hempology’s East Coast Conventions (we’ll be back this November!), as well as made many new friends. I lead a very blessed life!

Also, a great big thanks to all the new advertisers in the Cannabis Digest.

We are excited to be going on a book tour to Whitehorse this summer. Ted and I are driving north of Dawson Creek for the first

time ever. I am really looking forward to the trip. After that, an exciting date to double circle on the calendar is Sept. 4—for a couple of different reasons. School will be starting, so we’ll be holding the first UVic 420 of the year, back inside Ring Rd. Hempology 101 successfully relocated to the Quad in Apr. after student requests had been ignored by the Administration over the last year. You can read all about the Reeferendum on our website. Sep. 4th is also Hempology 101’s 18th Anniversary!

Tradition has us meeting in Centennial Square at 7 p.m.. After a short talk and smoke break, we march to the Legislative Buildings for a big talk and smoke-out on the front steps. We also have a photo op for the coming year’s post card, so feel free to dress up—lots of folks do. Did I mention we smoke our brains out on the front steps of the Leg? It isn’t a long walk, but it sure is a lot of fun. Tourists are usually awestruck. This is a sure case of “the more, the merrier”!

The week after that, on Sept. 11, will be the first lecture of the year. Ted teaches a free, non-credited lecture covering 22 different cannabis/hemp related topics each year.

We also get guest speakers for some of the lectures. Watch past lectures on Hempology 101’s YouTube channel. See you at 3 p.m. in Cinecenta in the SUB (student union building).

The next important date to remember is Oct. 1. No, Halloween isn’t early this year— I wish—but it is Hempology 101’s Annual General Meeting. Come and hear what we have been up to, what we hope to get up to, and voice what you would like us to get up to.

We like to get high, so the sky’s the limit! In fact, at high noon that day we are organizing rallies across the country to protest Health Canada’s new medical regulations. Patients are losing their right to grow medicine, which is a terrible step backwards. Please go to your MP’s office at noon that day to join the protests!

I have sad news—the bus donated to Hempology 101 is a bust. The inspector would not let it leave the lot as its framework is rotten.

We are expanding our product line again.

Beyond the regular and ginger cannoil, we have started to make Indica and Sativa dominant cannoils, as well as the regular mixed

HEMPOLOGY 101 CALENDAR OF EVENTS Ministry of Health 4:20 pm 2014

Feb.6 Medicine Hat College Convention Feb. 13 University of Calgary Convention Feb. 16 University of Alberta Convention Sept. 4 18th Anniversary of Hempology 101 Oct. 1 AGM 8pm 826 Johnson St., Victoria Halloweed Oct. 31 7 pm Court House Nov. 10 Memorial University Convention Nov. 14 Dalhousie University Convention Nov. 17 University of PEI Convention Nov. 19 Mt. Allison University Convention Nov. 24 University of Ottawa Convention

Mar. 9 UVic Convention Mar. 16 VIU Nanaimo Convention Mar. 17 Int. Medical Marijuana Day Mar.23 UBC Convention Apr. 20 4/20 at Centenial Sq. Apr. 23-July 2 Reach for the Pot Beacon Hill Park 7 pm July 1 Cannabis Day July 9 Cannabis Contests

Nov. 26 University of Guelph Convention

Hempology Board Meetings are the first Tuesday of every month at 7:30 pm

Nov. 28 Toronto Convention

www.hempology.ca for more info

Dec. 21 Cannabis Caroling

one. The Indica oil is calming, sedative, antispasmotic, a strong muscle relaxant, analgesic, etc. The Sativa oil is uplifting stimulating, analgesic, anti-tumoral, etc. We are going to start capsulation of these edible oils soon, as we do the Ryanol and Stalkenol. I would like to remind you that one or two drops of cannoil rubbed onto your forehead is a good way to get rid of frontal lobe headaches.

I’d like to add to this article a very special thank you for ever and ever to my precious, departed parents one more time, like I do every night. Not only do I have them to thank for my life and those of my brothers and sisters, but without their inheritance I would not have ever been able to go on the trip of my life. I was supposed to take Ted on a holiday just after Mom died, but within months I was having my right breast and 20 lymph nodes removed, after finally getting a doctor to listen to me. It’s been a long recovery, but yesterday I got the results of my two year check up and I am still cancer free! I just can’t thank everyone enough for their love and good thoughts, for without each and every one of you, I would not be any way near as well as I am. My naturopath was amazed at the results considering my age, she said.

Back to the trip of my life. Which was to Jamaica! I hope you have been enjoying the photos on facebook and YouTube. It was unbelievably awesome! Many, many thanks to John Vergados of Skunk Magazine, and Vincent of Pure Garden Resort, for their supreme generosity of hosting the first ever Canadian Cannabis Activists retreat in Jamaica. We were all offered a week of free rent, food, and ganja. Jah bless us all.

Ted and I could only make the last three days of the gathering because of prior com-

mitments at home. When we inquired of rates and other places to visit, John insisted we stay the next week for free as well! I’m very glad we stayed because we could afford to hire the resort’s driver Brian, and spent many happy hours with him exploring west half of Jamaica. We had our own kitchen, so the first thing we did was buy a half a pound of ganja for $80, and some coconut oil. I infused the coconut oil and made cornmeal pancakes for everyone. The cooks say I can have the kitchen any time I want when I come back! The resort is right across the road from the beach, so there is swimming any time you want.

Going to Bob Marley’s Mausoleum was one of the most spiritual moments of my life. The energy in the space makes your hairs stand up and your soul start to sing. I asked, and was able, to leave a Mount Tzouhalem diamond I’d been imprinting with Bob’s One Love message at his head. I start crying every time I think of the place. We got to see crocodiles swimming around and suntanning. We got to go swimming in waterfalls and warm ocean waters. It was paradise. They need a lot of help though, as the government looks after itself first, and things like garbage collection later. I look forward to reading articles from our new Rastafarian connection, Kahleb. You can see a video of me cooking in Jamaica on Urban Grower’s and Mark Kush’s YouTube pages, and photos of the trip on Hempology 101’s YouTube page.

Right now I am sitting on the ferry off to the Kush Cup. I will tell you all about it next time. Love Gayle. p.s. If you have been trying to reach me, my old email address is dead. Now reach me at <mjmedicinewoman@gmail.com>

Cannabis Digest • Summer 2013

Publisher’s Note:

Ted Smith

We need your help. The planet needs your help. Now is the time. Here is the plan.

As long as cannabis is prohibited, many problems will continue to drain our communities and environment. There are three fronts on which this battle is being waged: hemp, recreational use, and medicine.

While many choose to focus on one of these issues, it is certainly possible to contribute to positive advancement in all three of these directions every day.

In Canada, we have never seen so much momentum toward positive change, yet so much resistance from the federal government. With efforts to legalize the herb taking firm hold in the U.S. and other parts of the world, it seems critical mass is being reached. As science and experience con-

tinue to prove, this plant is for the healing of the nations.

Prohibitionists are not giving up easily.

Canadian patients in particular are under attack. The new program is a perfect example of how police and politicians have colluded to create a program that seriously undermines our ability to use this plant to its full potential. Giving corporations exclusive rights to grow cannabis is not acceptable.

While the majority of us are healthy and do not suffer from a severe medical problem, the new regulations threaten all of us in the long run. Most of us hope to live a long age, and with that, one should expect some persistent medical problems. Hell, it looks like most of us should expect to fight cancer at some point or other, too.

Before I started selling medicine as a young man, I realized how unfair it was to think that people already suffering should be expected to help themselves and others in similar plights, while changing the laws at the same time. Most people are totally thrown off their life courses when the conditions manifest, and it can take years to adjust to the challenges a severe medical problem presents. Likewise, many people hope to avoid politics their whole lives.

Learning to make and use cannabis-based medicine properly takes time and good communication skills. In the last few years, major advancements have been made into researching the use of this plant as medicine, in large part because of activists and patients sharing information about their

5 Do It NOW!

activities and experiences. This network is continually improving our collective ability to grow good medicine, make extracts and juice, and develop unique strains. That is why dispensaries are so important in the collection and sharing of information.

So when we hold national rallies against the MMPR on Oct, 1, it should be far more than patients and their caregivers standing out on the streets. There should be family members of patients, there should be neighbours, there should be co-workers, there should be friends and pot smokers of all stripes. While this might look like a rally for patients, it is really about all of our rights, because if the right to grow medicine is lost now, it could be lost forever.

But we need to do more than establish the rights of patients to use this herb. We need to fight until everyone can freely grow and use cannabis without fear of the law. For the first time in Canadian history, we have a chance to make that start happening, beginning in B.C. If you have not yet heard of the Sensible BC campaign being lead by Dana Larsen, then you are not paying much attention. This campaign is critical for herb lovers across the country. If it is successful here, then it will have an impact across the country. Just as in the U.S. where Washington State and Colorado have made it legal, B.C. has the opportunity to lead Canada away from prohibition and towards legalization.

It is critical for people in B.C. to get signatures for this campaign from Sept. to

Nov. It is a big job. However, we only have to do this once, and when that is done, we will definitely win the vote itself. There is no doubt that if a vote occurs, people in B.C. will support change. Giving them the chance to vote by collecting enough signatures will be the hard part.

Activists across the country can help by writing letters to the media and generally encouraging B.C. citizens to get more involved. This is our best chance yet to turn things around, and if we fail, it will take a lot of wind out of our sails. However, if we are successful, it will have a ripple effect across the country leading up to the next election.

Meanwhile, we all have an opportunity every day to buy hemp food and other hemp products. This is the best way to support the hemp industry, and the revival of the plant. Eating hemp food is the best way to maintain your own health while helping to finance the farmers and suppliers who are promoting the use of hemp.

The more hemp being grown and sold, the more the general public loses its fear of this plant, and the more accepted cannabis is as a whole.

Every one of us has the power to change the world. Every one of us has a duty to make the world a better place. Every one of us has the capacity to help others. What better better place than here? What better time than now? What better plant than cannabis?

EDITORIAL: Big Brother Has Been Watching Us

Andrew Brown Editor

The feds have been watching us and creating a massive database—our phone conversations, private email correspondences, our senseless text banter, web searches and ebay purchases, and of course our facebook accounts, among everything else. Should we be surprised? Absolutely not. I think most

of us just assumed it was happening, though the bucket of cold assertion that was splashed across our faces likely put all of our stomachs in knots. Should we be angry and outraged? A resounding yes, but we should also be outraged at ourselves for allowing it to happen. Yet still, the indoctrination of fear runs so deep into North American society that we sit idly by watching our politicians arrogantly admit to breaking the fundamental laws that govern our society. All in the name of security.

And the public eats it all up. Just after the news broke about the NSA leaks, a national television news agency took a viewer poll (take it with a grain of salt) that 54 percent of viewers thought the spying and data collection was reasonable if it was in the interest of our national security. On a CBC radio pro-

gram I was listening to while driving, they had a guest who was a professor at an American university. He put it well (and I will paraphrase): How would those who find this behaviour from our government acceptable feel if they looked out their front window and saw a van parked in front of their houses taking pictures and a man in a suit searching through their garbage? They would be outraged and call the police.

Their is a universal acceptance that it is not safe to put confidential documents or credit card information, etc., into the trash bin. This is not the case for online and telephone activity.

Do a web search for the key words that trigger the data collection. I likely use many of those words several times a day—everyday. I can guarantee that everyone reading this newspaper has trig-

gered the data collection program. Nobody is immune.

The gradual erosion of our rights and freedoms, paired with the increasing fear perpetrated by media/government clouding our judgement, has allowed the population to become complacent.

People are afraid to speak out for fear of losing the comforts afforded by the very social structure harming us. Our governments are breaking serious laws and instead of mainstream media covering that, they are following the actions of the whistleblower and the soap opera of who is going to offer asylum and the government’s efforts to get their hands on Mr. Snowden.

This is not acceptable. We are all in this together, and we have been given a gift to take action.

Issue Number 37

6

Sensible Starts in September The race to collect 400,000 signatures begins

By Andrew Brown With Sept. fast approaching, so does the urgency to act and get involved with the Sensible BC campaign. This will be the last issue of the Cannabis Digest before the campaign’s signature gathering begins, and we strongly encourage our B.C. readers to take part in our province’s best chance to reform cannabis laws. This isn’t a legalization effort that will, once and for all, end the “war on weed,” but it is the best thing we can do provincially to counter federal law that will not change under our current Canadian “Harper” government.

For those unfamiliar with the campaign, Sensible BC is “calling upon the B.C. government to pass the Sensible Policing Act, which will redirect all police in the province from making searches, seizures or arrests in cases of simple cannabis possession,” as they state on their website <SensibleBC.ca> The Sensible Policing Act calls for the setup of “a public commission to figure out the best path toward a legally regulated and taxed cannabis system in B.C.” It will also allow for police to deal with impaired driving and youth possession in a way similar to the way they treat alcohol offences.

Since last Oct., Dana Larsen and his campaign crew and volunteers have been tirelessly working to make voters aware of the campaign, through a tour of of communities across the province, media attention, social media, and public events,

among seemingly endless other ways. In order for the campaign to proceed to referendum, signatures from 10 percent of registered voters in each of the 85 ridings need to be collected—amounting to approximately 400,000 signatures.

This was recently done with the antiHST campaign. As many people will remember, signature collectors could be seen regularly in public, but they were not as proactive as Sensible BC, who have pre-registration to make signature collection easier, and the ability to gauge where volunteers need to be sent out en masse. While media attention is positive regarding the campaign, the anti-HST was a regular staple in most newspapers and news broadcasts. Supporters are encouraged to write letters to media, while continually contacting their MLAs to garner their support.

At this point, the most important thing you can do to help this initiative get to referendum is to pre-register on <SensibleBC.ca> so that volunteers can easily obtain your signature on the official petition later this year. If more time can be spared, you are encouraged to click on the box to volunteer while pre-registering, or email <volunteer@ SensibleBC.ca>, committing to help collect signatures. You can also download pre-registration forms, and collect as many signatures in your community as possible.

The campaign has been kicking into high gear to prepare for Sept., and have generated some amazing attention. On

We need your help on the Sensible BC campaign!

Sign up today, and help register others:

www.SensibleBC.ca Together we can decriminalize cannabis in BC!

June 10, Sensible BC began running a billboard ad in West Vancouver just past the Lions Gate Bridge. It is estimated that 250,000 people saw it in the first week alone. For Canada Day, a plane was hired to fly the Sensible BC banner across the sky over celebrations in Vancouver. Larsen was also recently interviewed and featured in an article in Maclean’s Magazine titled, “Why it’s Time to Legalize Marijuana.” It is a seven-page article, and has many quotes about Sensible BC. In more of a dark humour tone, Prince Rupert RCMP spent six months investigating the Chad Smoke Shop, which sold only common headshop items, and seized their inventory. On June 27, Larsen took advantage of the absurd raid on the local business to highlight the faults of the drug war and bring attention to the Sensible BC campaign.

He presented the local RCMP detachment with a trophy that read “Award for the most time wasted, six months investigating bongs.”

“It’s great that they’ve solved every other crime in Prince Rupert...and have nothing left to do,” he told the Northern View newspaper. “This is not where I think most British Columbians believe our police resources should be focused. It really underlines the need for legislative change in our province. That’s what our Sensible BC campaign is all about.”

With the introduction of mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes by the Federal government, and changes to

the system to access medical cannabis, (see this issue for more details regarding the MMPR) we could see many legitimate medical cannabis user, facing harsh penalties due to access or affordability issues forcing them to break laws. Couple this with the ethical issue of criminalizing recreational use of a substance with a fraction of the potential health risks of alcohol, and the continually increasing cost of enforcing cannabis laws, and the Sensible Policing Act would be a welcome change. Last year, a financial burden of $10.5 million was placed on B.C. taxpayers to simply detain, charge, and convict cannabis users. This figure does not include court and police costs of pursuing dealers and growers. Since 2005, the cost has doubled, and is sure to increase as the true cost of MMS begins to be felt. All of this in light of public opinion, according to all recent polls, clearly wanting an end to marijuana prohibition.

Get involved, sign up, pre-register your family and friends, and help make positive change. Once the official signature collecting begins, there is only a short 90-day period to collect all 400,000 signatures. This is not an easy task, and in order for this campaign to reach referendum, volunteers and donations are needed.

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Issue Number 37

Cannabis Digest • Summer 2013

New Regulations Create Chaos

9

Health Canada puts squeeze on patients and dispensaries

By Ted Smith After over a decade of the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations, the persistent problems with the system have given the government the opportunity to justify taking the program in another direction.

The new Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations throw patients under a big, fully licensed commercial bus.

Health Canada’s new medical cannabis regulations threaten the lives of patients by taking away their right to grow, and opening up the market in a completely new and different commercial system. Caught in between are dispensaries and caregivers, who have invested a lot of time and money developing the capacity to supply highquality medicine.

Instead of putting patients first, these changes are primarily meant to comply with police and fire officials upset at the problems being created by some growers under the current regime. Though many of these issues could have been avoided with proper inspections and other regulatory measures, the government has tried to step back from spending resources on the program, leaving patients and doctors at the mercy of a hungry crowd of cannabis entrepreneurs.

That is why on Oct. 1, we must get people out to their MPs’ offices. Patients need a chance to voice their anger at this new system, and they cannot do it alone. They need others to help put up posters, make signs, write letters or emails to media, get the word out, and assist others who have difficulty traveling. Even if you have to work when the rally is happening, there is a lot you can do for patients that day.

While we realize the message is likely falling on deaf ears, we need to put a friendly face in front of the staff of Conservative MPs so they can understand how much these new regulations are going to hurt patients. They need to see that they are ruining patients’ ability to look after themselves—patients who look no different than their own friends and family. Other MPs and their staff also need to have a chance to meet with actual patients. They need to be convinced to reinstate personal production licences for patients, at the very least.

These rallies across the country will be held the day Health Canada stops issuing licenses to grow. The last rallies in this series will be held on Apr. 1, 2014, the day the new regulations come fully into effect. On this day, Hempology 101 will also organize a large rally on the front steps of the federal government in Ottawa, in solidarity with local rallies at MP offices.

April Fool’s Day will be our last chance to raise awareness about the need for patients to grow their own medicine. From there, it turns to courts and politics.

While what is happening to patients is terrible, there are definitely improvements in how the government plans on making sure there is a stable, consistent supply of raw herb. The current program has forced Prairie Plant Systems, the government supplier of cannabis to patients, to produce low-grade herb, grind it up, and zap it with radiation. It also made the company sign a deal that forbade them from explaining to the public that these restrictions were due to their contract, not poor planning from the company. In fact, PPS is likely to be one of the first to get a new commercial producer’s license.

Many companies, some with very rich backers, appear poised to obtain these new licences even if they have to invest millions

of dollars and lose money for years before turning a profit. The projected size of this market is huge, especially if patients have no legal alternative. Foreign companies are also eyeing up the changes, seeing an opportunity to expand.

Meanwhile, medical cannabis dispensaries are scrambling to see how, or if, they can fit into the new regulations. Since the MMPR do not allow for storefront operations, nor for the sale of extracts, the traditional model of a compassion club does not fit into the new rules. The human interaction that occurs when providing this medicine is very important to most patients, and the speed of service upon payment is critical for people with low incomes. For most people currently operating clubs, it is hard to imagine quitting just because there is a new legal system, if it means many patients will be forced back to the streets.

There is a possibility that provinces and territories could start to create their own dispensary systems, but that is not happening soon. For a time, Health Canada entertained the idea of allowing pharmacies to be included in these future programs, but they did not appear in the final regulations, leaving hospitals, doctors, and nurse practitioners as the only ones able to operate a storefront dispensary. While many have speculated that it will be possible to hire a doctor or NP, that plan seems to depend entirely upon cooperation from provincial health authorities—something that is not likely to happen any time soon.

Some clubs are considering legal models that have mail boxes near where patients make their orders, making for a system that is more time-consuming than the current one. Others imagine bonded couriers that appear at your home after you click a button, providing faster service than going to a club yourself. Since many clubs have exclusively used licenses under the MMAR to supply themselves, they feel they have no choice but to pursue a commercial license, and merge into the new system, even if it means sacrificing patient services. The threat of mandatory minimum sentences looms over everyone’s head.

Even if everything was done legally in this system, the sale of cannabis derivatives is still not allowed in the MMPR. For many patients, this is the only way they can ingest cannabis, as eating and topically applying it has a wide range of potential applications, and many are uncomfortable with the psychoactive effects generally associated with smoking. Though some patients are ready and able to make themselves high-quality extracts, most do not have the equipment, experience, space, or even physical ability to do this. We are talking about people who are sick and dying, crippled people, blind people, homeless people, and other marginalized segments of our population.

According to Health Canada, “The limited clinical data that exists is restricted to dried marihuana that was either smoked or vaporized and to cannabinoid-based medicines (dronabinol, nabilone, and nabiximols) that have gone through the appropriate drug approval channels.” Knowing courts and the public will find this position distasteful, the government has attempted to find their way out of the situation by adding this statement: “There are no restrictions on how dried marihuana is to be ingested or inhaled, and patients may choose to use it, for example in foods or by vaporizing.” Without actually adding cannabis resin and THC to the MMPR, Health Canada has left patients in the same position as they were under the

MMAR—a position the courts are unlikely to find constitutional.

Providing cannabis derivatives will be an even more important job for compassion clubs that continue to operate when the new regulations come into effect.

While it will be easy to initially continue to serve those left out of the new system when it first comes into effect, in the long run it may be hard to justify staying open if the MMPR actually starts working well enough that the courts and general public are happy with it. However, the production and sale of edible and topical products is definitely best done in a storefront facility, and that should be more important to patients, courts, and the public than safe access to the raw herb alone.

However, in order to meet or exceed the new standards being developed in the MMPR, clubs that continue to exist will have to dramatically improve the information they provide to patients about their products. Cannabinoid profiles for raw herb and derivatives will quickly become the norm, as patients will start demanding to know how much THC and CBD are in each product, and doctors will insist they use known doses if possible. Luckily, it appears as though several labs are poised to start operating, and this should be a regular feature of many clubs before the end of the year.

Another strategy to help dispensaries become regular components of the health care system and deal with the new regulations, is to collude with other clubs in an association. This is the traditional way businesses in the same industry work together.

Business associations give organizations an opportunity to help develop their industry, and lobby the government for policy changes that benefit their members.

Founded by a handful of established clubs, the Canadian Association of Medical Dispensaries has been working to create a list of criteria for dispensaries to meet before becoming full-fledged members. These certification standards will ensure the public that the operations of these dispensaries are safe and fully compliant with all applicable laws. Though these clubs differ greatly in some aspects, there is a general feeling that if we cannot bond together, we will get shut down sooner or later. We need to work together to prove that local dispensaries are the safest and most effective means by which to distribute this medicine.

How everything will work out is still anyone’s guess. If doctors do not like the MMPR, they may boycott the system, leaving patients in a temporary lurch that will justify them continuing to grow their own herb, and the existence of clubs. If the new program appears to be working, the courts are very likely to look at clubs more as opportunists than as caregivers willing to risk everything to get patients their medicine.

If patients boycott the new system and put their energy into the development of good dispensaries then we might be able to keep large companies from wrestling this plant away from the people who brought their attention to it in the first place.

One thing is for sure, patients will suffer under the MMPR. Hopefully, compassion clubs will not become casualties too.

10

Issue Number 37

Access to Extracts Science, Reason, and a Chance for Compassion

By Owen Smith On May 31, 2013, Judge Johnston extended his decision from my voir dire (trial within a trial) in 2012, granting Designated Growers (DGs) in British Columbia the right to make cannabis derivative products like hash, oils, and butters for their authorized patients. This decision came on an auspicious day for me: May 31 is my sister’s birthday. My sister Ceri died seven years ago of melanoma skin cancer.

At the time, I didn’t know of the potential of cannabis as medicine, beyond smoking it to help eat, sleep, and laugh with her family and friends. I have learned a great deal since she passed, and now believe that she may have seen benefit from eating cannabis or using its extracts on her skin.

As with my sister, the majority of medical cannabis users come to cannabis only after exhausting the treatment options offered to them by their physicians. These people often need assistance, as they are experiencing debilitating side effects from their medications. It is unfair to the conscience of this person that he or she is, by necessity, compelling someone who cares for them to break the law in order to make suitable medical products. This enforcement potential is unnecessarily focused on those with seriously disabling conditions, and particularly threatens those compassionate people who aid them.

I’m pleased that at least people in B.C. with medical conditions can have a clear conscience as their family member or friend makes, or helps them apply, their medicine. I hope this causes a wave of compassionate action, inspiring DGs (and maybe soon LPs) to advance their knowledge of cannabis medicines by helping them to legally provide higher-quality medicinal products.

At the conclusion of the voir dire, my lawyer, Kirk Tousaw, who has fought other medical cannabis constitutional challenges, argued that the government has shown contempt for the courts by not adequately responding to previous court orders, and predicted the same fate for Judge Johnston’s ruling. Johnston said in the final words of his decision, “a court should be slow to attribute such bad faith or motive to legislative response to court decisions.”

However, by taking no action in the past year to respond to Johnston’s ruling, the government is confirming our argument and edging themselves closer to contempt.

At the May 31 hearing, Johnston said that there was little pretense the Crown’s application was an attempt to preserve the status quo until the BC Court of Appeal hears the case on Oct. 17. He said he would proceed on the basis that he made the right decision. This window of opportunity for DGs in B.C. will remain open until the ruling of the BC Court of Appeal some time in early 2014. By ignoring the court’s order, Health Canada has put the constitutionality of their new program in immediate question. The BC Court of Appeal may deliver their ruling any time around the implementation date of the MMPR, Apr. 1, 2014.

Health Canada’s recent release of a revised medical cannabis program, the MMPR, contains no reference to Judge Johnston’s decision, and only affords a brief consideration for extracts amid the responses to stakeholder concerns during the brief consultation period. “The new Regulations will limit licensed producers to the production and distribution of dried

marihuana only. The MMPR will not authorize extractions of active ingredients (e.g. resin) to be sold for the therapeutic purposes”. They also say, somewhat confusingly, that “There are no restrictions on how dried marihuana is to be ingested or inhaled, and patients may choose to use it, for example in foods or by vaporizing. HC does not limit or recommend a particular method of administration.”

The government had argued in the voir dire that to extract the resin from the plant material and store it any way would hinder police officers, who would ordinarily quantify dried cannabis to judge if a patient is within the legal limit. They argued that the presence of an unquantifiable extract would increase the risk of diversion to the black market.

In his ruling, Judge Johnston wrote that if Health Canada already permits patients to “bake their dried plant material into a cookie batter or any other food, mix it into a salve, or otherwise deal with it in a similar fashion, so long as they used it as dried material” then “there is little ‘rational connection’ between the restriction to dried marihuana and the legitimate objective of preventing diversion of lawful medical marihuana into the illegal market.”

“If it is possible to distinguish chopped up, dried marihuana from other dried plant material such as might be found in most kitchen spice jars, it seems to me that there should have been evidence led on the point. I am not prepared to infer that it is necessary to restrict medical marihuana to its dried form in order to make enforcement of the drug laws possible. I am not concerned with making enforcement of the drug laws easy if the cost of doing so puts the rights protected by s.7 of the Charter at risk. In the absence of clear evidence that the restriction to dried marihuana is necessary, I conclude that this restriction is arbitrary.”

“The restriction to dried marihuana unnecessarily, and therefore to an unreasonable degree, impairs the security right to choose how to ingest the medicinal ingredients in the safest and most effective manner”.

Johnston’s decision was largely informed

by Dr. David Pate. Pate was able to clarify the botanical facts that make extracting cannabis a safe, effective, and logical step in a medical preparation.

Other than the well-known glandular trichomes (that I diagram in a past article “Concentrating on Cannabinoids”), there are cystolithic trichomes distributed all over the plant surface. “Cystolithic trichomes [are] non-glandular trichomes which contain a little crystal [of ] oxalic acid at their base which is perhaps unpalatable. It’s speculative as to why it exists there, but the general thought is that all of these things are defensive strategies against

insect predation or even mammals.”

As plants can’t run away, they develop mechanisms to subvert predation in the competitive wilds of nature; some of the cannabis plant’s compounds and mechanisms function to fulfil these roles, making them undesirable in a medical preparation.

Due to the structural difference between the two kinds of trichome, simple extraction techniques can separate the medicine held in the gland from the deterrent stored in the chrysolith. Glandular trichomes are formed with a long, thin neck supporting a globular head full of cannabinoid-rich resin, while chrysolithic trichomes are a sturdier thorn shape.

The resin glands separate so easily from the dried plant that in the act of sending a package in the mail—the singular dispensing method proposed under the MMPR—an amount of resin will be separated and collected at the bottom of the package. Ultimately, there is no reason to disallow the resin glands that are attached to a plant, after previously allowing the plant that is covered in these glands for the purpose of obtaining the desired compounds from within them.

The MMPR document states that “there are no clinical studies on the use of cannabis edible (e.g. cookies, baked goods) or topical products for therapeutic purposes.”

Dr. Pate was the head of a laboratory that developed the plants that are used to make Sativex, a whole plant Cannabis extract that has undergone clinical trials and is available by prescription in Canada. In addition, Dr. Pate suggests that “cannabis has undergone a multiyear open label clinical trial by virtue of being in such popular use both medically and recreationally for an extended period of time, essentially hundreds of years.”

“The old style extracts were usually ethanolic extracts in a dropping bottle of some sort. You’d put a little in your tea or under your tongue. And the new version is the same extract in a spray bottle that you spray in your mouth. You could say that the new version, Sativex, is the historical vindication of the old materials that disappeared probably before their time.”

British Columbia has more DGs than all the other provinces combined. These skilful folks can easily move beyond the fine art of producing high-quality dried cannabis buds to create tinctures like Sativex. Derivatives can be produced from a previously wasted resource (leaf and stalk) by heating and soaking the material in oils, which can be used to make a number of edible and topical products. Decarboxylation activates the dormant cannabinoids, increasing the effectiveness of the recovered material. The V-CBC recipe book has a detailed description of this simple process.

This expansion in the legal capacity of compassionate gardeners may improve access and help reduce the price by maximizing the utility of the plant. Creative DGs will quickly grasp the many facets of the art and produce more medicines that are better suited for individual needs at little additional cost.

Smoking cannabis flower buds is the least efficient and most expensive way to consume Cannabinoids. The intense heat involved in smoking consumes up to 70 percent of the desired ingredients (see the past article “Product Testing”) and creates undesired products from the combustion of the plant cellulose. Dried plant matter is integral to the act of smoking, as “most of

the fuel component of the pyrolysis comes from burning the cellulose. That produces heat from the ember which superheats the air drawn through the ember and essentially both decarboxylates and distils the Cannabinoids out the downstream end.”

More and more people are turning to vaporizers for a cleaner and more economical way to achieve the instant relief that inhalation can provide.

The effects of eating cannabis persist for hours longer than those of inhalation. Edible products target the gastro-intestinal system and can be designed for either daytime or nighttime use at a variety of strengths. Topical products can be applied directly to the area of need, which is especially appropriate for skin conditions like lesions. Establishing multiple application methods can allow patients to achieve a certain therapeutic effect, which allows them to gain greater effectiveness from smaller quantities of inhaled cannabis.

Dr. Pate expanded that when eating cannabis “you’re establishing a baseline level and if that’s sufficient, so be it. But if not, a much smaller amount through smoking can push those blood levels in a transient acute sense - a quick onset and short diminution back to the levels - back to the plateau provided by the oral ingestion. In other words it’s a peak on top of an already established plateau, but it’s more transient in nature.”

MMAR patients, who face the removal of their right to grow their own plants or have someone grow for them, are facing the terrifying projection that their medicine costs will skyrocket far beyond their means. While there is a concerted effort to prevent this fundamental right from disappearing, if the new licensed commercial production facilities under the MMPR also gain the ability to produce derivatives, there may be avenues available to decrease the medicine costs and increase overall efficacy of this program for many seriously ill people.

Beyond this ongoing melee of courts, cops, cannabis clubs, and Health Canada, caregivers and critically ill Canadians in B.C. may now be sharing these natural medicines without fear of persecution, carefully combating the medical conditions of their friends or family members.

With this collective creative ingenuity, products may be tailored to specific diets: organic, vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, all of the above and more; or for specific effects: stimulating or relaxing, and in a variety of dose strengths.

The products of the well-established cannabis industries south of the border offer many good examples to follow. The Internet hosts a massive bank of helpful medical cannabis videos and articles. I encourage medicine makers to engage these communities to share what they learn, so that together we may better serve the people who need our help. Some of these products may prove useful to many patients in the future. Conservative estimates state that the number of people in the national medical cannabis program will grow to 430 thousand in the next decade.

Visit <cannabisdigest.ca> to read past articles and leave a comment.

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Jammin

Skunk Ma

Vincent, Brian, Roger, Fayon, Kay, Gayle, Johnny and Kahleb at Pure Resort in Negril

J

XY Falls is spectacular

amaica has a natural romanticism that is undeniable. Long before the songs of Bob Marley drifted through the countryside and around the world, the beauty of this paradise attracted others to its shores. Unfortunately, politics and greed have crippled what should be a vibrant country.

Ironically, cannabis, or ganga as it is known locally, has been a critical economic contributor to Jamaica over the last few desperate decades. Since a socialist government scared away the wealthy and middle-class in the 1970s, there has been little investment in the country. Tourists prefer countries with less violence, and for a long time, headlines dominated by gang murders ensured the country would go nowhere fast.

In this climate, cannabis flourished.

So when Gayle got her family inheritance a few years ago, that was where she wanted to go. Various problems kept it from happening until this year.

Then in Jan. an email was sent out by John Vergados, the owner of Skunk magazine, inviting a bunch of Canadian activists to his newly purchased motel, Pure Resort, in Negril, Jamaica for a weeklong retreat and brainstorming session.

The timing could not have been better. Though Gayle and I had to miss the first half of the week, we were there for the weekend, when the majority of activists were there, and got to enjoy their company for a few days. Then we got a full week to discover the island for ourselves. There were many highlights.

It was quite a crew down there. Leading the parade were Mark “Kush” and Remo, also known as Urban Grower.

These guys were super-excited to be there, filming all sorts of activities, including a video of Gayle cooking in the kitchen, as soon as we got there. You can find their videos at the links at the end of the article, along with a video we made of our trip.

Other prominent activists there included lawyer John Conroy, Lisa “Mommakind” Kirkman, Sita from Green Harvest, Tracy Curly, Enrico Bouchard, Tim Selenski, Rielle Capler, (though we barely got to see her) Kat Murphy, Jocelyn Kikazglaz, and Debbie Stultz-Giffin, who managed to get a women’s center she volunteers at to pay for the flight. It was a small, but fun, caring group of people.

For several reasons, there was not a schedule for the gathering, but a few nights, we did get together after supper and talk about our work. This gave us a chance to become familiar with each other, promote a few campaigns, and thoroughly discuss things like the new regulations and other side projects that are still unknown to the public. John, and Bob Marley’s thinking rock Skunk magazine, generously donated free room, food, and herb to the guests, making it easy to hang out by the pool and restaurant between adventures.

As soon as we arrived we bought a half-pound of herb for $80. Well, to say it was a full halfpound is a stretch, partly because it was so wet that it was likely just cut down the day before we bought it.

It was also still on the stock, with the bag consisting of mostly foot-long stalks with a few buds clinging to them. The weather was so humid that it was hard to dry, even when leaving it out on paper.

It was only when we had a nice sunny morning and we put it directly

Johnny and the Sublimator

Gayle and mother of legend Peter Tosh

out into the light that it actually dried out.

It was full of seed, too.

That was a bonus to us, as we do not eat meat, and we got to eat a lot of fresh cannabis seed, something we cannot get here in Canada. It was not the quality of the herb that was outstanding, but the freedom to use it. We could have found better herb, but we did not want to spend our time focusing on that. We had other plans.

Pure Resort was awesome. To start with, the hotel has bedsheets with pot leaf patterns all over them, making us feel at home. We even had a kitchen in our room, so Gayle got to cook cannabis corncakes right away. We also got to cook our own food, most nights. We could smoke in the room or on the patio without concern that anyone would be upset, often leaving the rolling tray lying out on the patio for hours. The barkeeps on the beach seemed to have no problem with us smoking joints by the tables as they served us drinks.

Not all of Jamaica is that pot-friendly. Negril is a special place, where all of the freaks and hippies went when the major cities were chaotic.

We got a taste of that on the first night there.

Mark got backstage passes for a big party being thrown for Easter weekend. We arrived at 2 a.m. and left after 5 a.m., when there were still over 6,000 people enjoying the show. No musicians played instruments. The entire show was singers playing very short samples of their songs, with DJs helping in the background. The crowd had fog horns, roman candles, and lit hair spray cans to add to the show. A vendor was walking around with papers, lighters and pre-weighed bags of pot. We were smoking herb within 10 feet of uniformed police officers, who were only interested in crowd control.

There are people everywhere offering to sell cannabis, especially if you look like a toker, but you need to be careful who to deal with. If you buy on the beach, you will pay top dollar and not get great herb. Hustlers are everywhere. The most aggressive are the least trustworthy, and the people you can trust are a little harder to seek out, but they are there. Good herb is available, but can take a bit of time and luck to find.

However, you are not likely to get robbed, unless you put yourself into a dumb situation. As the locals make their money from tourists, and

n’ in Jamaica

agazine Helps Bring Canadian Activists to Negril

By Ted Smith

Gayle with pot plant behind Bob Marley’s Mausoleum

cannot afford to ruin that by getting a bad reputation.

Be careful about taking anything from someone, even if they say it is free. Few things in Jamaica are actually free. Sunshine is. Pot is not.

Soon after you accept a small bit of herb to try, you will get told about the guy’s kids and how hard it is to feed them all. You can get a sample for a few dollars but it might not be what you are getting later. It is almost better to buy off people who are not right away trying to hustle you. Approaching friendly-looking, laid-back people is a safe, easy way to score.

Generally speaking, Jamaicans are concerned about their image to the world, realizing their country has a negative reputation. As a result, most are friendly, offering help and making sure you are okay everywhere you go. One day, we even took a cab to a nature sanctuary, and

Gayle smoking with Mark ‘Kush’ and others

walked back through a small village to town. It was a humbling experience to see how little these people have, living in small, run-down shacks, and yet their warm spirit shone from their eyes.

Bright colours adorned the tiniest homes and

Fruit of Jamaica including soursop, mango and guava

shops, packed together along the road. of Jamaica is not herb-friendly, and that canOne of those Jamaicans is our friend Kahleb. nabis is still illegal to possess, grow, and sell, exHe is a Rastafarian that Lisa connected with cept for some rights being established by Rasbecause he invented a very cool natural vapor- tafarians. Even at Bob’s Mausoleum, high in izer. He has taken a fruit called a calabash, and the mountains, there were signs in the parking emptied it to make a bong He then put a piece lot that smoking ganga was not allowed, yet we of bamboo in it for a stem, and created a round could light up inside the building or during the ceramic cylinder bowl that uses charcoal at the tour, and the place for a plant to grow behind top. You simply inhale through the fruit, and his resting place looks permanent. the heated air from the charcoal vaporizes the When driving with herb, you need to be careherb inside. ful not to smoke in the vehicle near town or on Kahleb went major roads, as with us on our the police can be first big day trip, ruthless to drivers. which of course Do not give them was to visit Bob a reason to hassle Marley’s home you. Smoking on and mausoleum. It the sidewalk of was the most humtowns can also be bling experience of risky. It is better to my life. Bob was smoke on private born in the mounproperty than in tains, far from the public, with some hustle and bustle exceptions, like of the beaches and the beaches in cities.

The Negril.

Urban Grower rolling a big joint entrenched poverty of the Ultimately, this might area was evident on the faces of the poor have been the best two weeks of my life. Every children, who were begging on the road, minute, I was surrounded by cannabis, hanging where the pavement was so broken, cars out with other Canadian activists, enjoying the had to slow right down to pass. beauty of the country, meeting all sorts of inBob and his mom are buried on the hill teresting people, and laughing with Gayle. The on the property they lived on, as is the slideshow video we made shows some of the custom there. You are allowed to hang out highlights, but it is only a glimpse. You have to in a small shack that Bob stayed in, and see Jamaica for yourself. shown a rock upon which he would sit or Check out theses Youtube channels to see vidlay down, resting his head upon it. There eos of the trip as well as other interesting things: is even a cannabis plant in a small garden < http://www.youtube.com/user/MarkKlokeid> built just for it, right behind where Bob < http://www.youtube.com/user/urbangrower> rests. < http://www.youtube.com/user/Hempology101> We also had a chance to go to see Peter Tosh’s mausoleum. Even more i n credible was getting to meet his 95-year-old blind mother, who actually got out of bed for us.

She loves meeting everyone who comes to the family property, which is not nearly as commercial as what has been built around Bob’s. When I presented a Hempology 101 textbook and said I wanted to give it to the family, I also had the honour of meeting Dave, one of Peter’s sons.

Now, I should caution that much Jamaican herb drying on incredible newspaper

14

Issue Number 37

Connoisseurs Converge on Big Smoke 2 0 1 3 T r e a t i n g Yo u r s e l f E x p o b e s t y e t

By Al Graham Cannabis is a plant that many governments claim is dangerous and should not be consumed, but we are seeing something different. Unfortunately, this fear-mongering message, which is almost 100 years old, is one that leaves many unanswered questions, and the feeling that we have been mislead the whole time.

Many of the answers to questions that people have about cannabis today could be found during the weekend of May 24 to 26, at the fourth Annual Treating Yourself Expo in Toronto. This one-of-a-kind event is held every year at the Metro Toronto Convention Center in the heart of the city’s downtown. With the facility being a barrier-free location, it the perfect place to hold an event that involves people with disabilities. Not only is the place accessible for the disabled, but it also has access to many forms of public transportation, which allows people to get there without driving or fighting for a parking spot.

One has to ask, if cannabis is so dangerous that it has to be illegal, then how can there be a show as large as the Treating Yourself Expo? Why would one hundred vendors travel from Europe, Africa, the U.S. and all across Canada for something that is apparently so harmful to us? The answer: to promote the health benefits of cannabis, as well as their businesses, to thousands of people. These are businesspeople who believe the law is wrong and that people do want legal access to this extraordinary plant.

During the four years that Treating Yourself publisher and editor Marco Renda has run this show, it has done nothing but grow.

Every year, he makes sure there are lots of vendors and some speakers to help educate the masses, while also giving the public the information and knowledge that they seek.

This year, there were the usual compassion centres in attendance, but there were also new businesses that are getting prepared for when the new Canadian medical marijuana program begins in Apr. 2014. For those who wanted to know more about the legalization of cannabis, there were large advocacy groups such as <NORML.ca>, Dads 4 Marijuana, as well as many other smaller groups, in attendance. Also there to talk about legalization were the Young Liberals of Canada, who had Resolution 117 to legalize cannabis pass at the party’s policy convention last year by a resounding 77 percent. It was good to see them out

explaining what their federal political party will be doing if elected.

Along with education, there were also businesses that provided people with everything from plant food to information on how to grow. Companies such as Advance Nutrients and Super Natural, as well as smaller companies such as Better World and the Cyclorganic Fertilizer Company were present. When it came to glass products, low-end glass could be bought, or you could get high-end products from places such as RooR, High Society Glass, and Borohouse Originals. If you didn’t find something in one of these places, you could have visited the numerous glass artists who had handmade products available. The printed magazine businesses that help educate the public were also on hand. While you might expect Treating Yourself Magazine to be there, others such as Hot Breath, Glass Culture Magazine, and Cannabis Digest also had booths. Cannabis Digest’s publisher and Hempology 101 author Ted Smith, who made his way in from Vancouver, told me he looked forward to the weekend when he could spend some time meeting and talking to people from around the world. This I can verify, as all weekend long I spotted Ted talking to the vendors about his book and about Cannabis Digest.

This year saw some of our international travelling friends, such as Arjan and Franco from Greenhouse, as well as Luke from Paradise Seeds, attending the Expo as they have in the past. But there were also new local vendors, such as Jacquiewith Dunnette Landing Cottage and Campground, as well as Jacob from Utopia Therapy. These two, along with others such as The Massage Lady, who was busy all weekend long, are allowing the event to open up to people outside of the cannabis business community.

The Expo had guest speakers such as California Doctor William Courtney, who spoke about the benefits of juicing raw cannabis. Dr. Courtney also talked to everyone the plant’s medicinal benefits, and how important it was to consume the raw plant material to get everything. This is one subject that is close to the doctor’s heart, as it was how he has treated his wife, Kristen.

Dr. Courtney has discovered that humans can consume the plant raw through juicing, and get much more medicinal benefit than from smoking it. During the heating of the plant material, natural chemicals in it change, and an example of this is THC. When you consume the raw, unheated

plant material, it is known as THCA (acid) but when you heat it up, it becomes THCV, which is the THC that gives people the euphoric high. Not only does this change, but its medical benefits do as well, as it goes from being helpful as an anti-spasmodic medicine, to an anti-epileptic one.

During the talk with Dr. Courtney, his wife Kristen also took the stage, where she talked about how her husband’s research has benefited her both in the past and today.

While she talked about this, she also touched on the fear of knowing that at any time, the U.S. government could walk into their home and take their young children away from them. With tears in her eyes and a crack in her voice, she spoke of the devastation that her and her family would go through if the DEA showed up at their door.

Also speaking throughout the weekend were Dr. Paul Hornby, who comes every year to talk about advances in cannabis medicine and the work that he has done and continues to do. The ladies from the NORML Women’s Alliance of Canada also took to the stage, as many of them spoke up about the effects of prohibition on their families and how this will effect them down the road.

The seminar stage was also used to announce some very deserving awards. This year, Marco Renda presented Julia Rose, who is with the Peter McWilliams Organization, with an Angel Activist Award for her tireless efforts to tell Peter’s story. Even as a non-consuming person, Julia has seen the many benefits of the plant, and wants to keep Peter’s work alive. Peter, who was a poet and an author who had a book appear on the New York Times Best Sellers Book List, passed away on June 14, 2000.

Also winning an award this weekend was Michael D. Jensen, who was presented the Humanitarian Award by Michael Thomas, the founder of Dads 4 Marijuana. Michael was presented this award for his efforts and hard work within the cannabis community.

I’m told that the group is looking forward to making this an annual award, and look forward to bringing light to those who are making a difference.

Last year, Marco introduced glass-blowing to the Expo, and this year he brought it back with a bang. Last year, it was held in a corner, while this year it was the main attraction across the back of the hall. Compared to last year, the contest location was larger, which provided more room for the contestants. Also new was the addition of three large TV monitors set up around the seating area, allowing show goers a closeup view. The teams were also formed differently this year. Instead of just having three teams, Marco changed things up to have Canadian glass blowers competing against teams from the U.S. and Japan. Many of those who attended stood by or watched as the teams worked their magic.

Once the glass-blowing competition was complete, the team’s final products were put on display for everyone to see. The team known as “The Canadian EH Team” placed third with their “Skeleton Bird” pipe, with the U.S. team finishing second for their design of the “Emerald Castle” from The Wizard of Oz. Coming in first place was the team from Japan. These guys created a piece called “Donchan,” that featured a drinking cup for dabbing, that had internal artwork that was out of this world. They also created a dab tray and tool to go along with it.

Along with the awards for the advocates and the glass-blowing, there were also awards for the vendors who took part

in the Expo. Once again the crew from Advance Nutrients went home the happy winners with the Best Booth Award, partly because of their double-deck platform setup that doubled as a meeting place and a location where people could get a view from above. The company also holds a matching number contest that allows those attending the show a chance at winning a thousand dollars’ worth of food products. Marco announced that for their efforts, they would be getting a free booth for next year’s show.

Also happening this weekend was the TY Medicinal Cup, which is a contest of cannabis growers and seed companies vying for the best cannabis available. A select number of speciality picked judges join Marco at a location in order to judge the seed company categories. During this process, they test different company strains for things such as smell, appearance, burn ability, and medicinal benefits. They go through this testing in order to determine who has the best indica and sativa genetics available on the market today. The big winner over the weekend was Med Man Genetics (Pain Killer, Rockstar West, Coast Diesel) who took home three of the six cups available to the seed companies. Also winning on this day were Dinefem (Blue Widow), The CBD Crew, (Skunk Haze) and Paradise Seeds (White Berry). Meanwhile the VIP judges tested and evaluated strains that were supplied by private growers and from compassion clubs across Canada. Congratulations go out to both the Urban Grower (Chemo Kush and Blue Cheese) as well as to Imedicate (Chocolope, Kosher Kush) for being multiple winners in this contest.

A big congratulation goes out to all those who won, and a big thank you to all who competed in these contests.

Everyone knows how important this event has become to the cannabis community. It’s a location that allows educated and uneducated people to learn more about this plant, and it allows people to network and set plans in place for the next year. Because of this, and for many other reasons, a big thank you goes out to Marco and everyone who was involved in making this Expo a reality. This includes everyone from the vendors, the glass blowers, the volunteers, and the security staff who were hired to keep everything safe. But a special thank you has to go out to all the people who attend the show, because without them, the show would not continue.

As with any event, there were some hiccoughs, but for a young event, these are becoming fewer every year. This not only shows that things are getting better but the event on a whole is maturing and becoming more mainstream.

Every day that the Expo was held, it broke attendance records, as people want to learn something that those in authority have kept from them. Not only was attendance up, but it was also announced that over a dozen new vendors want into next year’s show. To me, this says that the event was nothing but a success.

See you next year, when we do it all again, from May 23 to 25, 2014.

Check out Al’s website <pace-online.ca>

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Issue Number 37

Cannabis Digest • Summer 2013

17

Trouble in Maritimes Halifax club struggles after police raid

By Debbie Stultz-Giffin We are endeavouring to feature one patient per province and territory this year as we share patients’ stories with the rest of the country. We will be focusing on patients who will live in fear of the repercussions of the looming MMPR, and how the loss of individual and designated medication producers will directly effect their health and daily lives.

Due to difficulties that parents encounter when seeking legal medical cannabis exemptions for their children, this year’s calendar will feature a few of the younger legal patients across the country. Last year’s calendar did feature one of Canada’s younger “legal” patients—Hayley Rose from B.C. Many patients struggle with the bureaucracy as they seek that pink slip from Health Canada, but parents attempting to validate their child’s need for medical cannabis often meet a stone wall in the doctor’s office. We hope that featuring a few younger patients may aid in decreasing the stigma that these patients and their families face, as we strive to educate others that cannabis can be effective medicine for all ages.

For fund-raising or advertising opportunities, (rates are reasonable) or for info on distribution and obtaining copies of the 2014 patient calendar for fund-raising or resale, email <chair@mumm.ca>.

Calendars should be available in Aug. MUMM is saddened to report that the Halifax Integrated Drug Unit has effectively driven medical cannabis patients in Nova Scotia to the ubiquitous black market, due to the raid they conducted on Mar. 13, 2013, in Porters Lake.

As outlined in an article in the last edition of Cannabis Digest, The Halifax Compassionate Club (THCC) was raided by the Halifax Regional Police Integrated Drug Unit. Police searched THCC and The Grow-Op Shop, (both located in the same building) plus the private residence of Chris Enns, (THCC’s Vice President) and FourTwenty Jes (also known as Jes James or Sherry Lee Reeve).

What the Halifax Integrated Drug Unit failed to acknowledge is that compassion clubs fill a void left by Health Canada in 2001, when they created the Medical Marijuana Access Regulations in response to R v. Parker. The MMAR have been deemed unconstitutional in many Canadian courts, as patients are virtually left to doctor-shop to find the necessary physician support. Not all patients are successful in.

In the meantime, many critically and chronically ill Canadian medical cannabis patients, Health Canada sanctioned or not, are seeking a safe medication supply that eliminates the dangerous black market and the accompanying criminal element. This is a vital community health and safety role filled by many Canadian compassion clubs.

Unfortunately, the effects of the above raid were illustrated in early May, when I received a call from THCC member and exemption holder Matthew Curtis. Curtis had just been robbed while attempting to purchase sub-grade cannabis on the black market. The alleged thief ran from Curtis’s vehicle with a substantial amount of cash and cannabis. Although charges have been laid and Curtis is determined to follow through on recourse,

he has no hopes of recovering his money until the charges wind their way through the courts, which could be this fall or later. In the meantime, this has left a patient in an undesirable position of both needing to take time off work to go to court, and being without the financial means to replace hundreds of dollars’ worth of medication. Curtis has gone public to the Maritime media with this catch-22 situation that the government and law enforcement has created for ill Nova Scotians due to the THCC raid.

In early June, Four-Twenty Jes reported on Facebook that she had been beaten by Integrated Drug Unit member Jamie Payne (the lead investigator from when the club was originally raided, who allegedly posed as a patient). Payne took Jes’s club phone, and both Jes James and Chris Enns were held in a cell at the Gottingen Halifax Regional Municipality police station for 24 hours. They were then transported to the Dartmouth courthouse, where they appeared before a judge for conditions and release. Both are scheduled to appear in court later this month.

At last report, THCC vapour lounge and club are open for support only, as medication dispensing services have once again been suspended.

East-Coasters have been busy fighting the MMPR. In Feb. a number of members in various constituencies joined the nationwide Fight The MMPR protests spearheaded by Ted Smith. Thanks to Ted for taking the lead with this initiative allowing patients to become proactive in articulating their concerns to their Members of Parliament about the upcoming MMPR. We will be joining in the next round of protests on Oct. 1.

MUMM also mounted a petition opposing the proposed MMPR announced on Dec. 15, 2012, in The Canada Gazette. We requested that the House of Commons mandate Health Canada to leave the current PPL and DPL provisions “as-is” in addition to the creation of licensed production facilities and patient-led co-ops.

The petition outlined that the proposed changes included the phasing-out of personal and designated production licenses for authorized patients, and that these licenses would be replaced by several large-scale licensed facilities that will provide all medication for licensed patients. MPs were reminded that most authorized license holders are disabled and live on a low, fixed income, and cannot afford $8.80 per gram as proposed by Health Canada. We noted that patients growing their own medicine, or having someone grow it for them (2 cents per gram outdoors to $2 per gram indoors), is the only affordable option allowing patients reasonable access to medical cannabis, since there is no provincial health program providing coverage.

Furthermore, Bill C-10 became law on Nov. 6, 2012. Provisions in C-10 demand mandatory minimum penalties for the cultivation of six or more cannabis plants. C-10 will ensure that patients, unable to afford the licensed production facility prices, will be forced to go without cannabis or violate the law to obtain their medicine, exposing them to potential criminal sanctions.

Megan Leslie, NDP MP for Halifax, presented MUMM’s petition on Mar. 25 in the House of Commons.

On Apr. 20, we joined many locations in Canada with an Erb4Herb 420 Rally and festival calling for an end to prohibition in Aylesford, NS. Aylesford is a relatively small community in the heart of the Annapolis Valley, and although the RCMP were a presence on the roads that day, (claiming to be checking for drivers impaired by cannabis) they did not interrupt our event, and in fact drove by and waved as our 420 session was underway.

MUMM held our 7th annual Global Marijuana March in Victoria Park, Halifax, complete with speakers, music, information tables, and a march that ended on the lawn of the Spring Garden Road courthouse. We converged with THCC (who marched along a different route) on the courthouse lawn for our 420 medication break amid honking horns, (thanks to the “Honk for Hemp” sign) cheers of support, and the steady gaze of HRM police, who scrutinized our every move from across the street.

The 18th annual Cannabis Day celebration is set for July 1 on the Dartmouth Commons. This year, we have DJ Wolf providing our tunes, and an open mic for musicians to share their time and talents with our attendees. We will have our usual round of speakers, canteen, raffles, giveaways from local shops, and more.

The PEI Medical Marijuana User group is holding a cannafest by the sea on July, 13 (rain date of the 20th) featuring speakers, demos, a bake-off, and a potluck supper. For more details, email <chair@mumm.ca>

MUMM is also making plans for our sixth annual Harvestfest, happening from Sept. 8 to 9 on private property in New Germany, NS. This year’s Harvestfest promises to be bigger and better than ever, and will include contests, demonstrations, camping, Saturday night’s supper, and tons of entertainment. Check out <www.mumm.ca> for evolving details.

The Maritime Medical Marijuana Show is looking for a co-host for its biweekly YouTube show. This volunteer must be someone close to Lower Sackville, NS, who can provide one to two hours per week to prepare for, produce, and process approximately an hour-long show dedicated to educating and sharing ideas on cannabis. Please check out the YouTube channel “KarmaMMMS” to view past episodes. Anyone interested should contact Chris Backer ASAP via Facebook or email <chris@mumm.ca> If you live in the area and are interested in appearing on the show as a guest, please get in touch with Chris. Note, though, that as with any volunteer position, the host reserves the right to screen all applicants for suitability.

As always, it is an honour to inform readers of Maritime Medical cannabis activities and events.

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18

Issue Number 37

Better Oil, Better Health Why hemp oil should be in every cupboard

By Diane Walsh Hemp oil: one of the intriguing “potions” that Mother Nature, with her bobbing head and knowing smirk, bestowed on us mere mortals long, long ago. From Earth, is this oil!

It’s oil from a smart plant indeed. Into our imperfect and sometimes ill-stricken body systems, it flows—absorbed by the multitudes, over the centuries. However, it’s not without its foes. There is a twist.

There always is.

From one variety of plant, the THCladen hemp oil. Hash oil, or weed oil as it’s called, has been viciously labelled the Devil’s harvest, and a menace to society.

From another variety of plant, with seemingly fewer enemies but not without undeserved sceptics, comes the hemp-agrifood oil. In seeking to understand the types and true merits of the hemp plant, don’t feel stupid if drawn in by the meme: the Angel’s Oil vs. the Devil’s Oil. I know I was.

The edible hemp oil, which we’ll focus on in more depth, needs a preamble for useful discussion.

When it comes to hemp oil, a line has been drawn in the butter, so to speak, separating the legal and illegal hemp plants.

That is to say, there are almost impenetrable laws governing how society is allowed to manipulate hemp for our own benefits.

Our understanding of its applications and effectiveness has been bifurcated into perceived “good” and “bad” hemp uses.

This, in my view, is misdirection.

Hemp is a whole plant, and should be seen as such, as that is the way it comes to

us in nature. Medically active ingredients exist in the plant’s botany; this is a given. It is how we choose to make use of its many uses that is at issue, constantly. There is nothing “wrong,” per se, with hemp. It doesn’t have a bad side. It is society that assigns the label.

Sativa and Indica. Have you met them?

When it comes to oil made from a suspect plant called hemp, there are two known and differently understood varieties: Sativa and Indica.

The meme runs on a parallel with this.

You’ve heard it—the healing food, and the demonic drug. The clandestine mafiacontrolled taboo plant, and the quasi-endorsed industrial agri-food variety. Pick your battle, because the framework of the dichotomy has already been decided.

Good versus evil. This is the construct with which we have been presented, and the framework under which the war on drugs and the war on the poor and the sick is fought.

An obstruction to understanding the way in which hemp gets misrepresented, is what governments encourage. Starting with the devil’s tool in splitting the legality of plant strains, this meme, in turn sponsored and cultivated by vested interests, prevents hemp from being understood, as a whole plant.

Meet “good” Sativa. There is today, on the open market, a commercial, industrial, legal type of hemp oil. Hemp oil is a food, of course, in its own right, sold at the natural grocery store, and touted for its nutritional value. You may have heard of creamy hempseed nut butter.

Hemp oil is produced by cold-pressing the oil from seeds, and is ingested as with

other oils. It can be sprinkled on salad, or added in vinaigrette.

Hemp in this legal category is, also, found in body care products, and hence we hear the term “trans-dermal application.”

Refined hempseed oil is used in cream products for the skin, and is clear in colour.

Hemp seeds have 25 percent quality protein and 40 percent fat in the form of oil. In the natural grocery store, you will likely find hemp oil in bottles kept under refrigeration.

Hemp oil is dark to light green, and has a nutty flavour. The general recommended serving is two tablespoons, converting to 9kcal/g. It is low in saturated fatty acids thus it can turn rancid, if left in the pantry for too long. It must be stored properly in a cool, dark place, preferably in a dark glass bottle, away from the sun or heat. And of course, it can be frozen for future use.

As a highly unsaturated oil, it has a relatively low smoke point, and is not suitable for frying. It will quickly spark and spit. It does not contain THC. (Foodstuff THC content in Canada is 10 ppm or parts per million.)

Hemp oil is desirable for nutritional benefit because of its high omega-3 content. It also delivers some GLA (gammalinolenic acid) that is absent from the fats we normally eat.

Hemp oil contains 57 percent linoleic (LA) and 19 percent linolenic (LNA) acids.

These are the essential fatty acids (EFAs).

They are so called because the body cannot produce them on its own, and so must get them from nutritional sources. The best sources are oils. Hemp oil is known to lower the risk of heart attacks because omega-3 fatty acids reduce the clotting tendency of the blood and improve cholesterol counts. It is for this reason this super-food is increasingly being recommended by health professionals. Omega-3 fatty acids and hemp oil have the added benefit of being anti-inflammatory agents. This makes them useful for those with autoimmune disorders. People

with conditions such as arthritis may also respond well to consuming hemp oil regularly.

On this point, here do not seem to be any qualms on the part of the government, assuming all regulations and permits are met.

Hemp Oil Canada Inc. (HOCI), which sells hemp oil successfully as an agri-food from St. Agathe, Manitoba, has been operating since 1999. Hemp agriculture became legal again in 1998.

The other one is the illegal Indica variety Botanically, THC-laden hemp oil is from the Indica varieties, and is seen by government as the Devil’s invention.

Indica is the clandestine incarnation of the hemp plant varieties. The International Medical Veritas Association (IMVA) perscribes hemp oil for cancer therapy, we’re told, but that’s not without controversy.

THC oil production is illegal, despite those who swear to the health benefits of vaporization, extraction, and inhaling cannabinoid essential oils or applying it to the skin.

Around 2000 people have access to the medical marijuana program—a license to possess hemp in Canada. Ordinary people can’t individually make use of resin as a medicine. Any information which supports a medical view of the therapeutic value of hemp oil is categorically denied, and even suppressed.

The claim is that there is a pain reduction benefit, and that understanding is fairly irrefutable now. Radiation treatment kills everything it’s used on, but doesn’t give you a chance to live comfortably.

Why doesn’t the system use THC to help alleviate pain or cure cancer? As a widely used substitute for chemical drugs, it threatens big pharma. The medical industry doesn’t want to hear it. It doesn’t want to cure cancer—it wants the cancer patients to buy pharmaceuticals. Samuel Epstein, in his book Cancer-Gate, argues the point succinctly. The greater the disease, the greater the profit. Cancer is a big business.

Cannabis Digest â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2013

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Issue Number 37

Updates From the States Legalization, Medical Cannabis, and the Drug War in the U.S.

By Phillip Smith Oregon Bills Easing Marijuana Penalties Become Law Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) Monday signed into law two measures that will reduce the punishments for certain marijuana-related offenses. The changes go into effect immediately.

The first, Senate Bill 40, lowers the penalties for possession of more than an ounce of pot. Under the old laws, possession of more than four ounces was a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Now, it becomes a Class B felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. Similarly, possession of between one and four ounces was a Class B felony; now, it becomes a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months.

SB 40 also reduces the penalties for marijuana cultivation. Unlawful manufacture was a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison; now, it becomes a Class B felony dropping the maximum sentence by half.

Possession of less than an ounce of pot is decriminalized in Oregon, but people cited for possession also faced a mandatory suspension of driving privileges unless there were “compelling circumstances” not do.

Senate Bill 82 eliminates that suspension.

It does not, however, lift the mandatory suspension of driving privileges for people caught with more than an ounce.

Oregon is likely to be one of the next states to attempt to legalize marijuana outright. An underfunded initiative there in 2012 got 47% of the vote, and efforts to get a new initiative (or initiatives) on the ballot for 2014 have already been announced.

Colorado Releases Temporary Marijuana Sales Rules The Colorado Department of Revenue Monday released temporary rules for the operation of legal marijuana commerce, providing more details on what the nascent industry will look like, but still leaving many complicated matters unresolved.

The department had only about a month to come up with the rules after Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) signed off on the legislature’s starting framework in late May. Officials hope to have complete rules in place before marijuana stores are supposed to open in January. The interim rules expire in October, and state officials have said they will engage in a more detailed rule-making process to spell out just what is and is not allowed.

While the temporary rules take up 64 pages, some of the highlights include requiring medical marijuana dispensaries to bar minors if they want to sell recreational marijuana, requiring child-proof packing for marijuana and marijuana-infused products (edibles), and requiring that marijuana be labeled with the license numbers of the producer and retailer, as well as an as yet undetermined “universal symbol, indicating that the container holds marijuana.”

The temporary rules note that more regulatory detail will be coming in areas such as advertising, health and safety protections, labeling, testing, and inventory control. They contain little detail on key aspects, particularly the “seed-to-sale” tracking system which has been the bedrock of the state’s efforts to prevent diversion.

“The State Licensing Authority intends to engage in additional rulemaking to establish additional inventory tracking system requirements,” the department said in the rules.

Vermont Decriminalizes Marijuana As of Mon. July 1, Vermont will be the 17th state to decriminalize marijuana possession. A bill passed earlier this year goes into effect then.

The measure, House Bill 200, was sponsored by Rep. Christopher Pearson (P-Burlington), with a tripartisan group of 38 cosponsors. It ends criminal penalties for the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana or five grams of hashish and replaces them with fines of $200 for a first offense, $300 for a second offense, and $500 for subse-

quent offenses. Possession of more than an ounce remains a criminal offense, as does cultivation of any number of plants.

People under 21 caught with decriminalized amounts of marijuana or hash will have to undergo substance abuse screening.

“This is a much-needed step forward toward a more sensible marijuana policy,” said Matt Simon, legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), which lobbied in support of the legislation. “Nobody should be subjected to life-altering criminal penalties simply for possessing a substance that is objectively less harmful than alcohol.”

The bill passed with the support of State Attorney General William Sorrell and Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn, both of whom testified in support of it. Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) signed it into law June 6.

The advent of decriminalization in Vermont leaves New Hampshire as the only New England that has failed to do so. In the region, marijuana possession is decriminalized in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island.

Now that the state has embraced decriminalization, it’s on to the next phase, said MPP’s Simon.

“There is still work to be done and support is growing for more comprehensive marijuana policy reform,” he said. “Until marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol, sales will remain uncontrolled and profits will benefit illegal actors instead of legitimate, taxpaying businesses. Marijuana prohibition is a failed policy, and it is time for Vermont to explore the possibility of adopting a new approach,” Simon said.

One Dead After Charlotte Police Stage Drug Sting on Elementary School Grounds An undercover drug sting in the parking lot of a Charlotte, North Carolina, elementary school ended up with one person killed and one person wounded, and a community wondering why police chose that particular

location for their operation. Jaquaz Walker, 17, becomes the 17th person to die in US domestic drug law enforcement operations so far this year.

According to reports from WSOC-TV and WBTV 3, police set up a marijuana buy between an undercover police officer, an informant, and two teenagers last Tuesday afternoon. Police said that during the drug deal, Walker pulled a gun and shot the informant in the shoulder in an attempt to rob him.

The undercover police officer then shot Walker in the head, killing him. The teen who accompanied Walker fled, but was arrested later.

“You know, you have 15, 16 year old kids out here wielding firearms, that’s a very dangerous situation,” said CharlotteMecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe, who also defended the decision to do the deal in an elementary school parking lot. “Anytime you conduct an undercover operation, what’s a good location? Whether it’s a shopping mall or neighborhood, there is no real perfect location.”

Monroe also said that school was out and that the site was chosen by Walker and his companion. “This was a location identified by individuals that we were seeking to purchase drugs from,” he said. “We were aware that the school was empty of kids.”

But residents of the neighborhood where the shooting took place were not mollified.

“It bothers me that I live right across from the school, and it is bad that it was on school grounds,” said neighbor Wilmer Bourne. “That’s what bothers me so much.”

“It’s been quiet in this neighborhood, ain’t nothing happened over here, everything been good, it’s always somebody come in the neighborhood and do this, it ain’t nobody in our neighborhood,” said resident Johnny Crank.

This article was originally published on <www.stopthedrugwar.org> and reprinted using the Creative Commons Attribution License

Cannabis Digest â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2013

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Issue Number 37

22

HEMPOLOGY 101 CROSSWORD

By Dieter MacPherson & Owen Smith

“Authors and Books”

Check out Georgia’s website to see some of her other comics, read her blog, and help her spread the good word by picking up a copy of her book of the Happy Hippie comics.

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Cannabis Digest • Summer 2013

CANNABIS CLUBS ACROSS CANADA AND THE U.S.A

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Cannabis dispensaries in Canada, due to a lack of regulation, all operate under unique and individual mandates. As such, the membership requirements of each dispensary differ. We recommend travelling with a copy of your original proof of condition (doctor’s note) which the CBC of C staff will be happy to provide. It is also recommended to research the dispensaries in the region you will be visiting and try to establish contact, if possible, before your visit. Please be discreet and polite when contacting another dispensary; you are representing the CBC of C too!

Keep in mind: Some dispensaries have problems with supply and accessibility. The CBC of C cannot guarantee that another dispensary will have supply or accept your card as proof of condition. Please help grow this network and support your local clubs by encouraging quality gardeners to direct their product to local dispensaries, or by growing yourself.

NELSON COMPASSION CLUB TORONTO COMPASSION CENTRE British Columbia #203-602 Josephine St. Nelsom, BC Tel: 416-668-6337 Fax: 416-461-7116 Tel: 250-354-4206 Email: postmaster@torontocompassioncentre.org VICTORIA BUYERS’ CLUB OF CANADA (CBCC) Email: nelsoncompassion@yahoo.ca www.torontocompassioncentre.org 826 Johnson St., Victoria Tel: 250-381-4220 Email: hempo101@gmail.com BE KIND OKANAGAN GROWERS AND MEDCANNACCESS www.cbc-canada.ca COMPASSION CLUB. Tel: 416-253-1021 Fax: 416-253-1428 288 Hwy. #33 West Rutland, BC (Kelowna) Email: info@medcannaccess.org NORTH ISLAND COMPASSION CLUB Tel: 778-753-5959 Fax: 778-753-5755 www.medcannaccess.org Tel:250-871-5207 Vernon Location: Email: bekindok@hotmail.com RAINBOW MEDICAL CANNABIS CANADA VANCOUVER ISLAND COMPASSION SOCIETY www.okanagancompassionclub.com Toronto, Ontario 853 Cormorant St., Victoria Tel: 416-927-8639 Tel:250-381-8427 Fax: 250-381-8423 LIFELINE MEDICINAL CANNABIS DISPENSARY www.rainbowmedicinalcannabis.ca Grand Forks, B.C. BC COMPASSION CLUB SOCIETY Email: intake@life-line.ca MEDICAL COMPASSION CLINIC 2995 Commercial Drive, Vancouver Fax: 1-866-542-6427 66 Wellesley St E 2nd Fl, Toronto Ontario Tel:604-875-0448 Fax: 604-875-6083 www.life-line.ca Tel: 647-291-0420 Email: info@thecompassionclub.org www.medicalcompassionclinic.com website: www.thecompassionclub.org WESTCOAST MEDICANN 2931 Cambie St., Vancouver, BC. MEDICAL CANNABIS CLUB OF GUELPH GREEN CROSS SOCIETY OF B.C. Tel: 604-558-2266 Tel: 519-341-0700 Fax:226-777-0150 2127 Kingsway, Vancouver www.westcoastmedicann.com Email: info@medicalcannabisclub.ca Tel: 778-785-0370 Fax:778-785-0477 Website: www.medicalcannabisclub.ca www.greencrossofbc.org PAIN MANAGEMNT SOCIETY 2137 Commercial Drive. Vancouver KINGSTON COMPASSION CLUB SOCIETY VANCOUVER MEDICINAL CANNABIS DISPENSARY Tel: 604-215-4551 Fax: 1-888-684-6906 #409 800 Princess St Kingston Ontario K7L 1G3 880 East Hastings St. www.painmanagementsociety.org Tel: 613-547-2459 Fax: 613-280-1341 Tel: 604-255-1844 Fax: 604-255-1845 Website: www.kingstoncompassion.org West End location: 1182 Thurlow St. EDEN MEDICINAL SOCIETY Email: c.dispensary@gmail.com 161 E. PENDER, Vancouver Québec www.cannabisdispensary.ca Tel: 604-568-9337 637 E. HASTINGS, Vancouver MONTREAL COMPASSION CLUB YALETOWN MEDICAL DISPENSARY Tel: 604-568-9337 Tel: 514-523-9961 Fax: 514-523-0637 1281 Howe St., Vancouver www.myeden.ca Email: centrecompassion@gmail.com TEL: (604) 566-9051 FAX: (604) 558-2879 www.clubcompassion.net www.yaletownmedicaldispensary.com KARUNA MEDICINALS 4510 Victoria Dr., Vancouver Tel: 778-588-1888 www.karunamedicinals.com THE HEALING TREE 529 East Hastings St., Vancouver Tel: 604-569-1091 http://delta9medical.ca/ T.A.G.G.S 11696 - 224th St., Maple Ridge, BC v2x 6a2 Tel: 604-477-0557 Fax:604-477-0575 Email: taggs420@live.com

Alberta

M.A.C.R.O.S. 4121-118 Avenue NW, Edmonton, Alberta Tel: 780-457-6824 Website: www.macros.ca

Ontario C.A.L.M. Toronto, Ontario Tel: 416-367-3459 Fax: 416-367-4679 Email: info@cannabisclub.ca Website: www.cannabisclub.ca

LE CENTRE COMPASSION DE QUEBEC Tel: 418-522-8766 Fax: 418-522-0289 Email: centrecompassion@gmail.com www.compassionquebec.org

Maritimes THCC—FARM ASSISTS Tel: (902) 495-0420 http://thccsociety.wix.com/home **To add your club to this list, please contact: <editor@hempology.ca>

WARNING

E BRITANNIQUE - CANADA DUTY PAI

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