Cannabis Digest Summer 2014

FREE Issue #41

SUMMER 2014

s ’ c r a M

(almost)

!

E E R F

Post MMPR P. 3

Emery Returns!

P.13

Trudeau Debate P. 9

Issue Number 41

www.CannabisDigest.ca

Cannabis Digest • Summer 2014

ISSUE # 41 SUMMER 2014

CREDITS Publisher

Ted Smith <hempo101@gmail.com>

CONTENTS

Editor-in-Chief

Judith Stamps <editor@hempology.ca>

Graphics Editor

Post MMPR Scenario...............................P.03

Web Editor

Andrew Brown says ‘Farewell’...............P.04

Distribution/Ads

Publishers Note/Editorial........................P.05

Owen Smith <rainbowensmyth@gmail.com> Dieter MacPherson <dietermacpherson@gmail.com>

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

Contributors

Gayle Quin Owen Smith Judith Stamps Dr. David Allen Ras Kahleb Debbie Stultz-Giffin Russell Barth Cam Birge Dieter Macpherson Nichols Fraleigh Ted Smith Blaker Hunter

Cover by Gary Wintle For editorial questions, letters, or information on submitting: <editor@hempology.ca>

Updates, Warnings, Suggestions..........P.06 Plant the ‘Good Seed Hemp’...................P.07 ProCon: The Great Trudeau Debate.......P.09 Controlling the Brain...............................P.11 Marc Emery Returns to Canada.......CENTER Mexico’s Drug War Roots.......................P.15 Shifting views in Latin America.............P.17 Rastafarians Rejoice...............................P.19 Cannabis Interactions.............................P.20 Kid Cannabis gets No Credit..................P.22 Cannabis and Diabetes...........................P.23 Wordsearch / Comics..............................P.25

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.

Issue Number 41

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The Post MMPR Scenario

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A patient’s perspective on the new regulations

By Debbie Stultz-Giffin

H

ealth Canada’s Medical Marijuana Program Regulations (MMPR) came into force on April 1, 2014. The impact of the MMPR is being felt across the country by patients, doctors and compassion clubs. Meanwhile, note worthy things are happening on the Licensed Producer (LP) front.

During the hearing for the Injunction on behalf of Allard et al., the Crown stated something to the effect that, if the court were to grant an injunction, it would result in utter pandemonium.

Truer words were never spoken! The MMPR was kick started with somewhat of a fizzle as opposed to a bang, when Justice Manson levied an Injunction against Health Canada stopping it from pulling some, but not all, personal and designated patient gardens. Currently every new patient seeking legal protection to possess medical cannabis must turn to an LP to obtain legal medication. The only patients still allowed to continue producing are those who hold a permit to produce cannabis, valid as of September 30, 2013 and who also still have a valid possession license as of March 21, 2014, plus patients who have designated grower permits, holding valid production licenses (as defined above).

Many patients have pink slips that expired after September 30, 2013.

They still have their physician’s support, but Health Canada would not accept renewals after this date. To renew now means to purchase cannabis from Health Canada, as production licenses are no longer being issued to individuals. Catch 22! Countless patients who, for reasons primarily based on affordability, quality and appropriate strain selection, opted to grow their own, or have a caregiver grow for them, are now being denied legal protection. These

patients were hoping that the Justice Manson’s Injunction would reach much further, to include them.

Hopefully John Conroy’s cross-appeal, slated for September 2014, will remedy that situation and others, including the issue of address changes and possession limits. Patients like Tamara Cartwright from Coronation, Alberta, whose valid permit dates allow her to continue to grow her ten gram a day requirement, are still left out in the cold due to an address change. This 43 year-old mother of four suffers from colitis, and cannot continue to grow her medication legally. Nor can she afford to purchase it. “I would have to send my valid pink slip to an LP but I cannot afford their prices. I cannot afford compassion club prices and I cannot afford street prices!” Her permissible storage limit is exhausted too. Yet her recent move has made it unfeasible for her to grow her own medicine. Should she continue, Cartwright could risk imprisonment and/or the loss of her four-year old son. These are but a few of the stark realities that critically and chronically ill patients are facing.

Many compassion clubs that previously provided services to patients have changed their membership policies, going as far as welcoming only patients who either hold a valid license under the Medical Marijuana Access Regulations, or currently have access to cannabis via the MMPR. One previous club manager/owner, Philippe Lucas, has ventured into the fray to secure a permit to become a LP in Nanaimo, BC. The strains offered by his company, Tilray, are at least recognizable and familiar, with Catatonic and Pink Kush in the midst. Their buds are manicured by hand and are pesticide free.

Most of the other LP’s have strains that even a cannabis connoisseur would not recognize, with prices soaring upward of $15 a gram. MediJean, who has

yet to receive permission to produce for patients, boasts that a percentage of its proceeds would be donated to help finance the prohibitionist D.A.R.E. Program. Tweed and Mettrium, two other LPs, made national news when, on the same day and in the same Kelowna airport, their shipments of cannabis were seized. These had been transferred from individuals who had been designated to grow for patients, or from patients themselves. Supposedly both companies had notified the RCMP of these transactions, but both shipments were confiscated. Further news of these incidents has since slipped under the radar.

Supply is an on-going issue with many of the LPs. There are only thirteen officially approved corporate suppliers. Many companies are hitting snags with production issues. Some are offering products that most patients would consider second rate. At a quick peruse the buds are loose, scant and look insignificant.

In addition, Health Canada issued a recall of medical marijuana twice in a one month. On the second occasion, according to Health Canada, Peace Naturals conducted a voluntary recall due to “positive bacterial testing outside of acceptable limits.” Neither the company, nor Health Canada, received reports of adverse health effects associated with use of this product, but their fifty-five customers were advised to destroy, or return, the cannabis in question.

This brings us to the doctors. The Canadian Medical Association has been railing against this new program ever since the MMPR was a gleam in Health Canada’s eye. This is because the MMPR has made doctors the direct gatekeepers in the program. Physicians still demand studies, and many seem to prefer to remain willfully blind on the topic of cannabis as medicine.

To add to this stress, Health Canada announced on June 13, 2014 that there would be a one-month period during which they would accept comments on their most recently proposed rule. They want LPs to report to various provincial regulatory agencies on the names of their clients, the names of the prescribing doctors, and the quantities that have been prescribed. Quebec patient advocate, Adam Greenblatt, summed it up best in an interview with QMI Agency. “It’s redundant,” he said, “because in Saskatchewan, Alberta, in Quebec there are already provisions at the provincial level that force the doctors to report that information.” Further, “the effect on the patient is not good because this scares more physicians out of wanting to prescribe.”

Greenblatt suggests in this same Toronto Star article that privatized clinics specializing in medicinal cannabis will be the wave of the future. Having heard of such clinics popping up in Alberta and Ontario, and of similar clinics coming soon in Nova Scotia, and having considered the duress under which the current program places doctors, I am inclined to agree.

Health Canada has created the backdrop for this very sort of enterprise, which would allow leery physicians to wipe their hands of this whole fiasco.

Patients will then be forced to pay often-inflated prices for an office call to provide them with a legal means to obtain their medicine. They will have to pay for expensive physicians and expensive medication, forcing them yet again to choose between their liberty and their health. Hardly a constitutional program!

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Cannabis Digest • Summer 2014

Andrew Brown says “Farewell” a parting note from our past editor

By Andrew Brown

I

t has been a wild journey, and I have had the opportunity to meet some amazing people, but alas, it is time for me to head on to the next phase in my life. This project has been a memorable growing experience for me, and I am confident that the newspaper has been left in good hands, and now can become even greater with more people involved.

When I first met Ted, I was in university running the student newspaper, and I interviewed him down at the club for an article I was writing. Three quarters of the way through the interview I noticed that my voice recorder had stopped at some point, and didn’t have a great deal of the content recorded. I remember staring blankly at the recorder trying to figure out what to do, but for some reason couldn’t come up with anything. I carried on taking notes manually with hopes that I could find some gems in what was recorded. Well, as I’m sure you can imagine, Ted is a very gracious host, but I should have “sat down for tea” after the

interview. There was so much rambling—from both of us— that swayed off and on topic, that I couldn’t use much. To be honest, I can’t remember what the article was about, but it did get published, and it couldn’t have been that bad, as Ted then asked me to work on the Digest.

For a while I came in to Victoria to work on the paper, and was privileged to meet many fine members of the club, along with the great folks who worked there. A lot happened during that time—the raiding of the bakery and the subsequent trial, and one of the finest women I have ever met getting sick. Gayle, a gem in our rocky world, has taught me so much, and I consider myself so lucky to know her. I will never forget the time, after her medical procedure, when I headed over to their apartment only to walk in on Gayle, fully naked, walking through the hall. I turned several shades of red and quickly turned away, and she was laughing so hard with her joyous cackle.

My experiences connecting with this group have impacted me for the rest of my life. I grew, matured, experienced, and got

one of the finest educations on life one could ever have. Thanks to everyone for the trip, but I have to get off at this stop.

*Addition: a Special thanks to our previous editor Andrew Brown from all the crew at the Cannabis Digest.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS 1. Silence—You can refuse to talk to the police or answer their questions.

You must give your name, birthdate, and address, or show them your ID. You DO NOT have to say anything else.

2. You can say NO if police ask to search any of your things.

3. You can leave unless you are being arrested or detained 4. You have the right to know why you are being detained, and to speak privately to a lawyer—even if you can’t pay.

5. You can only be strip-searched in private, and only by someone of the same sex.

6. You have the right to know the officers’ badge numbers.

7. You can report an officer who abuses me, swears at me, or violates your rights Example of what to say if you are being detained: “Officer, if I am under arrest or being detained, please tell me so...If I am free to go, please tell me so. If I am not free to go, please tell me why...I wish to exercise all my leagal rights, including my right to silence and my right to speak to a lawyer, before I say anything to you. I do not consent to be searched. I wish to be released without delay...Please do not ask me questions, because I will not willingly talk to you until I speak to a lawyer...Thank you for respecting my rights.” *Every situation is different. Use courtesy, and common sense.

Legal Aid BC: 1-866-577-2525 Check out Pivot Legal Society for more info < www.pivotlegal.org>

Issue Number 41

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PUBLISHERS NOTE: Daily blogs hit high note This paper serves a great purpose: it gets information to casual users who are somewhat interested in the subject, as each issue is a collection of perspectives, stories and facts that provide a clear picture of the cannabis scene.

Readers do not have to filter through countless websites to get the information they need, as that information is provided as one complete package with each issue. Specialized print media plays an important role in providing businesses, event promoters and service providers an opportunity to inform their special clientele about what is available.

Ted Smith

L

ife is about evolving, growing, adapting and advancing forward.

Since its birth, the Cannabis Digest has tried constantly to improve its appearance, distribution, content, format and scope. With many hands to shape it, our publication has grown from a folded photocopy to the largest cannabis newspaper in the country, and we are leaping into the next phase.

New daily blogs by members of the Cannabis Digest team started on June 1, launching a new direction for our growing media network. By providing daily articles by busy cannabis activists, we will give readers much more information about the history, activities and future of the cannabis industry. This blog complements our printed paper journal, building upon our reputation as a key source of relevant, accurate information.

Most people are turning to the internet for their daily news, With everything you need to know a click of a button away, the internet has become a modern democratic super-library, where virtually everyone has a chance to create a web page or join other social media to actually engage with the people behind the stories. Newspapers have very little interaction with the reader, although our front page colouring contest is definitely an attempt to bridge that gap.

But still, a physically printed newspaper has advantages, especially for those who are very passionate about the herb.

Our team of blog writers builds off the newspaper crew with some important additions. We have 6 weekly contributors ready to pump out volumes of material, and I am going to hustle up one more guest blogger every week to allow for input from other sources.

With such a solid foundation built

around the newspaper, it will be easy to find activists willing to promote their work or express their opinion.

Our key blogger, in my opinion, is Dr. David Allen. His life has been seriously harmed by the drug war, giving his passionate efforts to educate others about cannabis a sense of urgency that is rare. With a keen awareness of the complicated interactions between cannabis and the human body, Dr Allen skillfully manages to explain difficult theories in language easy to understand.

The new kid on the block, never before seen in print, is Dieter MacPherson, who plays an extra role as the web site manager. However, he is far from new to this industry, and in his role of executive director and president of the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club, Dieter is in an excellent position to report upon current trends in dispensaries, federal regulations and general market forces. He will be able to give valuable insights into the developing medical cannabis systems in Canada, contrasting the dispensaries against the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations.

The new editor of the Cannabis Digest, Judith Stamps, will also be a weekly contributor. Though relatively fresh to this movement, she has been very interested in the role of government for a long time, having spent 10 years as a political science professor at the University of Victoria. Last fall Judith and her husband Bill worked relentlessly on the Sensible BC campaign, running the Victoria office al-

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most every morning.

Owen Smith, a long-standing Cannabis Digest contributor, is now also the person in charge of its layout in the newspaper, and a blogger. Since getting arrested for making cookies for the members of the VCBC, Owen has become a valuable asset in the struggle to inform the public about the benefits of eating and topically applying cannabis. A lower court judge has since then struck down as unconstitutional, the federal regulations that did not allow patients to make derivatives of cannabis. That decision has been appealed, and a final decision by the BC Court of Appeal is expected any day now.

Another long time contributor to the newspaper, Georgia Toons, is bringing her activism up a notch by including a weekly blog with a cartoon.

Known around the world for her funny, thoughtful and creative cannabis cartoons, she adds a wonderful personal touch to everything she does. Despite her health struggles and many commitments, Georgia is determined to help keep the Cannabis Digest readers inspired and informed.

Finally, I will get to blog away, sharing my unique history as an activist, and my thoughts on current affairs.

Since I fancy myself a writer, these blogs will sustain my need for constant gratification. With no limits of space, I can rant endlessly about why cannabis is the most important plant on this earth and, bring attention to this plant by telling countless stories of my various activist exploits.

EDITORS NOTE: Natterings From a New Editor nabis-related topics entirely new to me, and met an astonishing variety of supporters. I met an interesting range of opponents too, some charmingly perverse and others just snarly.

Judith Stamps

T

he other day at a birthday party, I found myself describing the Cannabis Digest to friends who had never heard of it. There are a lot of those in my life, as I am a newcomer to the world of cannabis activism. I am not a complete newcomer, however. I came of age in the 60s in the wilds of Canada’s West Coast, Kitsilano to be exact. I have long been a fan. So really, this is a world to which I have recently returned.

My first return stop was the Sensible BC campaign. As many readers will know, this campaign was Dana Larsen and Co.’s attempt to make use of British Columbia’s Recall and Initiative Act to decriminalize marijuana in BC, and to work toward legalization.

As it turned out, there could have been no better re-introduction.

Over a mad ninety days, a group of us committed to memory the boundaries demarcating Vancouver Island’s electoral districts, met the media and got to chat with folks on the street. I encountered can-

In the process, I met Ted Smith.

At his request, I wrote an article for the Cannabis Digest on the Sensible BC campaign, and soon found myself in the CD’s Grand Circle.

Ted, for those new to this journal, is the walking galaxy of activism that encompasses the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club, Hempology 101’s many activities, and the Cannabis Digest. If Sensible BC was a great place from which to set out, the Digest has turned out to be one of the better places to land. It is unique. It is Canadian. Its cover design gives readers something to colour, and the ads tell them where to get cool stuff. In between, it addresses all things cannabis: history, recent events, legal issues, pot politics, medicine, and industrial hemp, written by correspondents from the U.S., from across Canada, and from Jamaica. For me, it is an ongoing opportunity to meet the warriors in North America’s ninety-year war on drugs.

As new editor, I should begin with an attempt at enticing you, the reader. Allow me, thus, to list the virtues of a real paper journal.

Whilst reading the CD, you will be free from scintillating ads, computer bleeps, and the dithering array of related websites, many of which are depressingly unreliable. You

will have silence, a rare element in contemporary living. Silence will provide you with a fine, cerebral space in which to think. In this space, you will never meet the woman who is a hundred years old, but looks twenty. You can abandon, for a time, the singles in your area that wish to meet you. When reading an historical piece on opium, you can escape the oriental singles that wish to meet you. You can focus instead on the issues. If inspired, you can write a letter either to the publisher (that would be Ted) or to me. You can also store past issues, and return to them when you want to look up details on a court case, even when you are not sure exactly what it is called. And then there’s the cross-

word and the colouring contest.

This may be flattened pulp, but it works.

There can be no better time than the present to read up on the issues.

We are in the midst of a cannabis revolution so profound that the map of the world, as regards prohibition, is changing at the pace of the weather reports. Join us in our quest, and pass the paper around. I look forward to meeting many of you in the future, and will enjoy helping to maintain the standard of work for which the Digest is already known.

Editor@Hempology.ca

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Cannabis Digest • Summer 2014

Updates, Warnings, and Suggestions online on a new Youtube page, created just for this game.

Ted has launched a daily blog to keep the Cannabis Digest more current. We have several regular scheduled bloggers with a surprise guest writer adding in an extra blog once a week. Things are happening too fast to keep up-to-date any other way.

Speaking of the Cannabis DIgest, did you noticed we increased in size again?

I thank all the loyal supporters for reading, writing and advertising. It is certainly grooving into something magical.

From tiny seeds, tall trees grow.

Gayle Quin

W

hat a beautiful spring we have had. Thanks, Mother Nature, for making up for a horrible winter. My heart was full of empathy for all of you living in the East. I hope your summer shines bright on your gardens and on your lives.

I have greatly missed seeing all of the new friends Ted and I made on our East Coast tour two years ago. Many thanks to those who have stayed in touch. I appreciate all of your continued hard work.

Wishing everyone had a merry Cannabis Day, too. Hopefully all went well hot-boxing at the Courthouse and playing REACH FOR THE POT in Victoria. Lets all be good Canadians next year and vote Harper out in the next election, eh?

The VCBC has been hosting a games night on the last Thursday of each month at 7:30 pm. It is definitely drop in, turn on and get ready to laugh a lot with good friends. There is a wide variety of games available, and more have been donated, so it is different every month.

“I am finally feeling like I am winning with my health but time will tell. Thanks for all of the love, care and concern I receive every day.”

It was great to see everyone at my birthday party at the club. Thanks very much for the wonderful evening. The food was fantastic and Jai’s Black Forest cannabis cake was absolutely unforgettable. A thing of veritable beauty, and medicinally mind melting. Yummm!

While people were passing out and going home, I was just getting ready to dance. Boy I can eat a lot of pot and still function.

April 20 seems to be gaining momentum around the globe. We had another great day here in Victoria, as did most cities across North America.

The Hempology 101 gang is forging ahead with REACH FOR THE POT, this year without Ted. They are planning a tournament as usual. I hope everyone is having as much fun as Ted and I did. Shows are still being posted

Otherwise the summer is going to be fairly quiet, with all of our travel plans put on hold for now. I am finally feeling like I am winning with my health but time will tell. Thanks for all of the love, care and concern I receive every day.

September, though, September will be another story. Hempology 101 will be celebrating its 19th anniversary with its regular march from City Hall to the Legislature on Wednesday Sept 3, starting at 7 pm.

September also sees the beginning of school, and therefore the resuming of the 420s at the University of Victoria on Wednesdays, as posted on facebook at UBC. Ted will not be doing the lecture series this year, but he is making a series of videos about HEMPOLOGY 101:THE HISTORY AND USES OF

CANNABIS SATIVA. You can watch it online on the Hempology 101 Youtube channel.

On Tuesday October 7, the International Hempology 101 Society will be holding its Annual General Meeting at 826 Johnson St, starting at 7:30.

If you are interested in helping us you can come to a monthly meeting of the board of directors, which is usually the first Tuesday night of each month.

Minutes are posted in the Hempology 101 section of the Cannabis Digest online forums.

Do not forget, the VCBC`s AGM in November. Nominations will start

being accepted in August. The exact time and place of the AGM will be announced later on the VCBC webpage and in the next issue of the paper.

I hope your gardens bloom bright and dank. Thank Mother Nature and the Universe for the wonders we behold every day, and know I love you.

Issue Number 41

www.CannabisDigest.ca

Get the Good Seed Growing Good seed hemp company promotes organics and fair trade

By Blake hunter

T

he Good Seed Hemp Company is based in Victoria BC, with roots in Saskatchewan, and has been at the forefront of growing, selling and educating people about hemp since 2006. The story of the Good Seed Hemp Company is a story of the Hunter Family, a Metis family from the countryside near Batoche, Saskatchewan. The 300-acre family farm was purchased in 1978 by Lyall and Bev Hunter, and was where they raised their three children, Alita, Blake and Shane.

Over the years, the farm was host to an array of animals including cattle, pigs, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, ducks and goats. Additionally, the farm produced grains and hay. In 2000, the family temporarily moved off the farm to begin a business in California called Excel Solar Electric. The solar industry introduced the family to a number of successful business people in the world of organic wineries, farms and education centers. Through relations with these clients, the family soon began to see potential in the world of organic farming and direct marketing.

In 2005, hemp seed was introduced to the family, as it was becoming available in cutting edge health food stores.

Curiously enough, all the hemp seed products were grown in their homeland of Canada. Upon further investigation, it was apparent that industrial hemp was indeed becoming a part of the agricultural landscape in places like Saskatchewan. It was at this time that Blake and Shane Hunter, aged 25 and 22 at the time, returned to the family

•

Field size of no less than 10 acres

•

Current Criminal Record Check

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No seed to be sold without first rendering it non-viable

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No saving seed for planting next year’s crop; strictly prohibited

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Purchasing seed from Approved Seed Companies/Organizations every year

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Allowing Canadian Food Inspection Agents or third-party agents onto hemp fields to take samples for testing of THC content

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No harvesting of leaf, bud, bract; only harvesting of seed and stalk.

farm near Batoche, Saskatchewan to try their hand at growing industrial hemp.

The first step was to obtain government permits from Health Canada for a licence to cultivate, store and process industrial hemp seed. Although at first the idea of an official permit sounded daunting, it turned out that the paperwork was fairly straight forward, and the officials at the Industrial Hemp

Once they received a permit, the young Hunter men purchased a strain of seed from TerraMax Seed Company called Finola. This variety is very short (4 – 5 feet tall), and among the top yielding varieties (1000 – 2000 lbs per acre), but with the smallest seed size. The 2006 crop was planted in late May, using a 1972 John Deere 4020 and a 1948 Versatile seed drill. Very used equipment, to say the least!

Section of Health Canada were very helpful people. Permits are given for a 12 month period, and applicants are required to give GPS co-ordinates for their proposed fields, a description of what they intend to do with the seed in terms of storage and processing, and a promise to abide by a set of rules and regulations laid out by Health Canada.

These are some of the main requirements:

Within a week, the first hemp sprouts were up, but so was a blanket of volunteer wheat and canola. Within a few more weeks it was obvious that the hemp was going to have to compete with these other plants, as weeding 10 acres by hand was out of the question.

As the summer progressed, the hemp stayed a foot above the other crops, and all came to maturity by early September.

With a super tight budget, the Hunter men had to figure out where to find a seed-harvesting machine, often referred to as a ‘combine’. Fortunately, their Grandparents, John and Lois Hunter, had two old combines, both John Deere 97s, a model of harvester from the early 70s that could be pulled by a tractor.

With four weeks to go before harvest, Blake and Shane headed into the forest where the John Deere 97s had been parked for two decades. One machine had a poplar tree the width of a fencepost growing through the middle of it, and neither machine was even close to field-ready. However, with daily work and lots of WD-40, the two machines

were combined to make one functioning unit; it hit the field ready to go with a few days to spare. That year saw the largest yield per acre that the Good Seed farm has ever had, to this day!

That first year also yielded some excellent discoveries in the world of modern hemp agriculture. The first lesson came in the form of the Bertha Army Worm, one of the only “pests” that have the potential to damage hemp. However, the moving army or green worms prefer to eat canola before they move on to hemp. As a result, the field’s volunteer canola crop was decimated, but by that time the hemp had matured past the stage where it was vulnerable. Another exciting lesson was learned in the hemp field that bordered the vegetable garden. Here, Blake decided to give a few of the plants “garden-treatment” rather than “field treatment.” These plants were spaced 2 feet apart, given water and weeded. Some were companion planted with beans. Through this experiment he discovered that, tended in this way, a single mature female plant had the potential to yield 1 – 2 pounds of raw hemp seed.

Over the years, The Good Seed farm has maintained small acreage production, all with out-dated equipment. As value-added products are an important foundation and a key to a farm’s success, it has also moved into the world of buying raw hemp seed from other farmers. Good Seed Hemp has also kept true to the idea of ethical trade and to bringing food directly from the farmer to the consumer. To achieve these goals, Good Seed purchases seed through two channels. The first is the Farmer Direct Co-op in Regina, SK. This farmer-owned Co-op is the first organization in North America to be certified Domestic Fair Trade, ensuring fair prices for small-scale farmers. The second channel is Good Seed’s direct relationship with an independent family farm called Marshall Farms from Holbein Saskatchewan. Good Seed pays Marshall Farms the exact prices set by Farmer Direct. Marshall Farms is one of the farms leading the way in large-scale regenerative farming techniques. It uses hemp as a foundational crop that returns large amounts of biomass to the topsoil each year, while also producing above average yields of protein-rich seeds. In sum, Good Seed has always stood for working with farmers to encourage hemp agriculture in North America, coupled with the vision of hemp foods becoming a staple in every North American’s pantry.

When you purchase Good Seed Hemp products, you are supporting organic agriculture and ethical trade for Canadian family farmers, while getting the highest quality, great tasting nourishment for your body. With your support, Good Seed aims to expand its farm operations to include a yearly Hemp Festival, with the goal of continuing to educate people about this wonderful crop.

For more information, check out www.goodseedhemp.com

Cannabis Digest • Summer 2014

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Issue Number 41

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9

The Great Trudeau Debate : For Trudeau Liberals getting prepared to legalize Marijuana

Cam Birge You can take it to the bank.

J

ustin Trudeau and the federal Liberal Party can be trusted to introduce legislation to legalize marijuana in Canada should they form a majority government following the federal election expected to be held in October of 2015.

History teaches us not to take a politician at his or her word. In 1972 the Le Dain Commission recommended ending cannabis prohibition in Canada, but Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau chose not to enact any of the recommended changes. In late 2002 Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien included plans to decriminalize marijuana as part of his legacy prior to retirement in 2004. Again, the government of the day ultimately chose not to push for change.

What is different this time?

The United States.

Marijuana was placed in Schedule 1c as a hallucinogenic substance in the Controlled Substances Act of the United States in October of 1970 by the U.S. Congress. Enforcement was assigned to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). In July of 1971 U.S. President Richard Nixon declared the “War on Drugs” and signed it into law in January of 1972.

As my late grandmother used to say, “You can’t fart against thunder”. Any

neighbours. Chretien and his government wisely decided to not introduce legislation in Parliament given the threats to the Canadian economy by the U.S.

Liberal Party. Trudeau stated that regulation (as with alcohol and tobacco), not prohibition, will protect our kids from the negative effects of marijuana on the developing brain.

Drug dealers don’t ask for ID when However, in 2013 President Obama they sell to kids. He added that we chose not to mount a Supreme are funneling millions upon millions Court challenge against the states of dollars each year into organized of Colorado and Washington whose crime and criminal gangs under our citizens had voted to legalize current marijuana policy in Canada. marijuana.

He also admitted to smoking marijuana after being elected as an MP. There have been evidence-based town hall meetings held by the Liberal Party around the country based on ending a Canadian marijuana prohibition policy that costs law enforceHe stated that it was “important” ment $500 million a year and has left for the controversial legalization of 475,000 people with criminal records marijuana by two American states since the Conservatives took office in to proceed, as it would end the 2006. unfair penalization of a minority of smokers. Mr. Obama said that using He isn’t a moron. the drug, which remains illegal under U.S. federal law, was safer than drinking “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer”.

Histor y teaches us not to take a politician at his or her word

chance of the Le Dain Commission Report recommendations being adopted in Canada was dead on arrival despite being recognized as an excellent piece of work both in Canada and internationally.

In response to Chretien’s initiative in 2002, John Walters, the Bush administration’s drug czar at the time, publicly stated that Canada could face serious disruptions to cross-border trade if it decriminalized marijuana. Other US politicians warned of dire consequences to Canada and President Bush continued to push an aggressive zero tolerance drug policy, for both itself and its

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder now says that the Obama administration is ready to work with Congress to remove marijuana from the schedule 1 list of the Controlled Substances Act. And just last week, Congress approved a bipartisan measure prohibiting the DEA from undermining state marijuana laws.

This signaled the end of the war on drugs in the United States and gave a green light for Canada, and all other countries around the world, to regulate cannabis as it sees fit.

In short, the United States is now light years ahead of Canada in regards to legalizing marijuana which opens the door for any Canadian political party which proposes to legalize marijuana as part of its party platform to safely bring in legislation once in power.

Justin Trudeau, after being elected leader of the Liberal Party in 2012, chose the issue of legalization of marijuana as his first public party platform announcement following his election as leader of the federal

The political consequences of refusing to introduce legislation after making these statements would be too dire. Both Harper of the Conservatives and Mulcair of the NDP have stated unequivocally that they do not support legalization of marijuana.

It is a club Trudeau has no interest in joining.

Cannabis Digest • Summer 2014

10

Against : The Great Trudeau Debate The Hollow Chocolate Easter Bunny that is Justin Trudeau

Russel Barth

T

he media have been saying that the Justin Trudeau Liberals will legalize marijuana if they get into power. Trudeau has been saying things along those lines, I will admit, but he has promised nothing, and it is not yet an official party policy.

True, having a national party actually talk about legalization is a step in the right direction, but it is one small step where ten large steps are needed.

As someone who relies heavily on cannabis to manage my symptoms,

old and have been hearing the Liberals promise cannabis law reform every few years since the 1972 Le Dain Commission, only to watch them increase penalties when they are actually in power. People are quick to forget that the contracts for all our new jails were tendered under the Paul Martin administration. The Liberals knew back in the 1990s that the flourishing American Inmate-Manufacturing Industry was looking to move north,

bled in the House of Commons. The bill itself, as you may recall, would have replaced a criminal record with fines. This kind of system is often called “net-widening,” as far more people get caught, but get softer penalties (something the CPC have said they are considering).

and they did what they could to help.

proposes to get through. I doubt that a Liberal government is going to waste time, effort, and the public’s goodwill fighting the Senate on pot-law reform, when other far less contentious bills have a better chance of getting passed. Politically, I don’t think the Liberals are prepared even to fight for this hill, let alone die on it. A rational argument can be made that there are many agendas more pressing than legalizing cannabis, but the billions saved and generated annually simply by legalizing cannabis would do much to help finance those agendas.

If the Grits ever do table a bill to “legalize” pot, it will likely be Tobacco 2.0.

Or maybe it is the fact that they used our tax dollars, and every trick they could think of, to keep people from attaining the legal right to use medical cannabis at the turn of this century.

Court battles were hard enough, but hearing Liberals like Anne McLellan talk nonsense in the press week after week was excruciating.

Maybe it is the fact that, after losing this battle, the Liberals dragged their heels, balked at court rulings, ignored the Charter, and had Health Canada implement regulations that they knew beforehand were onerous and likely to be challenged (expensively) in court.

and as a 24/7 caregiver to a sick wife who needs it even more, I want to believe them. I really, really do. But I find myself unable to. Like Charlie Brown continually falling for Lucy’s football ruse, the media and much of the public seem to be falling for the Liberal ploy, but I’m not.

Why so incredulous, you ask? Well, maybe it is the fact that I am 45 years

j

Or maybe I see the fact that a Tory-stacked Senate will allow almost nothing that a Liberal government

Perhaps it is the fact that some Liberal MPs now tout Health Canada’s medical marijuana program as something “that was started under a Liberal administration,” even though they were forced—kicking and screaming—by the courts to implement it.

They worked so hard to keep medicine from people for as long as they could, but now try to take credit for the program’s existence.

Or it could be the fact that when they came up with the ironically named “decriminalization” legislation, Liberal Dan McTeague took the bill down to the U.S. to run it past the Bush Regime before it was even ta-

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Or it might be the fact that Justin and the party still consider cannabis a “drug,” the use of which - they feel - needs to be greatly reduced. They largely ignore the fact that countries like Israel and Spain are years ahead of us on cannabis-therapeutic scientific research, and they still maintain a Reagan-era attitude that pot is bad and abstinence is best. Couple that with Justin Trudeau’s unscientific worries about cannabis’ mythical “links” to mental illness, and his use of anachronistic terms like “pusher” (as he did last year in a phone interview with the Cornwall Free News), and you see a Liberal Party that is still meandering behind the parade on a crucial issue. And, as usual, they call this ‘behind-the-pack’ position, “leadership.”

Some in the party are talking “tax and regulate,” but they fail to offer any really coherent platform for how that would work. Some are talking about “liquor store” models and arbitrary limits on amounts that people can possess, but I think they are making empty promises. Once in power, the party will likely shelve this “legalization” talk on the first day.

It’ll gladly pander to “youth” and sick people in order to get elected, but once in power, it is the lobbyists and the dastardly RCMP who will have the party’s ear.

So, what can we expect from the Liberals? I think we can expect more flowery promises (pun intended) to legalize pot, right through to election night, followed by years of continued promises to “get around to it” as soon as other “more pressing” issues are settled. The mandatory minimum sentences for growing and “trafficking” that were implemented in November of 2012 by the Harperistas will remain in place, of course.

You can count on that.

In the meantime, they will wait for a court ruling to legalize pot for them (see abortion, same-sex-marriage, and medical cannabis for details), and then legislate after the fact. Then they will take credit for “legalizing” pot, and the media will let them do it.

If the Grits ever do table a bill to “legalize” pot, it will likely be Tobacco 2.0. There will be a legal commercial market competing with a flourishing underground market, limits on home growing, cops bugging everyone even more than they do now, and endless media balderdash.

That is what I see coming.

Issue Number 41

www.CannabisDigest.ca

11

Amygdalar Control and the Art of Zen Controlling the reptilian brain

despite the lack of positive results.

• They refuse additional information contrary to their programmed beliefs, causing cognitive dissonance.

• They are more vulnerable to propaganda.

• They have a self-righteous demeanor, think they are better than others, and show hatred and cruelty to others.

• They have little empathy for others.

David B. Allen M.D.

Y

ou have three main portions of your brain. The Brainstem, the Cerebrum and the Limbic System, which is the connection between first two. The brainstem is the primitive or reptilian portion and is responsible for keeping the species alive. It is responsible for autonomic function of heart rate and respiration. The Cerebrum is the grey matter of the mammalian brain and is the cognitive part of the brain. The Limbic system, which includes several structures including the Amygdala, is a control system that switches between these two crucial brain parts. The Brainstem response is automatic and very fast. The response of the cognitive Cerebrum always takes more time. In dangerous situations, you may not have time to think about what is happening, but have to react immediately to save your life. Your brainstem has preprogrammed responses: fight, flight or fright. Your response to a situation may cause you to flee, stand and fight, or freeze in place.

These preprogrammed responses occur quickly, and without thought. When this happens you actually switch off your cognitive response to a stimulus because you have already made your evaluation and do not need additional information to make a decision. This is called the “Amygdala hijack.” The Amygdala is the portion of the brain that is the alerting mechanism of the brain. It puts the animal on high alert for possible danger and causes an anxiety reaction of super alertness, elevated heart rate and respiration. The Amygdala causes you to tense up

for a fight or flight or to freeze in place. When the Amygdala takes over control of you, it causes this automatic response and prevents any cognitive thought. Additional information is considered an irritation and is not welcome because your response is preprogrammed and you just don’t need to think about it anymore. When the amygdala perceives a threat, it can you to react irrationally and destructively.

initially seem dangerous can turn out, after careful thought, to be non-threatening. You can control your reaction to a stimulus by repeated exposure to it, and through the cognitive process of understanding that there is no danger from that particular stimulus. This takes time and effort and a desire to avoid the panic caused by the Amygdala. But it can be done.

Cannabis and the Endocannabinoid system is a control system for the Amygdala, which suppresses the Amygdalar activity. The Endocannabinoid System or ECS causes inhibitory control of the Amygdala and inhibits the anxiety caused by the alerting Amygdala.

The resulting inhibition allows you to be calm and focused, and allows you to use your cognitive response a higher percentage of the time. When you are in brainstem mode from Amygdalar stimulation you can’t think; you just react. Amygdala hijack blocks out cognitive thought, and stimulates unconscious behavior.

The cortical brain controls empathy and is associated with positive thoughts. The Amygdala, however, is associated with negative or depressive thoughts. When people consider only how a particular situation affects them, they use the hindbrain and cannot cognate or understand how the situation affects someone else. Accurate appraisal of reality depends on the pre-medial cortex, which invokes empathy and gives you a more accurate perception of the reality. If you can’t understand how it feels to be the other person, you are using the hindbrain and are out of People who function in touch with reality.

Amygdalar mode have the following characteristics:

There are certain triggers that may put a person into • They have fear and anxiety and Amygdalar mode and hijack cogstartle easily; they are hyper nitive rational thought processes. alert.

The triggers initiate an immediate preprogrammed response, re- • They hate change. lated to security issues. Threats to the security of life, family, home, • They demand conformity to food or income cause a knee-jerk their way they life. response. No thought is needed because it just slows the process of • They fear other races. responding to a threat.

• They Horde food and weapons

Sometimes modern life to keep themselves ‘safe.’ is full of stimuli that may startle us but not be a real threat. In • They are delusional and seem these situations it is best not to to deny reality. They exhibit over-react. Situations that may repetitive destructive behavior

• They don’t like Marijuana and prefer alcohol and pharmaceuticals.

When you first use cannabis the number of functioning Cannabinoid receptors multiplies exponentially. In effect, you then have more inhibitory control of your neurons. This causes neuralplasticity, meaning more control of neural connections. This plasticity may allow you to think of new sorts of connections among various issues, so that new concepts occur. This process may be termed epiphany, or sudden realization of the truth of the matter.

It is important to understand that your body also has its own natural, endogenous functioning ECS. But some people can have deficiencies caused by enzyme defects in the production or degradation of their bodies’ own Endocannabinoids. Their ECS system can be augmented by exogenous use of phytocannabinoids, that is, by using cannabis. People with defects in their ECS may have depression, anxiety, insomnia and anger, problems that may be related to their inability to control their limbic system and Amygdala. Cannabis, thus, can help a great deal with behavioral control issues. This fact makes all cannabis use medical, even if you don’t understand the science.

But there is more!

Scientist can determine the exact location, on a strand of DNA, of the DNA segment that codes for the CB1 Cannabinoid receptor.

Scientist can knock out this segment of DNA code and replace it with gibberish DNA. When mice are born with this gibberish DNA, they are scientifically proven to not have the CB1, Cannabinoid receptor. Scientists can then do experiments comparing normal

Cannabis Digest â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2014 mice with CB1 receptors against directly for the stand from visual the Knockout mice to determine clues in the Morris Water Maze. what affect the receptor has.

They learn to look for where the position of the stand is by repetiKnockout mice are peculiar animals that get cancers at an alarming rate compared to mice with the CB1 receptor. Knockout mice startle easily and seem to have a denial of reality and repeat behavior that is destructive.

They also exhibit a problem with extinguishing previously learned behavior. They deny new information in favor of old learned behavior.

attempt to find it in the previous location. They simply cannot see the new reality, and extinguish their old learned behavior.

Morris Water Maze (see right) Scientists have developed a method of testing memory and memory extinction by placing mice in a large flooded container called the Morris Water Maze. This circular container has a camera above it to record the swimming paths of the mice in the maze. The scientists place an invisible sub-surface stage in the flooded container. The mice swim around and eventually find the hidden stand. The mice can then keep their head above the water and save themselves. Both normal mice with CB1 receptors and Knockout mice without CB1 receptors are trained over several days to find the stand. Both groups of mice eventually swim

tion. After this training session is complete, scientists repeat the experiment with both groups of mice, but they move the invisible subsurface stage to a new location. The normal mice with CB1 receptors swim around until they find the new location of the stage.

The knockout mice, however, continuously swim to where the stage was, even to their death. Even if the knockout mice are picked up and placed on the stage in its new location, they will swim off and

The lack of CB1 receptors seems to allow less control of the Amygdala, and causes affected animals to live in a state of fear and anxiety. When this state of brainstem behavior occurs in people, it is nearly impossible to communicate with them because they have diminished cognitive ability. If you try to give them new information, they will view it with contempt and disdain.

This information raises interesting questions. Do our politicians who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t use cannabis have decreased number and function in their Cannabinoid receptors?

Does this lack of Cannabinoid receptors cause them to engage in repetitive, destructive behaviors? Does a low number of of CB1 receptors cause them to avoid any information that could cause cognitive dissonance? Do people in general, who have poor abilities to use cognition to solve a problem, and who show the signs of brainstem reaction to stimuli, have dysfunctional CB1 receptors? The inability to control the Amygdala results in less time spent thinking, and more time in automatic, brainstem response to any given stimulus. This cannot be good either for the species or for the society.

What would Richard Nixon or Ronald Reagan have done in a Morris Water Maze?

Are the Drug War and the Arms race signs of failure in Amygdalar control?

David B. Allen M.D (Cali215doc@gmail.com)

Issue Number 41

www.CannabisDigest.ca

EMERY COM

By Ted Smith

N

o event in cannabis activism around the world has been as highly anticipated as the release of Marc Emery. After spending over 4 years trapped in various US jails, the Prince of Pot is getting ready to return to his native homeland to begin the next chapter of his life. No one could be happier than his wife, Jodie.

His sacrifice has not been wasted. In fact, it is obvious today that his efforts helped to pave the way for the gradual legalization of cannabis across the USA. These four years have seen incredible changes in the cannabis industry.

For those unaware, Marc sold about $14 million worth of cannabis seeds, mostly to Americans, and then used the approximately $4 million in profit to sponsor ballot initiatives, political campaigns and other forms of activism. That was until the summer of 2005, when he was arrested in Halifax while his offices were being raided back in Vancouver. He pleaded guilty so that charges could be dropped against his two employees that were caught up in the raid.

the bass guitar! He has been playing in a few bands in jail and is really looking forward to buying a bass when he gets home so he can play at the jam nights at the BCMP. It is a sign of how intelligent and determined the man can be. No wonder Jodie loves him so much.

In so many ways this has been very difficult for her. As she says, “Being apart from each other and worrying about his health and safety has been very tough.

I have been trying not to get tired or depressed, because I’m managing four businesses and 27 employees,and doing media appearances and public speaking at conferences and events. I have had to be a role model, and continue fighting as hard as possible to end prohibition so we can save other peaceful people from the harms of arrest and imprisonment.

I didn’t want to let anyone down when Marc was taken away from us all.”

So while Marc has been getting more sun and rest than he has had his entire life, Jodie has been working tirelessly to fight to get him back and fight the drug war. According to Jodie, “Marc is still very much the same in his wonderfully brilliant, upbeat, inspiring way. But he was also forced to slow down and be As one would expect, life in US prisons patient in a terribly boring place - and has not been easy. For a spell he was he has used his time wisely, learning stuck in a jail that housed mostly foreign- bass guitar and playing in a few difers, so he learned Spanish and started to ferent prison bands. He’s spent much help other inmates out with their legal time reading hundreds of books on all problems until they moved him to ansorts of subjects, plus newspapers and other jail. There has been time in solinumerous magazines. That kind of tary confinement. He has had privileges thoughtful, uninterrupted absorption taken away for no reason and has missed of information is almost impossible in visits with Jodie because the prisons can the outside world, so he’s been able to get put into lockdown quickly. A brief contemplate a lot. He’s also seemingly battle with an infection was perhaps the gotten more youthful-looking somehow scariest time for his loved ones, who felt - probably because the many years of helpless as they watched him struggle stress awaiting extradition and imprisfrom afar. onment is long gone!”

When I ask one of his top employees, Jeremiah Vandermeer, how Marc seemed to be holding up, he said, “I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Marc at his prison in Mississippi twice, and both times I was impressed by his amazing positivity and optimism in a potentially soul-crushing situation. He has not lost his unrelenting dedication to his principles, even after paying such a high personal price.”

One of the most surprising things Marc has done in jail is to learn how to play

One reason Marc has not had to stress too much has been the intense dedication of his wife, Jodie. Jeremiah speaks for many of us when he says, “Jodie is one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. After being robbed of her beloved husband and hero, under brutal emotional conditions, she’s not only taken over managing Vancouver’s most popular headshop and vapor lounge and made it grow and blossom, but has become one of the leading marijuana activists in the country. I think Jodie

finds strength in ceaselessly dedicating herself to the quest pioneered by her husband – she’s so busy and has so much on her shoulders. I don’t think she has much time to think about the pain she’s feeling.”

When I asked her how she has managed to get through these extraordinary times, she said, “The enormous and constant kindness of supporters; the positive attitude Marc has maintained throughout a nightmarish daily existence that I can’t even imagine; and the knowledge that

Cannabis Digest • Summer 2014

MING H OME our movement is making progress on a bigger scale despite the setbacks and hardships. Marc’s mission to “Plant the Seeds of Freedom to Overgrow the Government” is being accomplished, even if there’s still a lot of work ahead.”

Her pain will be over soon. However, no one knows exactly when that will be. This was all she could tell me when I asked. “His sentence ends on July 9th but they release foreign prisoners on Thursdays; the 10th is Thursday, so he only spends an extra night in there.

However, he will then be in custody of Immigrations & Customs Enforcement and they’ll take him to a private prison in Louisiana to await deportation. We don’t know how long that will take; we’ve heard of it taking between threeweeks and (the worst-case scenario) eight months for other Canadians to be deported after release from federal prison.

But we hope that with campaigning from supporters and with pressure on the US and Canadian governments, they will process him quickly and he could be home later this summer. Once they are ready to deport him, he will be flown to Detroit - with little to no warning, so I’ll rush to the Vancouver airport to fly to Toronto - and be escorted to the border, where he will be able to walk onto Canadian soil in Windsor as a completely free man. I’ll hopefully be there in time to greet him, but I guarantee there will be a large contingent of fans and media to welcome him home.”

The outpouring of affection and admiration from fans will likely be like nothing this movement has ever seen. For many, Marc has become a hero, on par with some of the greatest civil rights advocates of our era. His relentless pursuit of legalizing cannabis has resulted in millions of cannabis plants being grown, millions of votes being cast to reform the laws, millions of minds being opened to the possibilities this plant has to offer. There is no doubt he will be treated like royalty as he travels the country.

“I can’t wait until Marc is finally home so I can have my friend back,” said Jeremiah. “ Marc is not only a great boss who lovingly pushes his employees to achieve greatness, he’s also a caring friend full of personal insights and helpful advice. It will also be great to have him back on the front lines of our fight to end prohibition – where he belongs – especially since he’s going to be ready to kick some Conservative ass in the next election.”

Which is likely what we can expect him to be doing with Jodie. “We’ll be spending some quality time together,” she said, “but definitely continuing our activism; staying involved in politics; managing our businesses; traveling to meet our supporters and activists across BC, Canada, and worldwide; and campaigning for the Liberal Party of Canada in the next federal election because of the unprec-

edented legalization policy they’ve put forth. So we’ll be busier than ever! He’s outlined some of his ideas in his prison blogs, so I recommend people check those out at www.CannabisCulture.com if they’re interested in seeing what the Prince of Pot plans to do when he arrives home!”

As this is going to print, it seems like Jodie is even going to take a run at running for the Liberals in East Vancouver in the next federal election! With some of the Liberals promising to legalize cannabis, they seem like the only hope against this repressive Conservative regime. So much is at stake with this next election, as the environment, health care, judicial system, scientific institutions and aboriginal affairs appear to mean little to Harper and his minions.

Regardless of what he does in the future, Marc Emery has already earned a place in the history books for his courageous efforts to free this plant from the shackles of prohibition. By sacrificing so much of his life to fight against the mighty forces of the US government, he has undermined the ability of the police to enforce the law, as he has helped to convince the general public that the prohibition of cannabis is a waste of their precious tax dollars. His release from jail is almost perfectly timed with the sudden mass acceptance of cannabis, and we are all sitting on the edge of our seats waiting to see what he does next. Whether he ends up touring in a band with Tommy Chong or setting for the high seas with Jodie, one thing is for sure: Marc Emery is coming back home!

Issue Number 41

www.CannabisDigest.ca

15

Mexicos Drug War Roots Updating Reefer Madness: and now for something completely Historical Judith Stamps

M

any readers will be familiar wi t h the story of America’s War on Drugs. As most of us know it, the story goes something like this. Following political upheavals in Mexico in 1910, large numbers of Mexicans immigrated to the US, especially to the Southwest. For predictable reasons, the immigrants became objects of contempt. They spoke a foreign language; they were dark skinned; they took low paying jobs.

Moreover, they brought with them the practice of smoking weed.

No one wanted them around, so both they and their practice were condemned as alien and harm-

ful. The ‘alien’ notion was then boosted by the birth of Jazz in the 1920s, particularly by the emerging news that Black musicians and their admirers were fans of reefer.

Then in 1930, American prohibitionist Harry Anslinger was appointed chief commissioner of the newly formed Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN). Within a couple of decades Anslinger and his crew had dreamed up Reefer Madness: the familiar stream of lurid tales that peppered the Hearst press throughout the 1940s and early 50s. As we currently understand them, these tales were invented by the FBN. But it turns out that they were not invented by the FBN. They were not invented in America at all. The lurid tales were created in Mexico

by Spanish-Mexican prohibitionists in the late 19th century, and only later copied by American journalists. This new fact is the subject of Mexican scholar, Isaac Campos’ recent (2012) work, Home Grown: Marijuana and the Origins of Mexico’s War on Drugs.

Based on analyses of Mexican newspapers in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Campos’ study tracks the development of the original reefer madness in Mexico.

Rooted in Mexico’s medical history, this reefer madness succeeded, by 1895, in convincing Mexicans

that marijuana was the province of the violent and the insane; and by 1920, in bringing about marijuana prohibition in that country.

In what follows, I offer a summary of Campos’ account.

One must begin, in Campos’ view, by discarding the idea that recreational marijuana is a casual, traditional part of Mexican life, something like coca leaf chewing in Peru or khat chewing in Djibouti.

It has never been that. Recreational marijuana in Mexico has been traditional to two groups only: the inmates of Mexico’s prisons and the soldiers living in its barracks.

Neither group was well thought of; both were known for senseless violence. There were, in addition,

native peoples that used marijuana for medical and religious purposes. They were not violent, but the Spanish-speaking Catholics rejected their religious ideas, and the dominant Spanish medical practitioners rejected their healers.

One way or another, ‘proper Mexicans’ did not embrace marijuana as something good for recreation.

Rather, they associated it with bad living.

Mexico did, however, have a medical marijuana tradition, much like that in other countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia. In 1842, marijuana was listed as a narcotic in the new Farmacopoeia Mexicana, where it was itemized both as Cannabis Sativa: cañamo, and Cannabis Indica: mariguana. But its distribution was highly restricted. Medical practice in Mexico followed the traditions of Spain, and Spain had a longstanding love of strict regulation, rooted in its mediaeval past. In mediaeval times, Spain had served as the world’s harbor for Arabic scholars. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the expulsion of all non-Catholics from Spain in 1492, those scholars were the keepers of Western knowledge. They studied the Greek and Roman medical texts, and translated them.

They shared their studies with the Christian and Jewish scholars that

lived among them. As a result, Mediaeval Spain had a set of medical practices far in advance of anything available in the rest of Europe.

It also had a highly advanced system of regulation. By the early 1500s, for example, Spanish laws were in place to oversee and regulate all medicine and pharmacology in that country. There were national inspectors who paid regular visits to Spain’s physicians and apothecaries. There were laws for controlling access to medicines. In this world, physicians ruled. They wrote the prescriptions; Apothecaries dispensed only what had been prescribed. After its independence in1810, it was this system, deeply rooted in Spanish-Arabic history that Mexico chose to adopt.

The system provided Mexican patients with medical marijuana, but only via prescription. It allowed prescriptions, but only from western style physicians.

be used to select the ‘better’ social classes and reject the ‘degenerates.’

Followers of the Movement believed, in addition, that degenerate behavior in parents was physically passed on to their children. This notion stemmed from the work of Lamarck, a popular evolutionary theorist. According to Lamarck, actions in life alter genes. Mexican elites embraced this idea. They argued that pot smoking among Mexico’s prisoners and soldiers was making them worse. It was unraveling their genetic material, causing them to father crazy kids. In this way, it would soon corrupt the country, leaving Mexico a nation of despicable wretches.

Mexico had not adopted these rules with recreational users in mind. The rules were there simply to protect the authority of western medicine, and western medical men. But in practice, they served a dual purpose. Once in place, they allowed for easy prosecution of locals who liked to smoke. So by the time of the widely attended Hague Opium Convention of 1912, which recommended regulation, Mexico,

Similar ideas were repeated and popularized in Mexican newspapers of 19th, and early 20th centuries. They developed a special fondness for stories about violence among Mexico’s pot-smoking prisoners and soldiers. They fostered the belief that marijuana and bloody knife fights went hand in hand. They popularized dope fiend cartoon characters, drawn to look bug eyed and bizarre. My accompanying cartoon, copied from an original featured in Campos’ book, shows the popular figure of Don Chepito Mariguana, a genetic misfit if ever there was one. Near the turn of the century, these messages went international. In 1895, The Mexican Herald began to publish

with its Spanish background, was well ahead of the game.

Regulating marijuana was spurred as well by Mexico’s adoption of The Social Hygiene Movement, a set of ideas popular among emerging nations. Social Hygiene was based on the view that ‘modern’ science should be used to cleanse and perfect society; its methods should

an English language newspaper. As the Herald also held the Associated Press franchise for the Mexican capital, its stories were easily reprinted or reworked by American journalists. A Story retold in a Salt Lake City newspaper in 1898, for example, described a marijuana crazed boy who ran amok, tearing off his clothes and attacking pass-

ersby in the main street of his town.

Other, similar stories made their way into American culture. In Campos’ words, “It was from this atmosphere that the US media began to pluck exotic, sensational stories of the new drug menace south of the border.”

To make matters worse, turn of the century America was much concerned with a problem plant called ‘locoweed.’ Locoweed is Jimson Weed, Datura Stramonium. When horses and cows graze on it, they go crazy. Press stories of the day confused marijuana intoxication with the effects of locoweed. Some readers thought that locoweed was marijuana. The term locoweed contains the Mexican word for ‘crazy.’

One can well imagine the effects caused by this kind of confusion.

It is no wonder that Mexican immigrants were unwelcome in the US post 1910. Nor it is surprising that, from 1915 onward, individual states began to pass anti-marijuana laws. With the locoweed notion flying around, and all the preceding, neither the immigrants nor the plant would have stood a chance.

Put these elements together—restrictive medical practices, the use of marijuana by ‘social misfits,’ Social Hygiene ideas, locoweed, and the press—and you have Mexico’s original Reefer Madness. It was from these elements, and from

Mexican sources, in Campos’ words, “that the US government and the press first heard that marijuana turned ordinary people into ferocious maniacs.” With these facts in mind, we fans of Cannabis must now review and reject the standard, well-boiled Reefer Madness stories on which we have been fed. Whether we are Cannabis historians, prohibition history freaks, or simply people who like to remember the old Reefer Madness story, we might also like to ask this question: where does all this leave old Harry Anslinger? Readers will choose their own answers; I say it leaves him every bit as mean, and a lot less inventive. It turns out that he didn’t need imagination; he just had to read the old papers. As to the immigrants, some of them obviously did use pot. And after American prohibition in 1937, their home country did become a key source of the plant. Regardless, it is now our turn. Those of us with a passion for understanding the past must work to make the necessary mental adjustments.

Cannabis Digest • Summer 2014

Issue Number 41

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Shifting Views in Latin America Referendum to legalize medical cannabis underway in Costa Rica

By Owen Smith

I

n previous articles, I have covered the constitutional challenge that I brought to the federal government regarding the proper use of medical cannabis in Canada. It has been over 6 months since I appeared in the BC Court of Appeal, and we still await a decision from the three judges. In the meantime I have begun to explore what another country, Costa Rica, is doing to legalize medical cannabis.

Cannabis prohibition in Costa Rica Earlier this year I visited beautiful, tropical Costa Rica with my partner. The most bio-diverse country in the world, Costa Rica’s sunny verdant slopes would be a sublime place to grow medicinal cannabis alongside some of the world’s finest coffee. However, as it is on most of the planet, cannabis remains illegal there, and the attitude toward it is mired in decades of drug war propaganda.

I was fortunate to speak with a former cannabis grower who told me of the severe anxiety he had experienced while growing in isolation. The threat of law enforcement was always looming. He described the 3 grades of cannabis that I would come across in Costa Rica: Columbian Brick, Jamaican Shwag and a hydroponically grown variety that was commonly called “The Creepy.” He explained that they were limited to a few strains only; most of these were Sativa strains. I wondered if some the Sativa strains had gained their reputation for being highly stimulating from the paranoia that ordinary cannabis users experienced due to Costa Rica’s draconian laws.

In contrast, a young Tico man offered me a joint while walking into a supermarket singing “I love marijuana” at the top of his lungs. In some small Costa Rican towns the open use of cannabis is normal; one is described by Lonely planet as having “neo-Rastas hawking uplifting herbs.” However, as in most places, while use might be tolerated, it also might not, and police are happy to parade any sufficient confiscation before the media.

Costa Rica has one major newspaper in English, the Tico Times. The Times reported that in response to the legalization of Cannabis in Uruguay, the former President, Laura Chinchilla, would not consider legalizing for general use but may consider medical marijuana. In

North America, medical cannabis legislation has preceded the passing of laws in states permitting its general use. It seems that once it is well known to help even the most ill in society, it becomes easier to accept its safety in general, especially when compared to other legal substances.

There are no medical cannabis dispensaries in Costa Rica although 53 percent support using Cannabis for medical purposes. I often met people who were suffering from conditions that cannabis is known to help, who had no idea of its medicinal properties. People recited the same difficulties associated with high THC sativa strains as patients I have spoken with in Canada. A common example is ‘I tried cannabis for my back pain but I don’t like to smoke or feel high when caring for my family’.

Among the achievements of the medicinal cannabis industry is that it provides alternatives to smoking, and offers products with more or less THC and CBD to suit individual needs. The recently elected president Luis Guillermo Solis voiced his support for medicinal marijuana during the candidate race.

In order to find out more I sought out medical cannabis organizations in Costa Rica. I contacted Gerald Murray, the spokesman for the Costa Rica Medicinal Marijuana Movement, and invited him to be interviewed on my bi-weekly

radio show on www.Time4Hemp.com.

It turns out that Gerald was preparing to launch a referendum to legalize medical cannabis on May 5th, the same day as our interview.

With SensibleBC having recently fallen short of its signature gathering campaign to decriminalize cannabis in BC, and the MMPR (Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations) under heavy criticism in Canada, I was interested to discover how likely it was that they would succeed in their campaign, and what model they had designed for their country.

Will they succeed?

My interview with Gerald Murray of the Costa Rica Medicinal Cannabis Movement suffered from some technical difficulties, but I was still able to ask him a few key questions. Gerald Murray and the Medicinal Marihuana Costa Rica Movement have begun collecting signatures for a referendum vote to legalize medical cannabis in Costa Rica. Given the successful ballot initiatives in Washington and Colorado and the unsuccessful one in British Columbia last year, I wonder how likely they are to succeed in Costa Rica.

The Costa Rica medicinal cannabis movement began in 2009 and has grown

steadily from its grassroots. Gerald Murray was working with Presidential candidate Gary Johnson in 2010 when he witnessed the prosperous U.S. medical cannabis industry. He was inspired him to bring the positive ideas back to his country. Since then he has been changing people’s minds by presenting patient testimony and studies from doctors both to politicians and youth activists.

Gerald helps run the campaign through two Facebook pages, which are followed by 12,000 users. To reach the number requested by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) he is using a team of 750 volunteers and aims to collect 100,000 signatures by the end of July.

Based in the Capital City of San Jose, they started collecting signatures on May 5th at some of the country’s universities.

They have surpassed their own expectations, collecting 12,000 signatures in the first day, 18,000 in the first week, 53,000 in the first of two months. If successful, the collection of signatures will result in a vote in October to have legal medicinal cannabis in Costa Rica by January of 2015.

Here In BC, the efforts of SensibleBC to gather around 300,000 signatures to trigger a vote to decriminalize fell short of its goal. However the referendum system existing in BC is the most difficult in the world next to Germany. Washington State needed only 250,000 signatures to force its referendum to legalize marijuana. There were no distribution requirements, they had 6 months to collect (we three months) and could use paid canvassers (we were allowed volunteers only). Colorado’s rules are similar to those of Washington State, but they only needed 150,000 signatures statewide.

Costa Rica is a small country (20 times smaller than BC) with a population around 4 million (about the same as BC).

The close proximity of its citizens gives these activists a good chance at success.

If they gather all of the signatures they require, the Costa Rica Medicinal Cannabis Movement will present its proposal for the new law in July. Once the Supreme Electoral Tribune has validated all of the signatures, the vote would be set to occur in October and the new law would take effect in January of 2015.

What will the new law look like?

During my interview with Gerald Murray I was able to ask a few key ques-

Cannabis Digest • Summer 2014

18 tions about what the new law would look like. Gerald also provided me with an unfinished draft copy of the proposal to regulate medicinal cannabis.

The proposed regulation has two aspects: public and private. In 1948 when Costa Rica abolished its military, it also made it a constitutional law that the government must provide good health services to all its citizens. With universal health care, medicinal cannabis would be provided for free to patients in public hospitals, and grown cheaply outdoors by members of the agricultural sector. There would also be private sales through dispensaries that would be subject to an initial tax of 20%. The tax revenue would be divided among Costa Rican Social Security (35%), Road Infrastructure (15%), Education (10%), Culture and Youth Programs (5%) and more.

The estimated 100 million dollars in annual tax revenue would also help create the Costa Rican institute of cannabis research, which would investigate, validate, monitor, and regulate the use of medical cannabis to treat, cure, reduce and prevent diseases. Specialized software and tools would be utilized to accumulate and monitor clinical data. A limited number of licenses would be distributed for use by dispensaries, social clubs, agricultural production and medical tourism.

Patients would be permitted to grow up to 4 cannabis plants. They would also be allowed to produce all kinds of cannabis products for all methods of ingestion.

A doctor would have to prescribe cannabis, as with the MMPR in Canada, but the Costa Rican proposition has received support from retired public health directors. A dozen doctors will be touring universities to support medical cannabis in July. As in North America, there will be an age limit of 18 for use except when monitored by doctors, who are likely to allow its use for children with epilepsy.

I don’t speak Spanish well, so most of what I’ve read I have understood thanks to online translator tools. Fortunately, both gentlemen I spoke with in San Jose spoke excellent English. On September 21st of this year, Ernesto Cortes and the drug policy group ACEID are helping to host the 5th Latin America Drug Policy Conference, the 1st in Central America.

ACEID organized their second International Marijuana March in Costa Rica on May 3rd.

The Drug Policy conference draws government officials and policy groups from all over Latin America including representatives from Uruguay and Colorado to speak on panels about drug use of all kinds. There will be a special side-event dedicated to the discussion of cannabis that will include the Costa Rica Medicinal Cannabis Movement. While developing a better understanding of the issues, drug policy reformers are crafting guidelines that integrate medicinal cannabis into modern health care systems.

Given the ability of cannabis to replace more expensive prescription drugs, this system is likely to lead to a healthier, wealthier society.

The Latin America Drug Policy Conference As the signature gathering campaign comes to a close and the proposed regulations are finalized for presentation to the Costa Rican public for a vote, a likeminded policy group is preparing to welcome delegates from surrounding countries for the 5th annual Latin America Drug Policy Conference. There

is a side event dedicated to the discussion of medical cannabis that the Costa Rica Medicinal Cannabis Movement will attend.

This is the first year that the conference is happening in Costa Rica. Among the attendees are the reform groups Confredrogas, Intercause, T.N.I., and Syncotropicas. They also expect representatives from the states of Colorado and Uruguay, where cannabis is now legal. These drug policy reformers are putting pressure on their governments to examine their official position on drug policy and adapt

were operated by officers with assault rifles. Because Cannabis has been placed into the same legal category as Cocaine, the two have become associated in the perception of the public.

As has been noted in debates in North America, multiple drug use (see the Gateway theory) is a function of prohibition, not of the substances themselves.

Drug dealers who sell both Cannabis and Cocaine are likely to offer the former to lure individuals into using the latter. This is especially troubling because medical patients may be more vulnerable

to the lessons being learned around the world. The previous president of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, expressed a willingness to discuss medical cannabis, but was recently voted out of power.

The representatives are invited to participate in discussion panels on a variety of drug policy issues. Some countries have shied away from the spotlight, as there is still much perceived political risk involved with engaging this controversial debate. It has only been over the past decade that public opinion has moved in North America toward open debates and regulatory experiments. In Central and South America the movement is younger still, however there is a tradition of progressive reform in Costa Rica that makes it an ideal candidate to join the pioneers of modern drug policy.

I spoke with Ernesto Cortes from the registered drug policy reform group ACEID that is organizing the event, about what challenges Costa Rica faces with other local governments. Ernesto notes that there has been no public discussion between governments about the possibilities of drug reform in the region, and Costa Rica has seen no support for legal regulation of cannabis for general use.

There is a split of opinion amongst governments in Central and South America.

Mexico, which has suffered the most civilian casualties in the War on Drugs, is known to be part of a block of countries open to the debate. The block includes Columbia, Uruguay and Guatemala. The Guatemalan president has come out in support of legalizing all drugs and the government will issue a report in October that outlines its plans for legalizing cannabis and opium crops in the future.

Honduras has been an outspoken opponent of drug policy reform.

There is some concern that the countries on their borders (Nicaragua and Panama) would be recipients of illicit substances that are diverted to the black market. The U.S. Department of Justice has recently chosen to deal with this kind of issue by focusing on those who attempt to cross the borders or break the State’s laws.

Costa Rica is subject to heavy cocaine traffic. It is used as a port between Columbia, Jamaica and the lucrative North American market. With no national military, an increased police presence on roads and a special task force is employed to fight back. While I was travelling through the country I passed through numerous checkpoints, some of which

to manipulation by these unregulated entrepreneurs. It is a too common tale that people who are suffering withdrawal from prescription medications will substitute with illicit versions from the black market. In my experience at the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club, medical cannabis can act more like an exit drug for those seeking to withdraw from drug dependence.

The future of medical cannabis in Costa Rica As we move into July, the Costa Rica Medicinal Cannabis Movement’s signature gathering campaign has surpassed 100K, and is now seeking more to compensate for invalid or duplicate signatures. Costa Rica has only had one successful referendum in the past. The citizens decided by vote that they wanted a Free Trade agreement with the United States. The only successful referendum in British Columbia, revoking the HST, was similarly economic. A medical cannabis law doesn’t immediately affect all Costa Ricans, so will they see the need to vote for it?

Costa Rica is a very religious country. There are two features consistently found in every town, a soccer field and a church. Pictures of the Pope are about as common as pictures of Queen Elizabeth in Canada. Many of the taxi drivers I rode with in the country kept small crosses of the crucifixion hanging from their rear view mirror for good luck. The Pope recently decried marijuana legalization, saying that “with evil, there can be no yielding or compromise.” It is unclear if Pope Francis is aware of the medicinal benefits of cannabis.

Ernesto from the drug policy group ACEID admits that there is a lot of education that still needs to occur. There is need for the conversation to mature beyond the simple statements for or against, to include dialogue about how to treat drug use as a health care issue with respect to the different possible kinds of regulation. Jails are overcrowded with people who would be better placed under the supervision of health care professionals.

Ernesto believes that the stigma associated with drugs prevents officials from seeing through the smoky haze of the recreational culture to the medical benefits. He feels that it is essential to distinguish medical from nonmedical use. The proposed law will allow growing a limited number of plants at home.

Currently the cultivation of 2 plants can result in a jail sentence. Ernesto told me of an elderly woman who had been arrested for growing 2 plants that she used to treat the symptoms of her cancer. She died in jail.

Patients are the best representatives for the cause, as they tell the true stories of unnecessary suffering caused by the current laws. It is important for Costa Ricans to witness the impact on families in their communities to make an informed decision. I believe that as people learn about the safety and effective use of this medicine, they will see the need for compassionate action.

Doctors are also critically important representatives as they hold the trust of many people and can help articulate answers to the many questions that will be asked. Public debate needs to occur at Universities so that many of the general misconceptions can be cleared up for the coming generation of professionals.

Doctors are planning to visit some of Costa Rica’s Universities in July.

These youthful, ambitious drug policy groups are part of a worldwide movement to end prohibition. ACEID is currently running a Support not Punish campaign to “raise awareness about the harms being caused by the criminalisation of people who use drugs.” A Day of Action will take place on the 26th of June, with cultural activities, and the distributing of educational documents on drug policy and health care.

As in North America, new drugs in Costa Rica are required to pass FDA standards. The internationally recognized General Health Law, that has been establish in Costa Rica for over 30 years, demands that doctors, hospitals and pharmacists be the only professionals permitted to distribute medical preparations. In Canada, legal challenges to the constitutionality of the law have made cannabis an exception to the rule. The United States federal government continues to keep cannabis in a class of drugs too dangerous to be administered even in the presence of a doctor.

The United States has invested heavily in Costa Rica. U.S. cannabis reform opponents like S.A.M. have raised the question of whether a referendum is the best process to authorize the use of a substance. It is only after insufficient effort from normal regulatory mechanisms (like the FDA) that a referendum is called upon to exercise the democratic right of citizens to progress with a popular idea. It would be hypocritical for the United States to find fault in Costa Rica practicing its democratic right to a referendum, since more than 20 U.S. states already have, two making cannabis completely legal. Still, the International narcotics control board, which has come out in opposition to U.S. and Uruguayan reform, would likely oppose the move.

The proposed Costa Rican model includes participation from public hospitals, private sales through dispensaries, social clubs (vapour lounges) and an allowance for visitors with medical cannabis licenses to medicate while on vacation.

It has been my pleasure to report on this beautiful country that I visited this year. I truly believe that medical cannabis would be a complement to the Pura Vida (pure life) attitude of Costa Ricans.

Stay tuned to the Cannabis Digest Blogs for updates.

Issue Number 41

www.CannabisDigest.ca

Rastafarians Rejoice!

Jamaica Amends its’ “Dangerous” Drugs Act

Ras Kahleb “The reform measures approved by Cabinet have been primarily driven by the human rights and constitutional considerations prevailing in the Jamaican environment.”

Mark Golding

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hese were the words of Jamaica’s Minister of Justice, Mark Golding, during his address to the Jamaican people in regards to ganja legislative reform in Jamaica, proposed for later this year. According to Golding, who seems always to have been optimistic pertaining to amendments made to the country’s constitution in relation to ganja, “The Dangerous Drugs Act is to be amended to make possession of small quantities of ganja for personal use a ticketable infraction.” (Mark Golding 2014) Furthermore, the possession of ganja for spiritual, therapeutic and research purposes is to be decriminalized, and ‘special’ provisions are to be made for ganja use by the Rastafari community in their places of worship. One concern that the Rastafari community has concerning the decriminalization of ganja in Jamaica is prosecution. Will Rastas face prosecution or harassment for the cultivation of ganja for sacred purposes? The Rastafari Youth Initiative Council holds the view that the Rastafari community should have legal rights to grow its Ital or Organic strains of ganja as required for healing and spiritual uses and purposes (RYIC 2014). On this same issue Maxine Stowe, a director of the Rastafari Millennium Council has stated: “We have grown in our appreciation of the ‘strain’ issue and are in full accord that our Sacramental Right should be with the organic and indigenous seed associated with our culture.” (Maxine Stowe 2014).

In her own analysis of Cannabis reform in countries around the world Maxine Stowe fervently stated that “Jamaica will be the only country in the world to approach the decriminalization, legalization and medicinal industry development, while containing a distinctive cultural input related to Sacramental Rights.” Although Jamaicans on a whole are looking forward to amendments made to the country’s drug laws with good hope, there are some who are very concerned about constitutional violations the State is committing right now against citizens producing, trading and using ganja. In a comment made to The Gleaner, published on the 24th of June 2014, Lord Anthony Gifford

QC mentioned his concerns relating to such constitutional violations by the State toward Jamaicans when he stated that “Our human rights are defined in the Charter of Rights, which is part of the Constitution of Jamaica. In my opinion, the present ganja laws violate many of those rights…How can it be justifiable to allow a person to carry a bottle of rum or a pack of cigarettes but not a bag of ganja” (The Gleaner 2014).

Critical to note, the constitutional rights that Lord Gifford has highlighted as being infringed upon by the State are: freedom of religion; respect for, and protection of, private and family life, and privacy of the home; and

totally legal for all kinds of uses and purposes, especially since its consumption does not come with any additional health bills or hazards? Isn’t Cannabis research-based cooperation in Jamaica the way forward? Let us then commend the University of the West Indies (UWI) and Medicinal Task Force for sponsoring the first Jamaica Cannabis Conference held this May. Let’s also congratulate both Strains of Hope and the UWI, which have recently signed off on a Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) that pertains to Cannabis research-based cooperation between the two entities. Furthermore, let’s use this opportunity to thank other organizers

protection from search of person and property (The Gleaner 2014).

and sponsors of the Jamaica Cannabis Conference such as Timeless Herbal Care ( Jamaica and Canada) and The University of Tel Aviv. It seems that Jamaica’s first Cannabis Conference convened by the UWI may hold the key that will unlock the sacred and once hidden mysteries of Cannabis in Jamaica through scientific research. It is now time for Jamaica to play ‘catch up,’ as medical Cannabis companies in Canada and elsewhere are also looking on. But as it further pertains to Jamaica amending its ‘Dangerous’ Drug Act, Minister Mark Golding has ascertained the development of formalized and tax-paying medical ganja and industrial hemp industries, from which Jamaica stands to derive significant economic benefits (The Gleaner 2014).

In regards to the significant economic benefits to be gained from a regulated Cannabis industry in Jamaica, Blaine Dowdle who is the chief executive officer at MedCannAccess, told The Gleaner earlier this year that “Canada is willing to purchase marijuana from Jamaica, a lucrative deal that could potentially earn billions of dollars for the country on an annual basis.” What this means is that the market price for quality grown organic Cannabis produced in Jamaica will be highly competitive, and this product is what Canada and other countries need.

Importantly, Gifford’s statement also reflects the hypocritical nature of international governments including Canada and the US who have criminalized Cannabis use even though there is little to zero statistics that associate its use with hospitalization. To note, Jamaica has one of the highest rates per square mile of automobile accidents in the world, and the Jamaican police have reported that there has been an increase in car accidents caused by drunken drivers. Also, recent international statistics have shown that alcohol and cigarette consumption has increased in most countries around the world despite their hospitalizing effects. Inevitably, there is an increase in various cancers among world citizens due to these totally legal and death threatening commercial products, alcohol (al’s cold heart) and cigarette (ciga death). In a poor country like Jamaica where one-third of the population is impoverished, why isn’t ganja

According to recent statistics from Canada’s medical marijuana program, there has been a 100 percent yearly increase in the number of patients.

Blaine Dowdle told The Gleaner that “We are expecting it to continue along that trend. That means within the next

four to five years, we should be able to supply between 400,000 to 500,000 patients…I’m here from Canada representing $50,000 sick patients right now who don’t have access to safe, reliable, inexpensive medicine. Lots of the people using medical marijuana in Canada are disabled, they are literally sick and don’t have a lot of money, and they do need lower-cost cannabis in Canada” (The Gleaner 2014). “Wake up Jamaica you are losing opportunities” (Theme for Jamaica Cannabis Conference 2014

by Medicinal Task Force Jamaica).

Though the government is seemingly making strategic steps towards the legalization of ganja, especially since Jamaica does not want to be left too far behind in what has already been deemed a lucrative ganja industry, there are still major concerns. While being mocked by Cannabis reform groups locally and internationally for allowing Uruguay get ahead of Jamaica in this legalization-of-Cannabis race, the US, despite Cannabis legalization in Colorado and Washington states, is reminding the country that it is a signatory to several international conventions on illicit drugs including the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 and amended in 1972, the Convention on Psychiatropic Substances of 1971 and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 {see. Cannabis Digest 38th Edition entitled Jamaican Culture vs. Legislation: The Decriminalization of Small Quantities of Ganja Is A Must}.

The contemplative question some Jamaicans are now asking is “which shall it be,” a multi-billion dollar Ganja industry or the IMF who has been a part of the strategy to keep the people “in de pen” and not independent! With increasing pressure coming from human rights groups and the Rastafari community for Jamaica’s legacy of abuse of power, the Jamaican government will soon need to consider how it is going to make Reparations. It is quite clear that the legalization of ganja is inevitably a way forward for both the Jamaican government and people. With 1.1 million Jamaicans living near or under the poverty line, a lucrative ganja industry is surely bound to solve the problem of poverty as it did in the 1940s and 50s at Pinnacle, St. Catherine, and again in the 1960s and 70s at Coptic, St. Thomas. With ganja as their main cash crop, the communities at Pinnacle and Coptic became independent of Jamaican colonial and neo-colonial society.

Thus, ganja production, consumption and marketing all became very normal and valuable among adherents of Rastafari. The Pinnacle and Coptic communes practiced the self-empowering Black social and economic principles of the Honorable Marcus Garvey, who is Jamaica’s first National Hero and whose organization, the UNIA, we will commemorate this year for its 100 years of persistence in the West. Such ex a m p l e s o f ‘e c o n o m i c l i v i t y ’ a t Pinnacle and Coptic can be used as perfect case s t u d i e s f o r r e s e a r c h a n d c ommunity reform in Jamaica.

Cannabis Digest • Summer 2014

20

C annabis I nteractions

Patient information about Cannabis and Prescription medications Nicholas Fraleigh Excerpt from the V-CBC guide

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annabis produces a fantastically wide array of different compounds, containing at least 489 distinct types.

Over 70 of these are produced exclusively within the cannabis plant . Each specific species has different proportions of these compounds, which are also effected by environmental factors during production and processing.

There is currently little available data on most of these compounds. We do know that many of them have some sort of physiological effect on humans when introduced to the blood stream.

When such a complex spectrum of bioactive agents is used in conjunction with other medications the possibility of a negative drug interaction is a legitimate concern.

A drug interaction is a situation in which the activity of a drug is affected by another substance (usually another drug) when both are administered together. Due to its broad range of effects, Cannabis can cause a variety of interaction effects with many over-thecounter and prescription medications, as well as most recreational drugs. This article contains a series of generalized guidelines intended to inform about possible side effects than can occur with the various major classes of drugs, followed by a non-exhaustive list of common prescription pharmaceuticals sold in Canada. *Under no circumstances should any person augment or substitute any prescribed medication with another registered drug or other (alternative, complementary or herbal) treatment without first consulting with a doctor. This article is intended solely as an introduction to the most common drug interactions and is by no means an exhaustive exploration of the possible dangers inherent in modifying an ongoing pharmaceutical regimen.

Depressants Central nervous system (CNS) depressants, sometimes referred to as sedatives and tranquilizers, are substances that slow both physiological processes and brain activity. This property makes their use common in the treatment of anxiety and sleep disorders. Most prescription pain medications have depressant effects in addition to their analgesic qualities. Alcohol and illegal recreational drugs such as ketamine and heroin (sometimes known as “downers”) also act as CNS depressants.

Cannabis can increase the effects of these substances in a synergistic (more than additive) manner. This can be both highly desirable and highly dangerous.

Lower doses of medications such as morphine can be used in association with cannabis to achieve a comparable amount of pain relief due to the magnification of both their effects. This same increase in effect is seen to some extent in all depressants. This can lead

to clumsiness, drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, emesis (vomiting) and loss of consciousness. Therefore, great care should be taken with dosage when combining cannabis with any sort of depressant.

Antiepileptic drugs Antiepileptic drugs (also known as antispasmodics or anticonvulsants) are a diverse group of pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of epileptic seizures.

They are also increasingly being used in the treatment of bipolar disorder, since many seem to act as mood stabilizers, and for the treatment of neuropathic pain.

Antiepileptic medications share memory loss related side effects with cannabis. Both in conjunction may increase the severity of these effects, increasing the likelihood of forgetting a timed dose of medication and therefore leading to the possibility of an increased number of seizures occurring.

Unfortunately, little is known about the interactions between many of these medications and cannabis. If the choice is made to introduce cannabis into a pre-existing regimen of antiepileptic drugs (especially combinations of such), great care should be taken to ensure a safe environment in the case of a seizure and to make careful note of any changes in the frequency or severity of any seizures experienced.

Stimulants CNS stimulants are substances that can increase physical activity, mental alertness and attention span. They are used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy, and the most commonly used recreational drug in the world (caffeine) is a stimulant. Excessive stimulant use can lead to tachycardia (abnormally fast heart rate) thus putting strain on the heart which can be dangerous for individuals with heart conditions. Cannabis can increase these effects when co-administered which is a potential danger for those with a history of heart disease.

Both stimulants and cannabis can sometimes exacerbate the symptoms of individuals with anxiety disorders. Thus, great care should be taken by sensitive individuals if they should choose to co-administer cannabis with any form of stimulant.

Antipsychotics Antipsychotics are a diverse class of psychiatric medications primarily used to manage psychosis, particularly in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and are increasingly being used in the management of non-psychotic disorders.

Relevant data in regards to interactions between these medications and cannabis is lacking. Recent evidence suggests that antipsychotic treatment may have effects within the endocan-

nabinoid system (the same system which cannabis exerts an effect).

However, the clinical relevance of this is unclear.

While studies show that many individuals who suffer from schizophrenia self-medicate with cannabis, the majority of current clinical data indicates an increase in the positive symptoms associated with schizophrenia (including delusions, hallucinations, and disordered thoughts) in association with cannabis use. For patients with established schizophrenia, cannabis use is clinically associated increased risk of relapse, and poorer adherence with antipsychotic treatment. For these reasons, cannabis use is generally contraindicated for individuals with schizophrenia. If the decision is made by an individual with any form of schizophrenia to begin administering cannabis, they should first consult with their mental health care professional and keep careful watch for the any negative effects.

Antidepressants Antidepressants are drugs used for the treatment of major depressive disorder and other conditions, including dysthymia, anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, chronic pain, neuropathic pain and, in some cases, dysmenorrhoea, snoring, migraines, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), substance abuse and sleep disorders.

The majority of antidepressants fall within the bounds of four categories: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs).

TCAs are of the most concern as they have been reported to cause tachycardia (abnormally fast heart rate) in a small but significant number of individuals.

There are also rare reports of tachycardia in association with SNRIs, but clinical data is currently lacking.

MAOIs are generally well tolerated in association with cannabis but have been anecdotally reported to mildly increase the cannabis’ psychotropic effects.

SSRIs generally do not interact with cannabis in any significant way.

Special note about psychiatric medications Psychiatric medications interact with the most sensitive and complex organ in the body: the brain. This means that it should come as no surprise that unforeseen interactions can occur between cannabis and these drugs (especially when one has been prescribed a variety of different medications). Whenever adding ANYTHING psychoactive to an ongoing therapeutic regimen, the individual should first consult their healthcare provider.

At the V-CBC we are well aware that your mental healthcare professional may be unwilling or unable to provide you with the information needed to make an educated choice about introducing cannabis into your medication regimen. We recommend against making such a move without professional advice. If you should choose to proceed regardless, during the first few weeks of cannabis use in conjunction with either an ongoing or newly initiated regimen of psychiatric medications, a close watch should be kept over yourself for any irrational thoughts, inappropriate emotional states, issues with sleeping, and any other unusual or undesirable side effects.

During this time it can be useful (both for yourself and your healthcare provider) to maintain a daily journal recording the timing of both when you administer your medications and the timing and duration of any possible side effects. Should any significant effects occur, immediately cease medicating with cannabis and consult your mental healthcare provider.

Conclusion Unfortunately, cannabis science is still in its infancy and there is a dearth of clinical evidence directly relating to possible interactions with specific pharmaceutical medications. Many participants in studies worldwide that have been designed to test aspects of the efficacy of cannabis for a variety of ailments were also using regimens of prescription pharmaceuticals and recreational drugs. The low numbers of serious adverse effects reported in these studies goes some way towards indicating the general lack of significant interactions between cannabis and a large variety of medications. Much of the rest of the information contained in this article is based off of anecdotal reports of the members of Canadian dispensaries, as well as those found online. These are imperfect sources of information but they are the best we have to work with right now. Hopefully the coming years will see the initiation of large scale clinical trials that increase our knowledge of possible drug interactions with cannabis, thus increasing both the safety and efficacy of this novel plant.

NOTE : Anyone who has information (clinical or anecdotal) that could be used to improve or add to this article should contact the V-CBC. We would love to add your expertise or experience to our growing body of knowledge.

Issue Number 41

www.CannabisDigest.ca

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Cannabis Digest • Summer 2014

Local ‘Kid Cannabis’ Gets No Credit H o l l y w o o d f a l l s o n Te d S m i t h

by Ted Smith

R

arely does an opportunity to act in a feature film fall into your lap. It is almost impossible then to be asked to virtually play yourself in the movie, even getting to introduce yourself, using your real name in your own place of business. An illegal business, to boot. This incredible scenario actually happened to me, but I am getting no credit for it!

When one of the producers first contacted me, it was not to ask me to play the part of the guy in the pot store.

He said the director thought it would be ironic to get a local activist to play the role of the sketchy guy that rips off the main characters! Apparently they went around Victoria looking for someone to play the weirdo and several people suggested they come see me.

As director, John Stockwell, first entered the store he immediately realized it was perfect for the scene.

We seemed to hit it off. He claimed that they wanted someone from the real cannabis industry in the movie because it would help to promote their work. In order to make sure the script was true to life, he sent me a copy to read and even improve upon if I saw fit. Everything appeared so good that I agreed to let them shoot the film in the club for free, and did not ask for money myself. It seemed like I was going to get a huge chance to forward my career.

After doing an audition for the sketch case, I was told that John wanted to change my role to the guy behind the counter, expanding on the original script so I could talk about selling cannabis more. That suited me just fine, especially when it was clear the director was encouraging me to get into the role. It felt almost like introducing a new member to the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club, the medical dispensary I had founded, except that there was no discussion of symptoms and pain management. My role was the dealer in the Holy Smoke in Nelson BC, a store that for a few years was able to sell cannabis over the counter to anyone who walked in the door that looked old enough. It was eventually shut down after gaining too much exposure in the media. The role was a natural for me.

Doing the scene in the club seemed a perfect fit, too. With few corporate logos anywhere and lots of original art, the crew that looked after designing the sets was actually disappointed they did not get a chance to decorate more.

Apparently when they had first seen the script it had appeared to them that the scene in the pot store would be a lot of fun. The only thing they had to work around was the fact we refused to interfere with the flow of the medicine, and made the crew show up at 8 am to start filming so the club could open at 10 am.

There were large trucks all down the

block with cables running out of them into the club. A catering tent was set up in front of a nearby seniors’ home.

My partner, Gayle Quin, was filmed on the front desk saying “hello” when the main characters first walked in, but that was not included in the movie.

You can see one of the staff, Minneh Kamua Bushby, as she walks past the main actors while they approach me, but everyone else in the film is an extra. The smoke viewers can see comes from a smoke machine, except

In an attempt to capture the expressions on the faces of the two young main characters the first time they walked into a pot store, the director had the actors wait outside until the scene was ready to shoot. We filmed the whole scene the first time with very few breaks. In the movie you can see the looks of surprise and wonder when I suddenly pull out a half pound of pot and shove it under their noses so they can smell it. These highflying actors from the states had likely

break in my career was so close to hitting the big screen.

When the movie was finally released in April this spring, it was one of the most bittersweet events of my life.

Instead of being released at theatres across the country, the film was only shown in Montreal and Toronto, plus select places across the USA. Though I wanted nothing more than to watch the film for the first time in a big theatre with a bunch of my friends, we were forced to resort to watching it on-line at home.

Watching Nate and Toffer, the main characters played by Jonathan Daniel Brown and Kenny Wormald, walking into the club in a movie is surreal.

When they come inside and walk up to the counter they look like kids in a candy store. While the whole scene is just over 2 minutes, the film gives a really good impression of what a local pot store would be like, except for the sketchy guy they leave with.

“My role was the dealer in the Holy Smoke in Nelson, BC”

for what is coming from the back room, where a few of us puffed down between shooting takes.

Though the director was doing his best to try to stop anyone from smoking real pot during the filming, the extras were keen to smoke some good stuff while they stood around the box waiting for things to roll along.

Between the smoke machine and the fact the store always smells like can-

nabis, he never seemed to catch on to how much puffing was actually going on. One of the film crew even kept coming to the back to sneak in tokes from us, as we thought it was our duty to smoke pretty much the whole time they were there.

Filming the scene was amazing. Since there was no script for my part of the scene, the director was happy to allow me to make up my lines on the spot.

He even encouraged me to talk about my book, holding it in front of the camera while I talked about some of the history of cannabis.

never seen near that much cannabis in someone’s hands before, and the movie captures their shock and joy at seeing such a big bag of beautiful buds.

It was over in a flash. A few members had to wait while the club got set up after the movie crew left, as taking down all of the cameras and getting everything out took longer than we expected. But soon all signs of the filmmakers was gone and it all seemed like a dream.

And dream I did. Thinking that I was

getting a chance to promote my book like that in a feature film made my head swell. All of those years of hard work seemed about to get rewarded with this one quick bolt of lightening, propelling me into fame and glory.

Since the director was insisting that I talk about my book in the scene, and talked repeatedly about how important that kind of information was to the movie, it looked like a sure thing.

Waiting for the movie to come out was easy because my life is so very busy. At the same time, though, it was driving me crazy that the biggest

Unfortunately the part of the scene where I promoted my book was not kept in the final cut. There is a brief close-up of the front cover.

It gets worse. Even though I introduce myself as Ted in the scene, I am not included in the list of actors and characters. They give credit to a number of other actors who played more minor roles, including a stripper, but no mention of me or the club appears in the credits. Even after letting them use the space for free, the VCBC gets ignored in news stories about the film which cite all of the other well-known locations in Victoria that appear in the movie.

This film focuses on a kid who got busted after a year of smuggling millions of dollars of pot across the Canada/USA border. The real irony for me is that, in the meantime, one of the actors in the film has successfully sold almost as much pot illegally in one of the actual sets featured in the film, but gets absolutely no mention at all. None.

As far as the film itself goes, Kid Cannabis is an entertaining story that accurately represents the industry and highlights the fact the USA punishes pot smugglers more than it does killers. Anyone watching the film with an open mind would see the futility in the war on cannabis. With lots of pretty girls, beautiful scenery and constant action, Kid Cannabis will be sure to entertain audiences for years to come.

Read: http://www.timescolonist.com/vancouver-island-grown-film-kid-cannabis-fuelled-by-irony-1.975546

Issue Number 41

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23

Cannabis and Diabetes Research shows Cannabis protective against Diabetes

night television ran ads showing an egg cooking in a frying pan; The announcer proclaimed “This is your brain on Dope. Any Questions?”

David B. Allen M.D.

I

n a study involving nearly 11,000 patients, The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination survey (NHANES III), reported in 2011, that Marijuana users had a 66% reduction in the incidence of Diabetes after adjustment for numerous potential confounding factors. This is just one of many new studies and patents that show a decreased incidence of diabetes in association with cannabis. immune system. Protecting the Beta cells from damage would seem a Many more studies need to be done better medical strategy, than treatbefore we know the true magnitude ing the patient for diabetes once the of this protection. There are virtually Beta cells are dead. no controlled double blinded (phase 3) medical trials, conducted in the Not all varieties of Cannabis conUnited States, for cannabis or other tain the Cannabinoid called CBD schedule one substances. Cannabis or Cannabidiol. CBD has been or its components, seems to have a proven, in experimental animal significant effect on decreasing the models,to protect the Beta cells of incidence and severity of diabetes, a the pancreas from oxidative and disease that involves the pancreas immunologic damage. This and its Beta cells. The Beta cells of protection allows the Beta cells to the pancreas are responsible for continue their job of secreting producing insulin which maintains insulin and lessens the chance of glucose regulation. These Beta cells developing diabetes. Apparently, can be damaged by both oxidative this effect is more pronounced when stress and attack by your own

cannabis is used early in life to protect the pancreas. As scientist, we should know the full extent of the medical effects of cannabis, but we don’t because of the lack of government approval for research. There is a reason for this. If you don’t know why read on.

In 1970, the Controlled Substance Act or CSA, made scientific research illegal for any drug listed in schedule one. Technically you could apply for permission from the government to study cannabis, but in reality, it was rarely given. This control over scientific study would limit any potential medical benefit from reaching the light of day. The National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) was responsible for making determinations on which studies would be approved. Since their focus was Drug Abuse they funded Drug Abuse science and not medical research. The approvals and funding went to Drug Abuse studies and other studies were rejected.

Millions if not Billions of dollars were spent on funding research into the harm caused by cannabis. After all that money was spent, there was little or no proof of any substantial harm associated with cannabis use. The government deliberately confused the issue by publicizing poorly conducted studies that were reported to prove harm.

‘I now have absolute proof that smoking even one marijuana cigarette is equal in brain damage to being on Bikini Island during an HBomb blast.’ – Ronald Reagan 1974 In 1974 a Heath/Tulane study, promoted by Ronald Reagan, attempted to prove brain damage from cannabis. The 1974 study was used by the government in a propaganda campaign to demonize marijuana. Ronald Reagan was quoted after the study ‘I now have absolute proof that smoking even one marijuana cigarette is equal in brain damage to being on Bikini Island during an H-Bomb blast.’ Late

After 6 years of refusal to provide details of the study, it was found that the study consisted of force feeding the monkeys, smoke equivalent to 63 joints in a 5 minute period. This had the effect of depriving the poor government tortured animals of oxygen. This lack of oxygen, not the marijuana, caused the brain damage.

If the (NHANES III) study on 11,000 patients is correct, that indeed, the use of cannabis reduces diabetes by 66%, then why are we not currently using cannabis for Diabetic management? If this finding is even close to being true, then cannabis is a miracle drug. No man made pharmaceutical reduces diabetes by even 1% so there are no pharmaceutical equivalents. The current medical system is geared for treatment and not prevention of disease. We make feign attempts at prevention of disease and profit from treating the disease once the diagnosis is made. What would happen if we reduced all complications from diabetes by 66%? Think of the financial impact of reducing renal dialysis or leg amputations caused by diabetes by 66%? If you owned a dialysis company you might be worried.

The government likes and demands the status quo. They want the money spent of medical care to continue to go to the people who now collect it. Cannabis is a game changer because the common man can produce it. Diabetes is just one of the many diseases cannabis helps with. The common man can maintain his health with a plant he can grow in the back yard, without the government profiting from his disease. The patent office will not accept any patent with false information on it. The issuance of a patent number, is proof the government considers what is in the submitted patent, the truth as we currently know it.

Cannabis Digest â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2014

15) SensibleBC, 11) NORML, 12) MAPS, 4) SkunkMagazine, 17) LeafScience, 20) CannabisDigest, 10) HuffingtonPost, 9)TreatingYourself, 22) Arizer, 6) Pax, 3) CannabisCulture, 19) HighTimes, 14) GWPharma, 16) MagicFlight, 2) PrariePlantSystems, 1) DutchPassion, 18) Tweed, 8) MedCanAccess, 6) PotTV, 7) VancouverSeedBank, 4) SensiSeeds, 5) CropKing, 13) HBI, 21) LiftMJ

Crossword Answers Check out Georgiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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.

FRIENDLY CANNABIS BUSINESSES

By Dieter MacPherson

HEMPOLOGY 101 CROSSWORD Issue Number 41

25

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Cannabis Digest • Summer 2014

CANNABIS CLUBS ACROSS CANADA AND THE U.S.A 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 VCBC 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 yourvisit. Please be discreet and polite when contacting another dispensary—you are representing the VCBC too!

Keep in mind: Some dispensaries have problems with supply and accessibility. The VCBC 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.

British Columbia VICTORIA CANNABIS BUYERS’ CLUB (VCBC) 826 Johnson St., Victoria Tel: 250-381-4220 Email: hempo101@gmail.com www.cbc-canada.ca NORTH ISLAND COMPASSION CLUB Tel:250-871-5207 OCEAN GROWN MEDICINAL SOCIETY 1725 Cook St Unit 1, Victoria Tel: 778-265-1009 VANCOUVER ISLAND COMPASSION SOCIETY 853 Cormorant St., Victoria Tel:250-381-8427 Fax: 250-381-8423 BC COMPASSION CLUB SOCIETY 2995 Commercial Drive, Vancouver Tel:604-875-0448 Fax: 604-875-6083 Email: info@thecompassionclub.org website: www.thecompassionclub.org GREEN CROSS SOCIETY OF B.C. 2127 Kingsway, Vancouver Tel: 778-785-0370 Fax:778-785-0477 www.greencrossofbc.org VANCOUVER MEDICINAL CANNABIS DISPENSARY 880 East Hastings St. Tel: 604-255-1844 Fax: 604-255-1845 West End location: 1182 Thurlow St. Email: c.dispensary@gmail.com www.cannabisdispensary.ca YALETOWN MEDICAL DISPENSARY 1281 Howe St., Vancouver TEL: (604) 566-9051 FAX: (604) 558-2879 www.yaletownmedicaldispensary.com VAN CITY MEDICINAL SOCIETY 1594 Kingsway, Vancouver Tel: (604) 875-0002 Email: vcmsofficial@gmail.com MED POT NOW SOCIETY 4170 Fraser St. , Vancouver Tel: (604) 569-2119 www.medpotnow.com

THE HEALING TREE 529 East Hastings St., Vancouver Tel: 604-569-1091 http://delta9medical.ca/ RedMed 231 Abbott St., Vancouver Tel: 604-559-9444 Canna Clinic 758 East Broadway, Vancouver Tel: 604-558-2454 Pacific CannaMed Society 1259 Kingsway, Vancouver Tel: 604-558-3225 Pacafic CannaMed Society (2nd location) 8546 Granville St., Vancouver, BC Tel: 604-563-3250 T.A.G.G.S 11696 - 224th St., Maple Ridge, BC Tel: 604-477-0557 Fax: 604-477-0575 Email: taggs420@live.com NELSON COMPASSION CLUB #203-602 Josephine St. Nelsom, BC Tel: 250-354-4206 Email: nelsoncompassion@yahoo.ca BE KIND OKANAGAN GROWERS AND COMPASSION CLUB. 288 Hwy. #33 West Rutland, BC (Kelowna) Tel: 778-753-5959 Fax: 778-753-5755 Vernon Location: Email: bekindok@hotmail.com www.okanagancompassionclub.com WESTCOAST MEDICANN 2931 Cambie St., Vancouver, BC. Tel: 604-558-2266 www.westcoastmedicann.com PAIN MANAGEMNT SOCIETY 2137 Commercial Drive. Vancouver Tel: 604-215-4551 Fax: 1-888-684-6906 www.painmanagementsociety.org

EDEN MEDICINAL SOCIETY 161 E. PENDER, Vancouver Tel: 604-568-9337 637 E. HASTINGS, Vancouver Tel: 604-568-9337 www.myeden.ca

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 TORONTO COMPASSION CENTRE Tel: 416-668-6337 Fax: 416-461-7116 Email: postmaster@torontocompassioncentre.org www.torontocompassioncentre.org

MEDCANNACCESS Tel: 416-253-1021 Fax: 416-253-1428 Email: info@medcannaccess.org www.medcannaccess.org RAINBOW MEDICAL CANNABIS CANADA Toronto, Ontario Tel: 416-927-8639 www.rainbowmedicinalcannabis.ca MEDICAL COMPASSION CLINIC 66 Wellesley St E 2nd Fl, Toronto Ontario Tel: 647-291-0420 www.medicalcompassionclinic.com

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>

Issue Number 41

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