Mj news for 07/21/2015

[7greeneyes]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/plan-first-ever-marijuana-tv-ad-pulled-colorado-station-n395976

Planned First-Ever Marijuana TV Ad Pulled From Colorado Station​

The first television ad for a marijuana product, set to run on a local Colorado station Tuesday night, was abruptly pulled from the lineup over legal concerns.

The 15-second spot for Neos, which makes "vape pens" infused with cannabis oil, was scheduled to air on Denver ABC affiliate KMGH before the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show, a Neos representative told NBC News last week.

But Scripps, the parent company of Denver station KMGH, decided that the commercial shouldn't run, said Valerie Miller, a Scripps communications manager.

The local station had previously approved the spot, but then told Cannabrand, the marketing company representing Neos, that the ad would be put on hold indefinitely "as ABC corporate investigates the legality of airing a 'federally illegal' substance on federal airwaves," a Cannabrand statement said. Recreational marijuana is legal in Colorado but not on a federal level.

The agency made sure that the commercial adhered to local laws by not showing the vape pen or the marijuana oil that goes into it, Paige Janulewicz, the director of media relations for Cannabrand, told NBC News.

Local laws also require that marijuana ads can only run if 70 percent of the audience is over 21, which is why Cannabrand and the ABC affiliate chose the Kimmel timeslot when 97 percent of the audience is over 21, according to a Cannabrand statement which cited Neilson.

Scripps said in a statement that the ad was pulled because the company has "concerns about the lack of clarity around federal regulations that govern broadcast involving such ads."

"We're interested to see how this all unfolds, as this is unchartered territory for the industry," said the statement from Cannabrand.

Janulewicz added that Cannabrand would be working with the Marijuana Enforcement Division of Colorado to "try to find a way where we can get more distinct guidelines about what kind of television advertising we can and cannot do."

 

[7greeneyes]

http://ski.curbed.com/archives/2015/07/the-town-of-vail-is-poised-to-ban-marijuana.php

The Town of Vail, Colorado is Poised to Ban Marijuana​

Vail's temporary ban on retail marijuana could become permanent very soon. Although 2012's Amendment 64 legalized the recreational use of pot, towns and counties were still allowed to impose their own bans. In the Vail Valley, retail operations were allowed in unincorporated Eagle County and the town of Eagle, but the Vail Town Council has never permitted recreational sales. Now, after the Vail Town Council passed yet another extension of a 2014 moratorium banning pot shops, the council will consider a permanent ban.

Opponents of recreational marijuana in Vail say that the drug is available in Eagle-Vail, only a short jaunt on up the highway. Others fear that sales of marijuana in town could have a negative effect on tourism. Proponents of retail sales in Vail argue that it will add to the region's already booming economy.

Currently, Vail is the only major ski-resort town that bans retail operations, although other towns (like Breckenridge) have limited where shops can operate. Curious as to where you can buy pot in the high country? Check out our handy map, over here.

 

[7greeneyes]

http://www.newsweek.com/washington-passes-open-container-law-marijuana-355837

Washington Passes Open Container Law for Marijuana​

In Washington state, where recreational marijuana use is legal, drivers will soon be required to remove roaches from their motor coaches.

A new state law, House Bill 1276, will update the state's open container laws for vehicles to include marijuana. The law stipulates that marijuana, like alcohol, must be kept in the trunk of a vehicle, in an unopened container, or in another part of the passenger cabin "not normally occupied or directly accessible by" the driver or passengers.

The law, signed by Governor Jay Inslee on June 30, will take effect September 26.

The law also restores the state's ability to automatically suspend a driver's license if a blood test reveals the driver to be under the influence of marijuana, The Associated Press reports.

Washington made small amounts of marijuana legal for recreational use in 2012 with a ballot measure allowing the state to regulate and tax sales. In 2014, the state brought in $70 million in tax revenue from marijuana sales, according to CNN.

 

[7greeneyes]

http://www.oregonlive.com/marijuana/index.ssf/2015/07/marijuana_industry_wrestles_wi.html

Marijuana industry wrestles with pesticide use​

ENVER — Microscopic bugs and mildew can destroy a marijuana operation faster than any police raid. And because the crop has been illegal for so long, neither growers nor scientists have any reliable research to help fight the infestations.

As legal marijuana moves from basements and backwoods to warehouses and commercial fields, the mold and spider mites that once ruined only a few plants at a time can now quickly create a multimillion-dollar crisis for growers.

Some are turning to industrial-strength chemicals, raising concerns about safety.

(Read The Oregonian/OregonLive's investigation into widespread pesticide contamination of medical marijuana sold at dispesnaries: A tainted high: Lax state rules, inconsistent lab practices and inaccurate test results put pesticide-laced pot on dispensary shelves.)

Pesticides and herbicides are regulated by the federal government, which still regards almost all marijuana as an illicit crop, so there's no roadmap to help pot farmers.

Chemists and horticulturalists can't offer much assistance either. They sometimes disagree about how to combat the problem, largely because the plant is used in many different ways — smoked, eaten and sometimes rubbed on the skin.

"We have an industry that's been illegal for so many years that there's no research. There's no guidelines. There's nothing," said Frank Conrad, lab director for Colorado Green Lab, a pot-testing lab in Denver.

In states that regulate marijuana, officials are just starting to draft rules governing safe levels of chemicals. So far, there have been no reports of any human illness traced to chemicals used on marijuana, but worries persist.

In Oregon, unregulated marijuana labs are charged with carrying out pesticide testing on products that are sold in medical marijuana dispensaries.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which will oversee the regulated recreational industry, established a committee that will propose rules for how marijuana labs operate. That committee is scheduled to take up the issue of pesticide testing at its Aug. 5 meeting.

The city of Denver this spring quarantined tens of thousands of marijuana plants at 11 growing facilities after health inspectors suspected use of unauthorized pesticides. Some of the plants were later released after tests revealed the pot was safe, but two producers voluntarily destroyed their plants. Eight businesses have still at least some plants in quarantine.

In Oregon, a June investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive found pesticides in excess of legal limits on concentrated marijuana oils. Other pesticides detected on the marijuana are not regulated by Oregon's marijuana rules, meaning that products containing those chemicals still can be sold.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which decides which pesticides can be used on which crops, recently told Colorado and Washington authorities that they could apply to have some cannabis-related chemicals approved through what's called a "special local need registration."

But that process could take years. Colorado and Oregon require retail marijuana to undergo testing for pesticides and other contaminants. But as the Oregon investigation showed, testing standards are imperfect.

And Colorado hasn't yet implemented requirements for retail pot to undergo pesticide testing because of regulatory delays. Washington state is still working on its pesticide rules.

The nation's largest marijuana producer, California, has no regulations for growing commercial pot.

"It's a lot more difficult than it sounds, and it's expensive," Washington Liquor Control Board spokesman Brian Smith said about testing for pesticides.

As a result, unscrupulous pot growers can use banned chemicals with little chance of being caught.

"We were taken by surprise, this whole pesticide issue," said Ashley Kilroy, Denver's director of marijuana policy.

She was talking to a room of about 200 pot-industry workers invited to lunch earlier this month to learn about pesticide quarantines and rules. What the growers heard wasn't encouraging.

"There is no federal agency that will recognize this as a legitimate crop," said Whitney Cranshaw, a Colorado State University entomologist and pesticide expert. "Regulators just bury their heads, and as a result, pest-management information regarding this crop devolves to Internet chats and hearsay."

Marijuana growers are indeed guessing when they treat their plants.

For example, one of the chemicals cited in the Denver quarantines, a fungicide called Eagle 20 EW, is commonly used on grapes and hops but can become dangerous when heated and is banned for use on tobacco.

No research exists on whether the fungicide is safe to use on pot that will be eaten.

Several pot growers interviewed by The Associated Press agreed that research is needed on pesticides for pot. But they pointed out that pesticides are widely used on food crops, and that weed consumers have never before had as much information about the marijuana they buy.

"It's just like broccoli or spinach or peaches or anything. The plant is susceptible to certain pests," said Gabriel Fairorth, cultivation manager for Denver's Herbal Remedies.

Fairorth does not use any banned chemicals on his plants and was not affected by the quarantines, but he questioned some of the banned chemicals.

"If you have all these chemicals that are safe on products you eat, but you can't use them on marijuana, I don't know that I agree with that."

The founder of the nation's oldest marijuana-legalization advocacy group, Keith Stroup of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, pointed out that regulators today are at least starting to look at marijuana safety.

In the 1980s, the federal government used an herbicide called paraquat to kill illicit marijuana crops, even though the poison had been banned from national forests because of environmental concerns.

NORML complained to the White House that some of that weed survived and was turning up on the street.

"The response was, 'It's illegal and we don't have an obligation not to poison it,'" Stroup recalled. "No one was taking us seriously."

Recent actions by states with legal weed have been encouraging, if slow, he said.

"The idea that it's been on the black market and people are fine so therefore we don't need testing is absurd," Stroup said. "No one would want to be using a product that has molds or pesticides."

 

[7greeneyes]

http://www.westword.com/news/inside-bill-to-expunge-some-federal-marijuana-crimes-6937656

INSIDE BILL TO EXPUNGE SOME FEDERAL MARIJUANA CRIMES​

Oregon House Representative Earl Blumenauer plans to introduce a bill to Congress today that would clear and expunge particular federal marijuana offenses that are no longer illegal in a number of states across the country — but some marijuana activists are skeptical of how many people it would actually help.

The Clean Slate for Marijuana Offenses Act of 2015 would clear criminals records of those who were federally charged with marijuana activity that was state-legal at the time and those who were federally charged with possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. Bluemenauer, a supporter of cannabis legalization at the federal level, attacked what he calls "failed prohibition" in a prepared statement.

"I support legalizing marijuana at the federal level to put a stop to any state-federal conflicts once and for all, but it is also important that we create pathways for expungement for those who should never have been charged in the first place," he said.

Since 2012, four states (Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon) have legalized adult-use cannabis and approved a regulated system for selling and taxing the plant; twenty states have decriminalized personal possession of small amounts. Of the 693,482 arrested in 2013 for a marijuana law violation, 609,423 were cited for possession according to the Drug Policy Alliance, an anti-drug war organization.

That doesn't mean over 600,000 people would have their records cleared if Blumenaur's bill passes, however. As Mason Tvert, Communications Director for the Marijuana Policy Project, points out, most possession arrests are done at the state, not federal, level.

"The bill is well-intentioned and we certainly support it," Tvert says. "But unfortunately, I don’t think it will accomplish as much as people would like it to. There's just not a huge number of people that this would effect. People aren’t usually charged for marijuana possession, especially with less than an ounce, at the federal level."

Tvert says his organization backs any bill that clears the records of minor cannabis offenders, but he offered a simpler approach for lawmakers: "Just stop busting people for marijuana."

Denver cannabis attorney Rob Corry echoes Tvert's feelings.

“I strongly support this legislation, although it should go farther," Corry says in an e-mail. "It is the American Way to forgive and forget and afford good people second chances. Felony convictions are too often used to permanently exclude good people from jobs, housing, and other opportunities."

Corry also had some choice words for the clemency work of Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper.

"Governor Hickenlooper’s failure to exercise his constitutional powers of pardon and commutation to show mercy for marijuana POWs (disproportionately poor, black, and brown people) while feeding at the trough of marijuana taxes will be perhaps the worst lingering stain on his otherwise-adequate political legacy," he maintains.

Hickenlooper, who said he would reverse Amendment 64's results if he could in 2012, recently told a panel he has changed in his mind over the past two years-plus. But that hasn't led to any marijuana prisoners receiving a pardon. Some Colorado pot prisoners were a little more fortunate in 2012, when Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett and Denver DA Mitch Morrissey both directed their offices to drop standing marijuana cases against those whose actions became legal once Amendment 64 was singed into law.

While Blumenauer admits the numbers of federal marijuana possession charges are annually low in his bill announcement, the Congressman hopes introducing the bill today will create a precedent at the federal level that states will follow. His bill summary reads, "Over seven million people have been arrested with marijuana possession when totaling state, federal and local law enforcement statistics over the past 10 years." He adds that the bill "also sends a strong signal to state and local jurisdictions that allowing a pathway for expungement for certain marijuana offenders should happen at all levels of law enforcement."

 

[7greeneyes]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/marijuana-broken-bones_55ad1e24e4b0d2ded39f7bef

Marijuana Ingredient Can Help Heal Broken Bones, Study Says​

Scientists in Israel are exploring another medical use for marijuana: Their research indicates that a compound in the plant helps heal bone fractures.

The new study, published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, found that broken bones healed faster and stronger when the patient received the non-psychoactive compound cannabidiol, or CBD.

"We found that CBD alone makes bones stronger during healing, enhancing the maturation of the collagenous matrix, which provides the basis for new mineralization of bone tissue," said Dr. Yankel Gabet, one of the lead researchers, in a statement. "After being treated with CBD, the healed bone will be harder to break in the future."

Researchers administered CBD to a group of rats with mid-femoral fractures. After just eight weeks, they saw marked improvement in the broken bones. They injected another group of rats with a mixture of CBD and THC, marijuana's psychoactive ingredient. Comparing the results, they concluded that CBD alone was an effective treatment.

Researchers explained that humans have a naturally occurring endocannabinoid system, which regulates a number of physiological processes as well as the skeleton. The human brain and body are thus prepped to be responsive to cannabinoids, even those from an outside source like marijuana.

Gabet of the Bone Research Laboratory at Tel Aviv University and the late professor Itai Bab of the Bone Laboratory at Hebrew University led the research.

A number of studies in recent years have demonstrated the medical potential of marijuana. Purified forms of cannabis have been tied to better blood sugar control and may help slow the spread of HIV. A growing body of research suggests CBD may also be effective in reducing inflammation brought on by multiple sclerosis, stopping metastasis in many kinds of aggressive cancer, killing cancerous cells in people with leukemia and serving as an alternative antipsychotic treatment.

"The clinical potential of cannabinoid-related compounds is simply undeniable at this point," Gabet said.

Seventeen U.S. states have legalized CBD for limited medical use or research, and 23 other states have more broadly legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Still, the federal government continues to ban the plant, classifying it as one of the "most dangerous" drugs with "no currently accepted medical use."

 

[7greeneyes]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...cannabis-users-green-light-to-grow-drugs.html

(UK) Police force gives cannabis users green light to grow drugs​

Cannabis users in County Durham who grow the drug for their own consumption will no longer be targeted by the police after the force declared the illegal activity was not a priority.

In a move, which will be seen as a further step towards decriminalisation, Durham Constabulary declared it would only go after people using the drug if there was a complaint or if they were being “blatant”.

While the force insisted it would continue to tackle commercial cannabis farms and other areas of criminality associated with the production of the drug, those who grow and use at home will not be actively targeted and pursued.

Details of the policy were outlined by Ron Hogg, a former police officer and now the £70,000 a year Police and Crime Commissioner, who said he hoped by setting out the position, it would spark a national debate around drug laws.

Mr Hogg said: "We are not prioritising people who have a small number of cannabis plants for their own use. In low level cases we say it is better to work with them and put them in a position where they can recover.

"In these cases the most likely way of dealing with them would be with a caution and by taking the plants away and disposing of them. It is unlikely that a case like that would be brought before a court.

"Of course it is up to the government to change the law but I trying to open up a debate about drugs and drugs policy."

Both Mr Hogg and his Chief Constable, Mick Barton, are outspoken advocates of the decriminalisation of all narcotics, but the softening of the position around cannabis has alarmed some anti-drugs campaigners.

Outlining how the force would now tackle cannabis users, Mr Hogg said anyone caught with the Class B drug, would be given the opportunity to avoid prosecution by signing up to a crime reduction initiative.

He said the programme would allow addicts to receive the help they needed, while allowing people caught with small amounts of the drug to be treated in a “fair and measured” way.

However anti-drug campaigners said it was not up to an individual force to “lead the debate around the law” and insisted the policy sent the wrong message to users.

David Raynes of the National Drug Prevention Alliance, said: “Durham Constabulary are out on their own with this and are trying to lead the law on this issue.

“If the Chief Constable and Police Crime Commissioner want to indulge in that policy then it is not necessary to make it public, because clearly making this sort of announcement will serve to encourage anyone who so minded.

Setting out the force's position on the controversial issue of drugs, Mr Hogg said: “By and large we are saying it is not the top of our list to go out and try to pick up people smoking joints on street corners but if it’s blatant or we get complaints, officers will act.”

He added: “Drugs cause immense harm to our communities. The question is how we tackle them. There hasn’t been a change in policy. We are taking an approach which reduces harm – by focusing on stopping people from using drugs, and tackling the organised gangs who are the source of the supply.

“Those who grow or deal in drugs, no matter on what scale, are responsible for causing massive harm to our communities, and will be tackled.”

And he said there would be no soft approach for those who grew the drug commercially, adding: “The police are working with partners including the fire service to identify and tackle cannabis farms.”

Last year Chief Constable Mick Barton argued that investigating and prosecuting drug addicts was a “waste of police time”.

He has called for the decriminalisation of hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine, arguing that if they were supplied on the NHS, addicts would not need to go out and commit crime in order to buy illegal narcotics.

Cannabis and the law

• Cannabis is categorised as a Class B drug and anyone caught in possession could face up to five years in prison, as well as an unlimited fine.

• Anyone convicted of the production and supply of cannabis could face up to 14-years in prison as well as an unlimited fine.

• Police forces are able to apply the law as they see fit with some areas taking a more lenient approach to drug use. In 2001 police in Lambeth, south London, trialled a scheme where people caught smoking the drug simply had it confiscated and received a warning. The system was tightened up in 2002.

 

[7greeneyes]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gt...bis-cultivation-begins-in-illinois-2015-07-21

GTSO Readies New Products as Cannabis Cultivation Begins in Illinois​

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jul 21, 2015 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- As Green Technology Solutions, Inc. GTSO, +1.05% prepares to deliver cutting-edge products and services to capitalize on the nationwide boom in the cannabis industry, an important new market opened up last week. Horticulture is now underway at Illinois’ first state-sanctioned medical cannabis cultivation center.

The Chicago Tribune and other outlets reported last week that Ataraxia in southeastern Illinois received state authorization to start cultivating cannabis this month and has begun farming, with plans to make a range of products available by October. When Ataraxia reaches full-scale production, it will grow cannabis year-round at its 52,000-square-foot facility in the city of Albion.

Illinois is one of a rapidly growing number of states to authorize the cultivation of medicinal cannabis. GTSO is working quickly to capitalize on the boom in demand for cannabis products and services by developing a new line of edible and horticultural offerings.


“There is a tremendous momentum behind the U.S. cannabis industry,” said GTSO CEO Wallace W. Browne. “The growth potential of this industry is currently incalculable.”

GTSO acquired innovative cannabis edibles developer Elevated Industries last month in order to deliver new edible products tailored to increasingly sophisticated cannabis businesses and consumers in Colorado. GTSO is also catering to the rapidly growing business-to-business sector of the state’s cannabis economy by working to establish a trusted and reliable cannabis testing lab to help ensure that retailers and their patients can be sure of exactly what they are purchasing.

As the nationwide market for cannabis continues to grow, GTSO plans to keep building new tools to help wholesalers and retailers guarantee their edible products’ potency, consistency and safety to their customers.

About Green Technology Solutions, Inc.

Green Technology Solutions, Inc., which provides business support, delivery system products and horticultural technology support, continually introduces new products and services, enabling it to compete alongside GW Pharmaceuticals GWPRF, -2.58% INSYS Therapeutics, Inc. INSY, +0.14% and ENDEXX Corp. EDXC, +20.76% and others in a booming industry expected to be $10 billion by 2018. A growth-oriented company, Green Technology Solutions Inc. (GTSO) explores the fast-growing cannabis market for resources, including but not limited to rare earth elements, precious metals and herbal supplements. For more information, visit www.gtsoresources.com/investors.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements that include the words “believes,” “expects,” “anticipate” or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition, description of anyone’s past success, either financial or strategic, is no guarantee of future success. This news release speaks as of the date first set forth above and the company assumes no responsibility to update the information included herein for events occurring after the date hereof.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150721005580/en/

SOURCE: Green Technology Solutions, Inc.

Green Technology Solutions, Inc.
Wallace W. Browne, 408-432-7285
President and CEO
[email protected]