Evan Wood, a physician and professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia, is the founder of the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy. His Prop. 19 commentary appears in the Los Angeles Times. ========== People on both sides of the marijuana legalization debate have strong feelings about Proposition 19, the California ballot initiative that promises to regulate, control and tax cannabis. But science and empirical research have been given short shrift in the discussion. That’s unfortunate, because the U.S. government has actually funded excellent research on the subject, and it suggests that [...]
Reporting from Vancouver, Canada — For years, his seed catalogs were scrutinized by discerning cannabis cultivators across the U.S. and Canada, much like the ladies of Cumbria might fuss over Chiltern’s inventories of sweet peas and heirloom tomatoes. There was Blue Heaven pot, capable of producing a “euphoric, anti-anxiety high,” or Crown Royal, whose “flower tops come to a flat golden crown, sparkling with gems of THC,” or Hawaiian Sativa, with its “menthol flavor that tingles the taste buds and tickles the brain.” The difference between Marc Emery’s pot seeds and countless others on the [...]
Vancouver’s Prince of Pot Marc Emery pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle Monday to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. As part of a plea bargain, Emery, 52, must serve five years in prison for selling marijuana seeds to U.S. customers through his business, Marc Emery Direct. He will remain in custody at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac until sentencing on Aug. 27, the Vancouver Sun reports. Emery’s wife, Jodie, said the deal is the best of his limited options. “It’s unfortunate that a five-year sentence is what we want for Marc, but the [...]
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Workers near Alberta, Canada, recently harvesed three-metre-tall hemp plants grown for industrial fiber. “The Alberta Research Council (ARC) is working to help hemp find its way into everything from homes to cars to clothes,” reports Troy Media Corp., an independent Canadian content provider. “It’s part of a campaign to see our agriculture and forestry industries compete in the global push for sustainable products.” “ARC is evaluating hemp as a fibre crop for mature, large-scale industries looking for green products,” ARC crop and plant physiologist, Jan Slaski was quoted as saying in the article. “Alberta’s soil [...]
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