VIU hempology club says it aims to dispel myths surrounding cannabis plants

BY WALTER CORDERY
Source: canada.com

Members of Vancouver Island University's Hempology 101 club held a symposium Sunday to explain the medicinal and other benefits of hemp.

The purpose of the second Cannabis Convention at VIU was to try to educate the public about misinformation the club believes is disseminated to the public.

VIU hempology club president Amie Gravell said many people think of hemp, or cannabis, as something that people use recreationally or medicinally. She would like the public to know of the natural benefits hemp offers. "There are myriad of ways that hemp can be used - from medicinal marijuana to increasing an individual's Omega 3 fatty acids by eating hemp seeds," Gravell said.

Hemp can also be used for making long-lasting strong ropes, she said.

"What this conference is about is to provide a space for the public to learn how beneficial hemp can be."

It was also about exposing media bias and how the mainstream media reports RCMP press releases about marijuana arrests as fact.

To argue this, the VIU hempology club brought in Andrew Brown, the editor of Cannabis Digest and a former VIU student.

Brown, who graduated from VIU with a degree in journalism and creative writing, started smoking pot when he was a teenager. He founded the hempology club at VIU while he was a student.

He said one of his main concerns is how arrests from marijuana-growing operations are reported.

"You can tell that the journalist is just taking the police at their word without really investigating, anytime you see that a growop raid netted the cops 1,000 pot plants worth $100,000 you should be skeptical. There's no way it's worth that much.

"The story doesn't say how mature the plants were."

He strongly urged the approximately 50 audience members at VIU to fight the federal government's C-10 - the so-called omnibus crime bill - that will make growing six cannabis plants a criminal offence.

Ted Smith, another speaker at the convention, is the president of the International Hempology 101 Society.

He said the society continues to grow.

"We have clubs on campuses across the country from New Brunswick to B.C.," Smith said.

Africa: Natural Fibres Key to Environment and Tackling Poverty

Press Release
Source: allafrica.com

"The natural fibres sector has great potential to become an engine of growth," Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Ransford Smith

Experts from 21 Commonwealth countries heard how natural fibre production is necessary in tackling poverty and preventing environmental degradation, at the Global Natural Fibre Forum (GNFF) in Africa earlier this month.

Speaking at the symposium held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, from 7 to 9 March 2012, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Ransford Smith said: "It is essential to advocate the shift from synthetic towards using natural fibres due to their significant role in environment protection and sustainable development.

"Looking into Africa, the majority of people live in the rural areas and are dependent on agriculture, which incidentally produces almost all natural fibres harvested in the developing world."

The Commonwealth Secretariat hosted the meeting in partnership with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of South Africa and other private sector partners.

This regional gathering is the first to address challenges facing producers and processors of natural fibres, which directly supports the livelihoods of millions of people worldwide.

Natural fibres better support sustainable production and consumption and are crucial to environmental sustainability and a lighter carbon footprint. For thousands of years people all over the world have used fibres from plants and animals to make cloth, string, paper, and to strengthen building materials. But with the increasing use of synthetic fibres since the 1960's, natural fibres farmers and small producers have lost significant market share. According to the GNFF, roughly 30 million tonnes of natural fibres are produced annually worldwide.

It brought together fibre producers, processors, researchers and scientists and industry representatives to explore possibilities of working together.

Live demonstrations included fibre extraction and fibre conversion and its application to different industries such as packaging, biofuels, bio composites, construction, handicraft, foods, cosmetics, health and textiles industries.

"We believe that the fibres sector has great potential to become an engine of growth and given the right support through capacity-building and product development programmes, it can drive rural industrialisation," Mr Smith said.

A number of experts made presentations at the seminar on how small producers and farmers could increase their income through natural fibres.

Chairperson of the South African Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Lulu Johnson, Chairperson of House of Hemp Dr Mamphela Ramphele and Dr Thulane Dlamini from the CSIR addressed delegates.

GNFF Regional Consultant Dr Thandeka R Kunene presented research findings on types of natural fibres, their current and potential uses and proposed intervention programmes that could help producers to increase their production of natural fibres.

Experts also highlighted the importance of creating value at each level of the production process including: farming, extraction, processing, waste use, product manufacturing, marketing and distribution.

The fibres discussed included hemp, kenaf, sisal, banana, grass, bamboo, coir, wool, mohair, silk, cashmere and cotton.

Several key results were achieved including the formation of support teams toaddress areas such as training and product development. The African chapter ofthe GNFF was also launched at the event and Tanzania has been tasked withco-ordinating the GNFF Secretariat.

The GNFF is a worldwide network that collects and distributes information around the use and economic value of natural fibres and how these can be used as a critical source for small and medium sized enterprises, farmers and poorrural communities to uplift their livelihoods.

Participants at the March forum were drawn from: Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Experts also came from Canada, India and the United Kingdom.

Innovate Eastern Cape, House of Hemp, OCTAGON Marketing, Expo Solutions and NEPAD were among the private sector partners involved.

Hemp Thief publicly whipped

By Chris Owen
Source: portsmouth.co.uk

On this day in 1804 Henry Clear, having served three months in prison for stealing hemp from the Dockyard, was publicly whipped ‘from the Dockyard to the north corner of Gunwharf’ to complete his punishment. An accomplice was transported for seven years.

Another man, having stolen three iron bolts weighing 10lbs, was ordered to receive 40 lashes at the Dockyard gate with the bolts tied around his neck throughout.

Between 1698 and 1781, records show that 120 men and 98 women were whipped in Portsmouth as part of their sentences.

A few were punished for begging, but the vast majority had been convicted of theft – from John Sadden’s The Portsmouth Book of Days.

Lily Cole now Body Shop ambassador

By Leanne Delap
Source: thestar.com

Lily Cole, the new brand advocate of The Body Shop, is pictured at the launch 
of a new Beauty Movement by The Body Shop, Beauty With Heart on March 22.

Lily Cole offers me her long, delicate ivory hand and the only thing I can say is “But it is so soft!”

Cole, the British model and actress of the flame-red curls and teacup-saucer eyes, doesn’t miss a beat in her newly announced role as global ambassador for the Body Shop replies, “Hemp Intensive Hand Butter. I just went to Ghana to see where they source the Community Fair Trade shea and cocoa butters.”

Note perfect, and exactly why Cole is an unusual fit for an unusual company. The Body Shop hired the eco and social justice activist, Vogue cover model and actress (her The Moth Diaries, shot in Montreal, hits screens this year) to bring the spotlight back to the company’s own longtime social activism. She will be the face of the Body Shop’s Beauty With Heart “beauty movement” as well as the Lily Cole Cruelty Free makeup range, to be launched in June.

Body Shop has always banned animal testing on its products since late founder Anita Roddick launched what is now a 2,400 store phenomenon in some 60 plus countries. (The brand was sold to L’Oréal after Roddick’s death). But Cole’s line will bring attention back to the brand’s first principals. For example, the pretty pink cases feature ladybug wallpaper, drawing attention to the fact that ground-up insect shells are often used in cosmetics pigments.

But it is Cole’s activist passions that mesh with the company’s commitments, from environmental, human rights and animal protection grants through the corporate foundation to a grassroots company-wide push on volunteerism and a serious commercial commitment to Community Fair Trade. d.

Cole’s top pick, the Hemp Intensive Hand Butter, $18, features the Ghanian butters, plus CFT hemp sourced from England, Brazil nut oil from Peru and beeswax and honey from Ethiopia. Each product is produced through locally-run co-ops and purchased at a fair living wage rate that goes directly to the small farmers and funds local water, education and health projects.

We shouldn’t need a supermodel to tell us to do good in the world, but her pretty hands are pretty persuasive. Thus you have a well-travelled magic elixir to make one’s own humble mitts look a little less well-travelled.

Hemp Intensive Hand Butter, $18. Available at www.thebodyshop.ca.

Snoop Dogg Combines Smoke and Song in Branded (hemp) Product

Source: adage.com

Here's a great gift for the 420 and Snoop fans in your life.

Snoop Dogg's Smokable Songbook is a promotional item for the rapper's Kingsize Slim Rolling Papers. Created out of Pereira & O'Dell, the book's pages are made out of rolling paper, with the lyrics of Snoop's most popular songs written on them in nontoxic ink.

In a promotional video, the rapper says you can use the book, which is made entirely out of hemp materials, for "whatever you have or however you have it." And for doing so on the go, the spine is a matchbox surface.

For more on this work and full creative credits, visit Creativity-Online.com.

Legislative notebook: No Hemp Farming in Minnesota

By: Don Davis
Source: pinejournal.com

No hemp farming

Minnesota farmers still will not be able to grow hemp, the House decided Friday on a 74-52 vote.

When considering what otherwise was a noncontroversial farm bill, Rep. Phyllis Kahn, DFL-Minneapolis, offered an amendment to allow hemp farming once the federal government approves it.

Kahn said Minnesota farmers should have the same ability as those in North Dakota to grow the product that can be used for paper, fuel and other products.

“One of the favorite lotions that I have is made out of hemp,” Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, said, holding up a bottle of the product.

Northwestern Minnesota is a good place to grow hemp, added Rep. Kent Eken, DFL-Twin Valley, saying it would give farmers in his area another commodity they could grow to make money.

However, bill sponsor Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, said the proposal should have been considered by the Agriculture Committee, not by the full House.

Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder, said law enforcement agencies oppose the hemp proposal because of its close relationship with marijuana.

Representatives also turned down attempts to allow a wider sale of raw milk and to urge the federal government to drop Cuba trade sanctions.

Breakthrough Survey on Medical Cannabis Use Created by Harborside with Beckley Foundation UK

Press Release
Source: prweb.com/releases

Harborside Health Center, in collaboration with UK research organization The Beckley Foundation and University College London, has initiated a pioneering survey to investigate, for the first time, the effectiveness of cannabis in treating different medical symptoms and conditions.

Oakland, CA (PRWEB) March 31, 2012

An estimated 5 million people legally use medical cannabis in the 16 states (plus the District of Columbia) that have approved medical cannabis laws. However, the United States federal government classifies the plant as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act, resulting in federal obstruction of cannabis research. This classification makes it extremely difficult to get approval and funding for studies into the efficacy of cannabis and creates a barrier for professionals who wish to recommend cannabis treatment to millions of individuals.

Frustrated by this stalemate, the nation’s leading medical cannabis provider, Harborside Health Center of Oakland, California, is looking beyond the US, and has joined up with the Beckley Foundation, the highly respected UK institution dedicated to health-oriented drug policy reform and scientific research into controlled substances, to design an in-depth patient survey on medical cannabis use. Professors from University College London will review and analyze the data obtained from the survey.

“The federal government’s continued assertion that cannabis has no medical use—which study after study has shown not to be true—has made it nearly impossible to conduct the kinds of careful scientific studies we would like to perform in order to best serve the 104,000 patients who rely on us to treat an incredibly wide range of ailments,” says Steve DeAngelo, the Executive Director of Harborside. “Fortunately, we have found enthusiastic partners at the Beckley Foundation who are as eager to see the results as we are.”

Among other things, results will reveal which types (like cannabis flower buds or cannabis infused edible products), which species (such as Sativa or Indica), which strains of cannabis, and what cannabinoid contents (like THC and CBD ratios) are found by patients to be the best for treating specific medical conditions and symptoms. The survey asks patients about their current medical cannabis use, medical cannabis use in general, and how medical cannabis compares to other treatments such as pharmaceuticals. The survey intends to build the leading database of information on the effectiveness of differing strains of cannabis and cannabinoid contents in managing differing symptoms and conditions.

The study was designed by Dr. David Schwartzman, of the Beckley Foundation, and Jennifer Janichek, MA, of Harborside’s Substance Use & Misuse Clinical Services Program. It was reviewed by Lady Amanda Feilding, founder of the Beckley Foundation; Steve DeAngelo of Harborside; and Prof. Valery Curran, from University College London’s Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit.

The Beckley Foundation is the leading UK think tank that promotes the scientific investigation of consciousness and its modulation from a multidisciplinary perspective, and the reform of global drug policy in order to reflect a more rational, evidence-based, cost-effective approach that shifts the emphasis from criminalization to health and human rights. http://www.BeckleyFoundation.org.

Lady Amanda Feilding founded the Beckley Foundation in 1998 with the purpose of investigating how psychoactive substances work, and what is the best way for society to control their inevitable presence. She has built up a collaborative network of leading scientists around the world, with whom she works on a wide range of projects. Key studies involving cannabis include research into the physiological effects of THC, the therapeutic potential of CBD, and the chemical content of differing strains of cannabis in medical use. She also convened the blueprint on cannabis control, co-published with Oxford University Press: “Cannabis Policy: Moving Beyond Stalemate.” This important work by the world's leading drug policy analysts concludes that cannabis prohibition policies have comprehensively failed and outlines alternative policies from decriminalization to a strictly regulated legal market.

Steve DeAngelo, Executive Director of Harborside Health Center, is a cannabis industry leader, movement strategist and lifelong activist. Steve founded Steep Hill, the first cannabis testing lab, and pioneered CBD-rich medicine. Steve writes and speaks widely on the subject of cannabis, and his creation of the world’s model medical cannabis dispensary has been extensively covered in national and international news media. His past accomplishments include organizing I-59, Washington D.C.’s medical cannabis initiative; Hemp Tour, which brought hemp to the heartland; and Ecolution, Inc., which produced hemp garments and accessories from 1990-2000. A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Maryland, Steve is a founding, charter member of Americans for Safe Access and the star of the Discovery Channel series “Weed Wars.”

The University College London’s Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit (CPU) researches how drugs act on the brain to influence human cognition, behavior and emotion. Using classic behavioral and neuropsychological tools as well as psychophysiological recordings and neuroimaging, CPU studies the short- and long-term effects of drugs used medically and those used “recreationally.”

All Harborside patients are asked to fill out the confidential and anonymous online questionnaire, which can be found at http://cannabisstudy.com/. The survey will be ongoing.

“The more patients we hear from, the stronger the results. We ask that patients contribute to this groundbreaking research so that we can utilize patient experience and knowledge to increase our understanding of the medical applications of cannabis,” states Janichek.

About Harborside Health Center
Founded by national cannabis leader Steve DeAngelo in 2006, Harborside Health Center is the nation's largest not-for-profit model medical cannabis dispensary. The Oakland medicinal cannabis collective offers its 104,000 registered patients free holistic healing services, lab-tested medicine and education. Harborside was featured on the Discovery Channel's miniseries "Weed Wars" in December of 2011.

"Out of the shadows and into the light" epitomizes DeAngelo's mission to enlighten the public on the many medicinal and therapeutic benefits of the plant and actively works to empower the country to change its image of medical marijuana.

For more information about the Oakland holistic healing center, call (510) 533-0146 or visithttp://www.harborsidehealthcenter.com/.