Int'l Affairs: The "Weed Ticket" How Clinton and Trump line up on cannabis

By the time you read this, the 2 US Presidential candidates will have completed the second, and arguably most pivotal, debate of this already remarkable Election Cycle.

To those of my countrymen, and others, who would insist on asking what the US Election has to do with us here in Jamaica - there are many simple answers: More than half the Jamaican diaspora resides in the US, more than half of Jamaica's nearly 3 million visitors bear a U.S. passport, and the US is still our largest export market - including for one commodity in particular that won't show up on the official trade balance computations of economists.

Weed. Marijuana. Cannabis. Ganja. Pot. Chronic. Hallowed. Storied. Plant of many names. Much travelled and, until fairly recently, much maligned in the Government circles of both the US (where it is still classified at the Federal level as a dangerous drug) and Jmaica, where legislation passed last year rremoved the "dangerous drug" classification and gave fiato to a butrgeoning medical marijuana industry spurred in large part by developments in the US.     All this notwithstanding the pioneering work of Dr Calvin Lockhart and the late Dr Manley West in developing Canasol (and asthmasol).

Interestingly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, the question of "Mary Jane" has scarcely come up during this bitter battle for the White House, and the very latest bombshell of Trump's impertinent (but frankly , familiar) comments a decade ago about being able to force himself on women by virtue of his position (then) as a "star" is just the latest in a string of personality and character questions for both candidates that - with the help of the media - have crowded out a lot of the less "soundbite-worthy" issues if you will.

 And make no mistake, dealing with the "new dispensation of marijuana" is a serious issue, on many fronts. On the purely economic side, marijuana is THE proverbial elephant in the US political room. Legal marijuana revenues to private interests topped US$4billion in 2015. Beginning with Colorado, four states plus the US Federal capital (Washington DC) have already made the recreational use of marijuana legal. Altogether, nine more states have marijuana Propositions on their ballots for next month, five specifically addressing recreational use. These include California, the most populous state in the US, as well as neighbouring Nevada - home to arguably the world's recreational hub in Las Vegas.

 Clearly, the greater the spread of legalization, the greater the opportunities for Jamaican marijuana- even though its generally accepted that the plant is grown, and used, in every US state (including Alaska, one of the four to already have legalization). At a time when the Jamaican Government desperately needs a solid income source, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Tourism must undoubtedly be watching this "Green Revolution" in the US with considerable glee.

But the implications go way beyond trade and the Government. In this nascent period of "legal weed" the socio-cultural outcomes of marijuana acceptance are just being seen, much less examined. Will this men an end to "sniffer dogs" greeting Jamaicans deplaning at US airports? (of course. cocaine trafficking remains a serious problem). Will it mean an end to jail time for countless Jamaicans, and other minorities and foreign nationals previously held on possession and "attempting to export" or "dealing in"as worded in the Police Communications press releases? Will non-smokers accommodate the spliffs to any lesser or greater degree than they do the cigarettes and cigars? These are but a few of the questions that will arise as the use of cannabis, whether for medical or recreational purposes, or any combination thereof, broadens.

So, where exactly do the candidates stand on this issue Clinton, in a 2015 interview with Christiane Amanpour, says she prefers to wait and see what outcomes the existing medical marijuana regimes produce before going any further. New York, which she represented as Senator, has medical marijuana, with restrictions.Arkansas, where her political career began with her husband, who, by his own admission, has at least a passing acquaintance with recreational marijuana use, does not.



Trump meanwhile, has taken a familiar cop-out; no doubt taking note of the wave of support, "the Donald" who initially opposed marijuana legalization said, also in 2015, that it should be  a "state-by-state" issue. No doubt, his running mate, Indiana Governor and ultra-conservative Mike Pence will have something to say about that before it comes to his state. Trump surrogate and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, said in i his own failed Presidential bid, that he would repeal marijuana legalizations if he were to get to the White House. Its anyone's guess as to whether that stance contributed to him now being on the sideline.

Its also anyone's guess, for now, as to how the next President will deal with marijuana once they are in the Oval Office. Hopefully someone in tonight's Town Hall-style showdown will get past the infidelities and the lewd comments and pose the weed question to either candidate.

Whether or not, we here should be watching, with great interest.

Lifestyle: Damian Marley "Frees Up" a former prison as a Pot Farm

Damian Marley has announced that he, in partnership with Ocean Grown Extracts, is converting a former 77,000 square foot California State prison into a cannabis grow space that will cultivate medical marijuana for state dispensaries.
"Many people sacrificed so much for the herb over the years who got locked up," says Marley, 38, noting the poetic justice of turning a prison that once housed non-violent drug offenders into a cannabis cultivation facility. "If this [venture] helps people and it's used for medicinal purposes and inspires people, it's a success."

Damian Marley Opening Colorado Weed Dispensary

By that measure, the prison-to-pot farm initiative is already a triumph. With their purchase of the Claremont Custody Center in Coalinga, CA for $4.1 million, Marley and his partners instantly relieved the economically-challenged Central Valley town of its roughly $3.3 million debt. The venture will also generate 100 jobs -- in an economically stagnant region plagued by an ongoing, historic drought and descending oil prices, both of which have damaged the region's traditional farming and oil industries -- and will generate an estimated million dollars in annual tax revenues for Coalinga.

The new business began "in a very organic way," says Dan Dalton, Marley's longtime manager. "Cannabis is something that's around Damian every day with friends, family and with his Rastafarian faith. We've watched people who have sacrificed their lives for it. That injustice has motivated us to be advocates as well as knowing that there are healing properties in cannabis."

Marley today also announced the introduction of Speak Life, a proprietary strain of cannabis he created with Ocean Grown. The strain is based on the company's lauded OG Kush, but altered genetically with the help of a Ph.D trained chemist at who helped cultivate the unique breed.
"The OG has always been my favorite," says Marley, who met with the chemist while making Speak Life. "When they introduced this strain of OG I really loved it and loved its consistency." The bud is a hybrid made of 70 percent indica and 30 percent sativa, and is hand-watered and trimmed.
Marley and his partners are prepared for the "green rush" should California's Proposition 64 -- which would legalize cannabis for adult recreational use -- passes in November, as the polls seem to indicate. And California isn't alone in reconsidering marijuana's legality, either. Voters in seven other states will choose whether to legalize recreational and/or medical marijuana -- Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada could approve the use of recreational pot; Arkansas, Florida, and North Dakota will decide on legalizing medical marijuana, which a status the plant has been assigned in 25 states and the District of Columbia.

Music: Ganja trumps Jazz (for now) t legendary California record store

Founded in Berkeley, California, Amoeba Music has established itself as one of America's most iconic music store chains. With three locations across the state, co-founder David Prinz says its Los Angeles store alone brings in $20 million in annual revenue.
It's original location on Telegraph Avenue, however, has seen revenues plummet by 50 percent over the past decade. Thanks to the initial rise of pirating services like Napster and LimeWire, and then legal streaming services like Spotify, students in the local area stopped buying records and CDs.
But financial trouble is not unique to Amoeba; Telegraph Avenue is blighted and its local economy has been in decline for years. Since the 1990s, sales at stores along Telegraph have dropped over 40 percent, Dave Fogarty, Berkeley economic development project coordinator, told San Francisco Chronicle in 2013. Prinz, who started Amoeba with Marc Weinstein in 1990, said they needed to create a new revenue stream to prevent the Berkeley shop from closing. It's rescuer? Medical marijuana.

Four and a half years ago, as the medical marijuana business started to show its muscles in California, Prinz and Weinstein decided to convert its once-popular 3,000 square foot jazz room into a marijuana dispensary. After submitting an application last fall, the founders finally received approval last week from the city of Berkeley for a license to sell medical marijuana. Prinz says the dispensary, which will be a totally separate space with its own entrance, will open by May 2017. "Marijuana will save Amoeba Music in Berkeley," says Prinz.
This isn't Amoeba's first foray in marijuana. Since April 2014, its San Francisco location has been running a medical marijuana recommendation clinic with Dr. Samuel Dismond. The clinic, which does not sell marijuana, sees about 50 patients a day who consult with the doctor and leave with a recommendation to use cannabis.
"The clinic helps us continue to pay the rent and helps us pay our employees," Prinz said. "But the dispensary is going to be more lucrative."

The Berkeley location will sell marijuana and THC-infused products. Because Prinz and Weinstein have never sold marijuana before, they partnered with longtime advocate and marijuana entrepreneur Debby Goldsberry. She's also a founder of Berkeley Patients Group, a respected cannabis supplier and dispensary operating since 1999. (BPG is seen as a model for the industry--it pays millions in taxes, follows rules and regulations, and donates to the poor.)
"I don't think we could've kept Amoeba Berkeley going without this. Our store in Berkeley took the biggest hit; college kids are the first to find out how to get music for free," says Prinz. "I think we'll see the college kids come back again once the dispensary opens."

Prinz says they invested about $500,000 in total for the license, and to keep the store open. The dispensary will not grow its own marijuana, but instead purchase the cannabis from farmers in Northern California. He says he's been flooded by interest from growers who want to help stock Amoeba's shelves with weed.
Twenty years ago, Rolling Stone said we built the best record store," says Prinz. "We think we'll be able to do that for this industry--my goal is to build the best dispensary in the world." He hopes to bring the "Amoeba experience" to the dispensary, which will be called the Berkeley Compassionate Care Center. (If the shop ever becomes recreational, Prinz says they will call it "AmoeBuds.")

The impetus for the dispensary was to save the business, but Prinz and Weinstein say there was another motivating factor: Rasputin Music has been on Telegraph Avenue since 1971, decades before Amoeba Music moved in across the street. Founded by Ken Sarachan, Rasputin watched record store after record store bite the dust.
To honor the fallen record shops, the store made a tote bag with a cemetery illustration, featuring tombstones with the names of every record stores that went out of business in the area: Tower Records, Sam Goody, Odyssey Record, Music Land, Peach's, Moby Disc, Rough Trade, Rainbow "Twenty years ago, Rolling Stone said we built the best record store," says Prinz. "We think we'll be able to do that for this industry--my goal is to build the best dispensary in the world." He hopes to bring the "Amoeba experience" to the dispensary, which will be called the Berkeley Compassionate Care Center. (If the shop ever becomes recreational, Prinz says they will call it "AmoeBuds.")
The impetus for the dispensary was to save the business, but Prinz and Weinstein say there was another motivating factor: Rasputin Music has been on Telegraph Avenue since 1971, decades before Amoeba Music moved in across the street. Founded by Ken Sarachan, Rasputin watched record store after record store bite the dust.
To honor the fallen record shops, the store made a tote bag with a cemetery illustration, featuring tombstones with the names of every record stores that went out of business in the area: Tower Records, Sam Goody, Odyssey Record, Music Land, Peach's, Moby Disc, Rough Trade, Rainbow tombstones with the names of every record stores that went out of business in the area: Tower Records, Sam Goody, Odyssey Record, Music Land, Peach's, Moby Disc, Rough Trade, Rainbow Records, Star Records, Aron's, and more.
"I care about Berkeley, I care about Telegraph, I care about the kids, the patients, but we will not end up on that bag," said Prinz, half joking. "I paid over half a million dollars so we don't end up on that bag."
Rasputin and Amoeba have been locked in an epic feud for 26 years--ever since Weinstein quit working at Rasputin and opened up shop across the street. "We are fighting to keep our store open, we are fighting to keep our employees' jobs," says Prinz. "We think marijuana will help us continue the fight."

the Word on Weed #5: Mass Roots, cannabis company

- from Fast Company

At first glance, MassRoots is just like any other technology company in America. The Denver-based social platform for marijuana enthusiasts boasts an open-concept, loft-style office filled with 33 talented programmers, developers, and sales staff.

But beneath the surface there’s something unique about working at a pot startup, and it has little to do with the fact that employees are often permitted to consume the substance on the job.

America’s pot entrepreneurs are defining the working culture of the newly budding industry, a culture that exists in the nexus of social mission, financial opportunity, and typical startup life.

"Everyone here believes cannabis should be legalized for economic reasons, for social reasons, for moral reasons, so there's a tremendous amount of passion," says Isaac Dietrich, the company’s CEO and cofounder. "A lot of us also consume, and are very in touch with the cannabis plant, so it's something we're all very passionate about and want to move the cause forward."

Though there is certainly an element of advocacy, innovating in a brand new industry is also a rare and exciting opportunity for employees, explains cofounder Stewart Fortier.

A wide variety of pot-themed tech companies now service the licensed medicinal marijuana users of 23 states, and Washington D.C., as well as residents of the four states that have legalized recreational consumption. There is now a marijuana-friendly short-term home rental company called Bud and Breakfast, as well as a number of websites and applications for reviewing strains and dispensaries, including Leafly and WeedMaps. In 2014 the industry was valued at $2.7 billion, but it is expected to grow to an $11 billion industry by 2019.

Te Word on Weed #3

From 1850 to 1942, marijuana was listed in the United States Pharmacopoeia as a useful medicine for nausea, rheumatism, and labor pains and could be purchased from pharmacies and general stores.

n the ancient world, hemp was a common agricultural crop — harvested for its high-protein seeds, oil, and fiber used for rope and clothes. Hemp is one variety of the Cannabis plant, but it doesn’t have the same mind-altering effects as marijuana.

In ancient China and elsewhere in the world, however, hemp was grown for food and had hundreds of other uses — so it was only natural for people to discover that other types of the Cannabis plant could be used medicinally. The spread of medicinal cannabis first started in China, then traveled throughout Asia into the Middle East and Africa. In ancient times, cannabis was used to alleviate pain and treat various conditions. But doctors also warned against using it too much, as they believed it could cause people to “see demons.”

2737 B.C. According to Chinese legend, Emperor Shen Neng was one of the first major leaders in the ancient world to officially prescribe marijuana tea to treat various illnesses — including gout, rheumatism, malaria, and poor memory, according to Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence.

2000-1400 B.C. Compared to the Western world and even other parts of Asia like China and Japan, India had always remained closely tied to cannabis use — medicinally, religiously, recreationally, and spiritually. Cannabis was and continues to be mixed into special drinks that are used for simple enjoyment but also for medical reasons. One of the most popular of these drinks is bhang — a mix of cannabis paste (made from the buds and leaves), milk, ghee, and spices.

MEDIEVAL

Throughout the Middle Ages, cannabis was a widely popular drug in the Middle East. Because wine was forbidden in Islam, many Muslims turned to smoke hashish — the Arab word for marijuana — also known as “grass.” It was also used in traditional Arabic medicine.

Cannabis is listed in the Vienna Dioscurides, an illuminated manuscript in Greek that provides a scientific encyclopedia of animals and plants.Wikimedia

100-1000s A.D. During the Middle Ages in Europe, cannabis may not have been a religious or spiritual hallucinogen like it was in India, but it was still integrated in folk medicine. Cannabis was used to treat tumors, cough, and jaundice. Interestingly enough, medieval physicians and herbalists still warned of using cannabis excessively — believing that too much could cause sterility and other harmful conditions.

MODERN

1500s. The Spanish brought cannabis to South America, but during the North American colonization, there was only hemp — used for practical purposes like clothes, bagging, paper, and ropes for the maritime industry. The hemp industry largely relied on slave labor, and cannabis wasn’t introduced to America as a psychoactive or medicinal drug until years later.

Late 1700s. At this point in time, some American medical journals were suggesting using hemp seeds and roots to treat various health problems, including skin inflammation and incontinence. William O’Shaughnessy was an Irish doctor in the British East India Company who touted medical marijuana’s benefits for rheumatism and nausea in England and America.

1906. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is created to prevent another morphine addiction crisis — as many people were becoming addicted to heroin, opium, and morphine, which weren’t properly regulated. The FDA mainly controlled opium and morphine during this time, and not so much marijuana, but its creation signaled a big shift in drug policy in America.

During this time, Mexican immigrants entering the U.S. introduced marijuana to the country (and the word "marijuana" itself likely originated in Mexico), popularizing the recreational use of the drug more. However, many Americans saw those who smoked weed as debaucherous and troublesome, associating cannabis with “lower class” criminality.

1914. Drug use, under the Harrison Act, is officially declared a crime.

1937. By now, 23 states have outlawed marijuana. The government also passes the Marihuana Tax Act, making the use of non-medical weed illegal. Cannabis was still used in various medical treatments, albeit in controlled forms.

1970. Marijuana was categorized as a Schedule I drug along with more dangerous ones, and was listed as having no accepted medical use. Despite the fact that some early American medical journals had begun listing the medical uses of cannabis, the government restricted any further research into it until more recently.

As of April 2015, 23 states in the U.S. have legalized medical cannabis, but only people with certain qualifications can obtain it. That will usually entail children with epileptic conditions, or sometimes cancer patients who use cannabis to ease the side effects of chemotherapy or radiation. Some states allow patients with HIV/AIDs, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, or even Crohn’s disease to obtain medical cannabis.

The Word on Weed #2: Anslinger's War

 Marijuana has been in an “official” state of prohibition since 1937-s Marijuana Tax Act (in the United States). Because, among other reasons, it made supposedly white women desire black men.

Maia Szalavitz has a great takedowen of pundits like Tina Brown and David Brooks, who recently made specious claims that marijuana makes you stupider. Brown actually said Americans who smoke pot won't be able to "compete" with the Chinese. Her moment of xenophobia wasn't out of keeping with the history of anti-pot rhetoric.

Writes Szalavitz:

The truth is that our perceptions of marijuana—and in fact all of our drug laws—are based on early 20th century racism and "science" circa the Jim Crow era. In the early decades of the 20th century, the drug was linked to Mexican immigrants and black jazzmen, who were seen as potentially dangerous.

Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (an early predecessor of the DEA), was one of the driving forces behind pot prohibition. He pushed it for explicitly racist reasons, saying, "Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men," and:

"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others."

The main reason to prohibit marijuana, he said was "its effect on the degenerate races." (And god forbid women should sleep with entertainers!)

Although it sounds absurd now, it was this type of propaganda that caused the drug to be outlawed in 1937—along with support from the Hearst newspapers, which ran ads calling marijuana "the assassin of youth" and published stories about how it led to violence and insanity. Anslinger remained as head of federal narcotics efforts as late as 1962, whereafter he spread his poisonous message to the world as the American representative to the U.N. for drug policy for a further two years.

Before marijuana was made illegal, the American Medical Association'sopposition to prohibition was ignored, as was an earlier report on marijuana in India by the British government, which did not find marijuana to be particularly addictive or dangerous. That "Indian Hemp Drugs Committee" reporthad concluded way back in 1894 that, "The moderate use of hemp drugs is practically attended by no evil results at all."

The Word on Weed #1

No one has ever overdosed or died from smoking too much weed. In the history of mankind.

While prescription painkillers cause thousands of overdose deaths each year, no one has ever died from a marijuana overdose.

But is it even possible to overdose on weed? The answer is no, according to the National Cancer Institute. And here’s why:

“Because cannabinoid receptors, unlike opioid receptors, are not located in the brainstem areas controlling respiration, lethal overdoses from Cannabis and cannabinoids do not occur.”

n other words, marijuana and opioids affect different pathways of the body. Opioid pathways, also known as receptors, are present in areas of the brain that control breathing. As a result, taking too many painkillers can cause a person to stop breathing.

But marijuana acts on a completely different set of pathways. These pathways are called cannabinoid receptors and they do not affect respiration. Thus, marijuana cannot cause someone to stop breathing, no matter how much they ingest.

Another way of measuring a drug’s safety is by its therapeutic index. The therapeutic index is the ratio between a drug’s lethal dose and its therapeutic dose (amount that causes a therapeutic effect).

Studies show that marijuana has a therapeutic index of 40,000:1. This means someone would have to take 40,000 times the normal amount of marijuana in order to die.

Opioid-based painkillers have much lower therapeutic indexes. For example, the therapeutic index of morphine is only 70:1.

The Word on Weed #1

No one has ever overdosed or died from smoking too much weed. In the history of mankind.

While prescription painkillers cause thousands of overdose deaths each year, no one has ever died from a marijuana overdose.

But is it even possible to overdose on weed? The answer is no, according to the National Cancer Institute. And here’s why:

“Because cannabinoid receptors, unlike opioid receptors, are not located in the brainstem areas controlling respiration, lethal overdoses from Cannabis and cannabinoids do not occur.”

n other words, marijuana and opioids affect different pathways of the body. Opioid pathways, also known as receptors, are present in areas of the brain that control breathing. As a result, taking too many painkillers can cause a person to stop breathing.

But marijuana acts on a completely different set of pathways. These pathways are called cannabinoid receptors and they do not affect respiration. Thus, marijuana cannot cause someone to stop breathing, no matter how much they ingest.

Another way of measuring a drug’s safety is by its therapeutic index. The therapeutic index is the ratio between a drug’s lethal dose and its therapeutic dose (amount that causes a therapeutic effect).

Studies show that marijuana has a therapeutic index of 40,000:1. This means someone would have to take 40,000 times the normal amount of marijuana in order to die.

Opioid-based painkillers have much lower therapeutic indexes. For example, the therapeutic index of morphine is only 70:1.

Album review: Jah Mason extols the natural life on "Love and Wisdom"

One of the more unassuming members of the roots reggae camp, Manchesterian and proud "farmer" Jah Mason reaches the point of elder statesman with this, his 19th (or20th, depending on where you look) full-length disc. While undoubtedly older and arguably wiser, the "Princess Gone" star has not, thankfully, become quieter,  and his wisdom is "tempered" by a fair level of indignation.

That anger and concern comes through on a three-song stretch just past the mid-point of this 16-track production, released on the US-based New Creations label. "From Wah Day"  and Trouble on Your Shoulder" address the age-old Rasta burden of State corruption in refreshing ways, while "Every Likkle Mek A Mukkle" adapts the age-old Jamaican folk saying to advocate for self-reliance and the concentration of economic power to lift communities.

the stridency is a neat counterpoint to the songs of love and experience that start the disc off, following the almost obligatory repeat of his signature hit "Princess Gone", done here in a stripped down remix. "Baby Come Back Home" Cant Get You Off My Mind" and "Girl You Know You Are" follow in quick succession.

Elsewhere, there are other tracks that follow now familiar rubrics; "Cant Stop The Herbs" while as self-explanatory as they come, now has renewed relevance in Jamaica's still evolving post-Prohibition marijuana culture. "Can You Feel My Pain" is the standard sufferers' anthem, while "Polluting the System" continues the worthy advocacy of "grow what you eat" that has been the hallmark of Rasta ideology from the get-go.

What takes these tracks out the realm of the all-too-familiar is Mason's trademark delivery; by turns sly, compassionate, sardonic and carefree, he infuses the tracks with an unforced energy and the production, while uniformly excellent, is deliberately unobtrusive, resolutely in service of an artist who is clear, confident and fully engaged in the task at hand.

Love and Wisdom then, puts Jah Mason squarely in the company of acts who deliver on expectations, definitely not a bad thing in an increasingly uncertain world.

Next Stop on the "Weed Legal Train": Cali 2016?

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