With an extraordinary number of Americans suffering, the door has opened to understanding and treating the pain of drug use rather than apply brute force.
While the opioid crisis didn’t begin in this decade, it did accelerate to unprecedented heights, with record-breaking death rates leading to a drop in life expectancy.
This much we know: Americans like to do drugs. That might explain why a prescient headline in the satirical publication The Onion stands as one of the most enduring comments on American drug enforcement — “Drugs Win Drug War.”
There are ongoing arrests for cannabis and deep racial disparities among those detained, but the change in the trend line is profound.
While that article was published in 1998, it was only during the past decade that its parody devolved into grim reality. In many ways, this reality has been an aching nadir, with more lives lost annually to overdoses than AIDS, gun violence and car crashes. But this past decade also brought its highs (pun intended): Recreational marijuana prohibitions started to fall in a domestic domino effect as one state after another accepted that it was pointless to criminalize the use of such a widely consumed drug. And at root, it is this shifting attitude on the role of the criminal justice system in prosecuting drug use that signifies the most fundamental change in our love-hate relationship with controlled substances.
Though far from over, the War on Drugs has felt more like a tug of war across this past decade rather than a righteous crusade, with reformers trying to fend off the country’s prohibitionist impulse as it makes a last-gasp effort to ramp up arrests and enhance penalties. And the reformers have public opinion on their side — the decade comes to an end with a majority of Americans favoring a more compassionate approach than locking users up. The criminalization of drug use is both out of step with what people want and what the evidence shows to work; in fits and starts, policy, policing and the law are finally starting to catch up.
Will County Deputies say they observed a speeding vehicle with an obstructed license plate near Joliet’s Houbolt Road.
(Image via Will County Sheriff )
JOLIET, IL — The Will County Sheriff’s Office is looking to arrest people who are transporting illegal drugs into their community. On Monday, the sheriff’s office publicized one weekend arrest near Joliet that resulted in the seizure of 48,732 grams of THC oil from a car near Houbolt Road.
Sheriff’s deputies say they stopped the car because its license plate was obstructed. The driver, Ali Alkhreisha, age 21, was from Bellflower, California. “Sheriff’s deputies, along with K-9 partner, Malice, conducted a search. Malice positively alerted to the vehicle where cardboard boxes containing 31 mason jars with 48,732 grams of THC Oil was found,” police said.
In addition, 47 grams of cannabis and a THC vape pen was also located, authorities said.Patch
The California man was put in handcuffs and hauled off to the Will County Jail on charges of driving while license suspended, delivery/manufacture of cannabis over 30 grams, possession of cannabis over 5,000 grams.
Ali Alkhreisha, Will County Jail mugshot
The day before, on Friday, Dec. 20, Will County police say they stopped a Michigan speeder who kept changing lanes without signaling on I-80 near Joliet’s Chicago Street. After searching the car belonging to Aubrey Honeycutt, 32, authorities say they confiscated nine vacuum-sealed bags containing 20,989.4 grams of THC wax and one vacuum-sealed bag containing 10 cannabis joints in a duffel bag.
Honeycutt was taken to the Will County Jail and charged with delivery/manufacture of cannabis over 10 grams and possession of cannabis over 100 grams, improper lane usage, speeding, and improper passing.
Founded in 1936 by the nationalizing of a 13 company strong industry, British Sugar now a private PLC annually produces over 1.4 million tons of ingredient sugar in the UK. They are also the sole processor of the UK’s entire beet sugar crop giving them an arguably unfair monopoly over the British sugar industry as a whole. Today the company is part of AB Sugar – one of the largest international sugar corporate conglomerates, which is itself wholly owned by international food, ingredients and retail group, Associated British Foods plc (ABF).
In this article, we will explore the links between British Sugar – a registered private company in the UK – and the current ruling British conservative government.
Over the last few decades, British Sugar has diversified from just producing and processing sugar beet, into creatively utilizing it’s excess and waste energy byproducts to produce a variety of horticultural crops.
In a statement from 2016, Managing Director of British Sugar Paul Kenward said; “Sixteen years ago we realised we could use some of the heat and waste carbon dioxide generated in our Wissington sugar factory to develop a horticultural business. During this time, we have invested in our world‐class facilities and developed our expertise to deliver consistent, high-quality crops season after season” adding that “The decision to switch from tomatoes to marijuana was in part to help treat a ‘debilitating childhood disease”.
The condition that Mr. Kenward was referring to was Dravets syndrome – a rare form of epilepsy that causes severe medication-resistant seizures that begin in the first year of life in an otherwise healthy and happy child. It has been known for many years that Cannabis can greatly help reduce seizures and help manage the most dangerous symptoms of Epilepsy.
British sugar announced on October 25th, 2016 that it had won a contract with the UK-based GW Pharmaceuticals and approval from the British Home Office under license to cultivate cannabis in its 18-hectare greenhouse facility at its Wissington factory in Norfolk.
The main chemical component of the cannabis plant are the Cannabinoids and it is specifically a combination of the Cannabinoids Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD) which seem to exhibit the most anti-epileptic, antispasmodic, and anti-inflammatory properties. When consumed regularly these Cannabinoids have been shown to reduce the rate of seizures in epileptic patients from hundreds a day to a few a week/month.
Since 2016, British Sugar has been completing three cannabis harvests a year, due to be extracted into the $32,500 a year patented drug Epidiolex – a CBD-based medication prescribed for the treatment of Dravet syndrome and Lennox-gastaut syndrome – two rare forms of epilepsy.
In 2018 GW Pharmaceuticals and its US subsidiary Greenwich Biosciences acquired official permission from the FDA to sell their cannabis medication ‘Epidiolex’ as a Schedule 5 prescription drug. This made them the only company in the world to have a patented FDA-approved cannabis-derived prescription medication.
We begin to see yet another unfair commercial monopoly partially created by the government and for the benefit of the producers and not the consumers begin to emerge.
This move all but guarantees further exploitation of the millions of people still facing the daily stigma, legal harassment, and very real threat of imprisonment for simply trying to treat their illnesses/chronic condition with cannabis-derived products – while pharmaceutical companies continue to make tens of millions of pounds in profit,
Don’t worry if you are a little confused as to how the British government is continuing to regurgitate the party line on Cannabis being a “dangerous street drug with no accepted medicinal value”, while at the same time they’re licensing private multinational corporations to grow hundreds of tons of it in the UK to be exported across the world.
As previously mentioned, Paul Kenward is the managing director at British sugar – although you may not have heard of him, you might be familiar with his wife – Victoria Atkins MP who was elected the sitting MP for Louth and Horncastle in May 2015 and was appointed minister at the home office in 2017 by the then-Prime Minister Theresa May.
The former barrister was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Minister for Safeguarding by Mrs. May as she was a hard-line prohibitionist especially on Cannabis and that reflected her warped ideology perfectly.
While this is going on at the home office – in number 10 Downing Street Mrs. May’s husband Phillip May the investment relationship manager for the Capital group investment firm which manages a portfolio worth over $2 trillion – is acting as an unofficial adviser to the Prime Minister. Keep in mind that the Capital group is the same firm that is the majority shareholder in GW Pharmaceuticals – a glaring conflict of interest, no?
Mrs. Atkins had to voluntarily recuse herself in 2018 from speaking for the government on matters about cannabis and drug policy as she felt her husband operating a legal cannabis farm constituted a conflict of interest (another painful conflict of interests) She was quietly removed from being responsible for UK drug policy but remains in her post.
Although Mrs. Atkins was no longer “the voice of the government” when it came to drug policy she still had the power to veto the appointment of Niamh Eastwood to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) in June 2019 – after the home office advisory panel had previously approved her appointment.
The longtime drug policy reformist and executive director at Release had previously been critical of the government and challenged a lot of the antiquated notions that underpin the continuation of the drug prohibition. An appointment that could have been a real and direct threat to the conservative cannabis cartel.
So even with all of this being public knowledge and it is rather well documented by the mainstream media there have still been no real ramifications or legal consequences for the small cabal of Conservative ministers who have and continue to blatantly abused their positions to further the corporate agendas of their husband’s companies – further helping to set back cannabis law reform in the UK by years if not decades.
Ultimately, I believe that the best way to avoid the continuation of this kind of capitalistic, corporate, corruption, and cronyism is to completely and utterly decriminalize Cannabis Sativa L in all her natural forms for everyone to utilize as they see fit.
With 33 states, and The District of Columbia, having legalized Cannabis, in one way or another, it would seem that Cannabis Prohibition is ending. Unfortunately, this could not be further from the truth.
Lance Gloor (pictured bottom left) and Supporters #OneTeamOneDream
New Federal data shows that Cannabis arrests actually rose in 2018. Approximately 91% of Cannabis arrests last year, were for simple possession. That’s 608,776 victimless possession arrests in 2018. Up from roughly 599,282 victimless possession arrests in 2017.
The majority of people in The US support Cannabis legalization. More and more states are legalizing. Yet arrest rates are not decreasing. Prosecutions are still happening, even in so called “legal states”. Countless people are still in prison over a plant.
Lance Gloor is serving a 10 year Federal prison sentence for legal medical Cannabis in Washington state. Before the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment became law in 2014, the federal government had tax payer funds that were used to prosecute state legal Cannabis pioneers. Lance Gloor is one of many who were prosecuted under federal law, while being compliant with state legal Cannabis laws.
Lance Gloor’s injustice haunted me. I have never met Lance in person. In fact, I’ve never heard his voice. I was able to attend one day of Lance’s federal trial as court support in 2015. The testimony given by the federal officer that day, did not convince me that Lance had done anything wrong or illegal. (Neither has anything I discovered doing my due diligence- researching Lance’s case and his character.) If anything, the testimony given that day, proved what a waste of tax payer $ prosecuting for Cannabis is. Lance Gloor was denied his constitutional right to an evidentiary hearing. What was presented to the jury as evidence, was a stretch of a story to portray Lance in a way that I’ve yet to see any actual evidence of.
Ultimately the jury judged Lance on violation of federal law. This resulted in a 10 year federal prison sentence. Had the jurors been aware of their Jury Nullification rights and exercised them, I’ve no doubt that Lance Gloor would have walked away from his trial a free man. A family would have never been torn apart over a healing plant.
I began working in the Cannabis industry a couple of years after Lance’s trial. Everyday at work, it was always in the back of my head that Lance is behind bars for doing what I was now collecting a paycheck for. I was connected with Lance’s mom Tracie Gloor-Pike on Facebook. After reading several of her pleas for the Cannabis Community to help her son, I knew I needed to do something to help.
After pondering ideas on how exactly I could help, it hit me. Wearing a safer shirt (safershirts.org) was my greatest activism tool. I was already a safer stenciler, who painted shirts in line with Jared Allaway’s ‘Marijuana is safer than __fill in the blank___ ‘ message. With the Seattle Cannabis Freedom March 2018 approaching, I made a “Free Lance Gloor” stencil, out of materials from the dollar store, and painted several shirts for The March. I wore one there and gave the rest away, in an effort to begin the #FreeLanceGloor public awareness campaign. It worked. Shortly after the movement to free federal Plant Prisoner Lance Gloor, took off. Mac Doc Codispoti (AKA Safer Stencils) gladly jumped right in to relieve me of stencil making duties. RIP Doc. We couldn’t have grown this movement without you.
Kerry with a handmade Free Lance Gloor Stencil
I was the nobody, who decided to be the somebody, to do something about it. Beyond painting, and sending out Free Lance Gloor shirts, I began to encourage others who support Lance Gloor’s freedom, to hand write up a quick sign, with the 3 words “Free Lance Gloor” take a photo holding their sign, and upload to social media. The purpose to bring about greater public awareness, and to show support for Lance. Those hundreds of photos, along with photos of Activists in their Free Lance Gloor shirts, have been collected, arranged into photo collages, and sent to The White House.
Lance Gloor currently has a pending clemency petition at The White House. Public support is a huge part of the decision making process of granting clemency. If you find 10 years in Federal prison for legal medical Cannabis in Washington state to be unacceptable, please participate in any, or all, of the calls to action.
A view of the North Portico of the White House, Wednesday June 14, 2017 in Washington D.C. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)
*****Call To Action*****
1) Call The White House comment line at 202-456-1111. Politely leave a message with a volunteer “I support the pending clemency of Lance Gloor. Thank you.” Or email your comment to https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Again, please be polite. This call is about our injustice that Lance Gloor pays the price for. Comments on different topics should be addressed in a separate communication. Thank you!
2) Write up a “Free Lance Gloor” sign. Take a photo of you with your sign and email to freelancegloorshirts@gmail.com *All photos are likely to be submitted to the White House. Your face need not be in photo if you choose.
Prohibition will never truly end, so long as anyone remains caged for Cannabis. It is our duty to set Our Plant Prisoners free. Public support works. Every effort helps. Together we can, and we will, set Lance Gloor and every last Plant Prisoner free. One Team One Dream.
Italy’s Supreme Court has ruled that small-scale domestic cultivation of cannabis is legal, in a landmark decision triggering calls for further legalization from cannabis advocates and anger from the country’s conservatives.
Clipping leaf from home-grown cannabis plant ready for harvest
Called on to clarify previous conflicting interpretations of the law, the Court of Cassation decreed that the crime of growing narcotic drugs should exclude “small amounts grown domestically for the exclusive use of the grower”.
The ruling was made on Dec. 19, but went unnoticed until Thursday, when it was reported by domestic news agencies and immediately fuelled a simmering political debate over cannabis use in Italy.
“The court has opened the way, now it’s up to us,” said Matteo Mantero, a senator from the co-ruling 5-Star Movement.
Mantero presented an amendment to the 2020 budget calling for legalisation and regulation of domestic cannabis use, but it was ruled inadmissible by the senate speaker from Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative Forza Italia party.
“Drugs cause harm, forget about growing them or buying them in shops,” Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing League Party said in a statement on Friday, in reference to shops selling low-strength “legal weed” that are widespread in Italy.
Maurizio Gasparri, a senator from Forza Italia which is allied to the League, said the first law the centre-right coalition would approve if it came to power “will cancel the absurd verdict of the court”.
Salvini, who was interior minister until he quit the government in August in a failed bid to trigger elections, pushed for the closure of legal weed shops and cheered in May when the Supreme Court said many of their products should be banned.
The commerce has thrived in the last three years in Italy under 2016 legislation allowing cannabis with a psychotropic active ingredient (THC) level below 0.6 percent.
While the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement favours a more liberal approach to cannabis, its centre-left and centrist coalition allies are more cautious, meaning future legislation on the issue remains in doubt.
Reporting and writing by Gavin Jones, Additional reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; Editing by Alison Williams
Dr. Ethan Russo is a world-renowned authority on the medicinal use of cannabis; an academic researcher, author and industry leader whose expansive knowledge of cannabis therapeutics spans history, cultures and its myriad applications for improved health and wellbeing. A board-certified neurologist and former Senior Medical Advisor at GW Pharmaceutics, Dr. Russo is currently Director of Research and Development of the International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute, a consortium of international academic institutions and private companies dedicated to promoting medical cannabis research.
In this interview, Dr. Russo shares an informed and insightful vision of how cannabis-derived medicine stands to benefit two of the more intractable neurological conditions facing older adults, Parkinson’s (PD) and Alzheimer’s (AD) diseases.
Abbie Rosner: If medicinal cannabis targets our endocannabinoid system (ECS), what is the involvement of that system in PD and AD?
Dr. Ethan Russo: The ECS regulates most physiological systems in the body, but above all the nervous system, where it helps to achieve the balance that allows individual nerve cells to communicate. The ECS is disrupted in both AD and PD.
Rosner: What is the research with cannabinoids and Parkinson’s disease showing?
Russo: In a mouse model of PD, treatment with nabiximols (Sativex®), a cannabis- based pharmaceutical approved in 30 countries outside the USA, resulted in improvement in dopamine neurotransmitter function, and reduced oxidative stress (akin to “rust” of the nervous system), as well as leading to improvements in anxiety and self-injury behaviors.
Clinical results with treatment of PD with cannabis have been quite mixed. Cannabidiol (CBD) helped a few PD patients with psychotic symptoms, and some with a rapid-eye movement sleep disorder. Observational studies with smoked cannabis, presumably high in THC, reportedly produced acute benefits on tremor, rigidity and slow movement (bradykinesia). The best results in PD were reported in a Czech study in 2004, in which patients ate raw leaves of cannabis for as much as three months and reported significant improvement in overall function, tremor, bradykinesia and rigidity, with few side effects.
Rosner: And what about cannabis for AD?
Russo: The story in AD is even more intriguing. Both THC and CBD have been shown to interfere with the production of abnormal toxic matter in the brain of such patients. This is quite exciting, inasmuch as synthetic drugs designed for similar purposes have yet to advance in the clinic. Both THC and particularly CBD are known neuroprotective agents that hold the potential to slow or perhaps even halt the degenerative process. On the symptom side, THC as a single agent has proven beneficial in AD patients in reducing nocturnal agitation, improving sleep and appetite. Observations of nursing home patients in California with dementia have produced similar benefits as well as reducing the need for nursing intervention and amounts of other drugs.
There are four FDA-approved pharmaceuticals to treat memory loss in AD, but all have mild benefits on a temporary basis. These are designed to increase the amount of acetylcholine, the memory molecule in the brain that becomes depleted in AD. Interestingly, the terpenoid alpha-pinene is capable of boosting acetylcholine by inhibiting its breakdown, and with fewer side effects than the conventional drugs.
Rosner: We hear a lot of talk about THC and CBD, but what about the role of terpenes?
Russo: Terpenes are aromatic compounds from plants that are important in our everyday exposure to scents and flavors. Some of these, when combined with cannabinoids, boost their effects such that the result is greater than the sum of the parts. We discussed above the role of alpha-pinene to combat memory deficits in AD and PD. Linalool, a component of lavender essential oil as well as cannabis, has been demonstrated to calm agitation in AD. The terpene limonene, common to citrus and cannabis, is a powerful antidepressant and immune stimulator. Caryophyllene, a terpenoid with the distinction of also being a cannabinoid, is of key importance in AD, as it may help in clearance of beta-amyloid waste in the brain.
Rosner: CBD products are so popular now. But what price is paid when you remove THC from the cannabis equation?
Russo: A severe price may be paid if cannabis-based medicines are devoid of THC. It is clear from the above that THC has a major role to play in both symptomatic treatment of dementia and quite possibly in preventative benefit. The dangers of THC have been vastly exaggerated by alarmist politicians and the press, particularly in such contexts where alternatives have been extremely disappointing and are actually much more problematic. Very small doses of THC are required and their benefits outweigh any risks by healthy measures.
Rosner: You have also been a proponent of diet and other complementary approaches to cannabis.
Russo: Fascinating epidemiological studies have linked diet to degenerative diseases, especially AD. Diabetes and obesity, which are rampant in the USA, as well as trans-fats, all increase AD risk. In contrast, disease rates are lower in areas following a Mediterranean diet rich in monounsaturated olive oil and omega-3 fats from fish. We also know that daily cognitive challenges when carried into the elder years offer some protection, as does vigorous physical exercise.
An underappreciated factor in degenerative diseases is the microbiome, the bacterial content of the gut. We know that THC, rather than leading to obesity as one might surmise, rather changes the microbiome balance in the gut to favor bacteria that protect from development of obesity and the metabolic syndrome.
Great benefits may accrue to AD and PD patients through the use of probiotics (i.e., natural organic multi-culture yogurt, kefir, lacto-fermented vegetables, and supplements in capsules) and prebiotics (vegetable matter like acacia fiber, slippery elm, burdock root and supplement in capsules) that provide an optimum feedstock for the beneficial gut bacteria.
Rosner: From where we are today, what are the best approaches for prevention and treatment of PD and AD?
Russo: The best current approaches to AD and PD beyond what the conventional pharmacopoeia offers include: aerobic activity, daily mental exercise, Mediterranean diets with use of anti-inflammatory fruits and berries, probiotics and prebiotics. From cannabis, THC, THCA, CBD, beta-pinene, caryophyllene, linalool and limonene may all have important contributions to treatment of these disorders.
Rosner: Where do you see promise on the horizon?
Russo: While the current laboratory experiments have been extremely important in establishing a foundation for cannabis-based medicines in treatment of AD and PD, it is definitely time to move the effort into the clinical arena. It is clear that these conditions are increasing in our aging populations and conventional approaches to date have been less than satisfactory. Utilization of cannabis preparations with the right mixtures of cannabinoids and terpenoids show great promise to produce better results. While these may be simply palliative in reducing drug and care burdens, there is also the possibility of making a real difference in slowing or abrogating the pathological processes in these two disorders.
The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
‘When you call police to say, ‘Come look at this,’ you believe you have everything in order’
Handout/Tweed
Tweed Marijuana Inc. became the first publicly traded medical pot company in Canada on Friday, but behind the scenes the Ontario production facility has apparently been searching for answers after a run-in with the law.
On Monday, the company was hoping to beef up its stock with a shipment of medical marijuana products that it says it acquired from B.C. growers who had previously been licensed to grow their marijuana at home.
Even though the company had received Health Canada’s approval to import such products, the Mounties, who the company said it had invited to inspect the shipment, ended up seizing it at the Kelowna International Airport.
“We felt everything was done absolutely correctly,” Tweed chairman Bruce Linton said from the company’s office in Smiths Falls. “When you call police to say, ‘Come look at this,’ you believe you have everything in order.”
The case seems to highlight an ongoing confusion around the old legal regime, which allowed licensees to grow medical pot in their basements, and the new regime, which restricts production to commercial growers, such as Tweed.
As of Friday, the company — one of 12 licensed so far in Canada — had still not received an explanation for the seizure, Linton said.
Sgt. Duncan Pound, an RCMP spokesman in B.C., refused to comment on the reasons for the seizure.
“We typically do not confirm or deny investigations unless there is an investigational or public safety need. Specific details about any investigation only become known when that investigation results in charges being laid by Crown Counsel,” he said via email.
Before the April 1 switch to the new regulatory regime, individuals who previously had personal-production licenses were allowed to sell what “starting materials” they had, such as seeds and plants, to one of the new commercial producers.
Linton said Friday his company hadn’t originally intended to purchase other medical marijuana products; the initial business plan was to grow about 25 varieties of plant at the company’s 160,000-square-foot growing facility.
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File
But when the company started accepting customers early in February, demand for its products proved much higher than expected, Linton said.
It became clear, he said, that the amounts sought per patient were “several multiples” higher than what the company had planned for. When Tweed pointed this out to Health Canada officials, the company was told that other commercial growers were buying medical pot from growers who had been licensed under the old regime.
The only stipulation was that they needed federal authorization to do so.
Health Canada spokeswoman Sara Lauer confirmed Friday that Tweed received the go-ahead.
Linton said the company collected plants, seeds and “in-production plant materials” from multiple growers across B.C. He declined to say exactly how much product was acquired, but said it provided the firm with an additional 55 varieties of marijuana.
Linton said the company’s purchases from B.C. were a one-time thing and that all future product will be grown in Smiths Falls.
The company invited the RCMP to come inspect the shipment at the Kelowna airport Monday, the last day such transactions could take place.
“Our intent was to be transparent,” he said. Plus, having the Mounties around also provided extra security for the precious cargo.
Health Canada officials were unable to say Friday how many other commercial growers had acquired marijuana products from home growers before the deadline.
Linton speculated that the RCMP seizure may have been the result of “confusion” because of overlapping regulations.
Last month, a Federal Court judge granted an injunction for medical marijuana users who had previously held a personal-production license.
The injunction allowed those users to continue growing pot until the court issues a final decision.
On Monday, the same day the Tweed shipment was seized, the federal government announced it was appealing the court ruling.
The closing price for shares in Tweed Marijuana Inc. on Friday was $2.59 on the TSX Venture exchange, valuing the company at $90.7 million (market capitalization).
You may not be aware of it, but alcohol damages the brain as soon as its effects can be felt. That’s right, bad decision making and memory blackouts are direct effects of alcohol-induced brain damage. Scary, huh?
The science surrounding the damaging effects of alcohol is very clear. In fact, there is no safe level of alcohol consumption and any amount of alcohol raises your risk of cancer.
Despite these facts, alcohol is legal and widely available in the UK. Us Brits even get drunk on alcohol more than any other nation.
Recent research from the University of Colorado in Boulder, however, has found evidence that suggests cannabinoids are far safer for long-term brain health compared to alcohol.
Cannabis is safer than alcohol
For many years, we have been told by our government that cannabis will damage our bodies and brains and turn us crazy. Propaganda in the 90s showed a fried egg to demonstrate what would happen to your brain ‘on cannabis’.
It turns out that nothing could be further from the truth.
Reefer madness
Now, thanks to the Internet and a relaxing of prohibition in some parts of the world, the science of cannabis is exploding and facts can no longer be hidden or smeared by the government.
In fact, this latest research goes some way to prove that most propaganda is completely untrue. The final conclusions of this study sum it up nicely:
“Marijuana and associated cannabinoid products…were not shown to have any long-term impact on the amount of gray matter in the brain or on the integrity of the white matter.”
But the truth is even more interesting than ‘no damage’.
Cannabis is good for the brain!
Research from 2018 has shown that cannabis use can have positive long term effects on the brain
This study, led by Staci Gruber, found that after just three months of cannabis treatment, participants were able to perform tasks better and had improved activation at two different cortexes of the brain which are responsible for controlling parts of our emotions and memories.
While that study is ongoing and is set to finish in around 24 months time, these results concur with studies coming out of Israel that show cannabis can prevent the brain from ‘slowing down’ as we age.
It is clear we are only beginning to scratch the surface of the benefits to humanity of this powerful and controversial plant. However, there is little doubt that people would be much healthier should they chose to consume cannabis over alcohol.
Hemp fibers are naturally stiff and ropy, but Levi’s has discovered a way to make it feel like cotton.
Denim icon Levi Strauss & Co. debuted garments made from a soft hemp-cotton blend in March, and head of innovation Paul Dillinger said he expects 100% cottonized-hemp products in about five years.
Hemp uses significantly less water and chemicals than cotton during cultivation. Levi’s has found a way to soften hemp using far less water than was previously used.
Dillinger said the long-term goal is to incorporate sustainable cotton blends by using fibers such as hemp into all of its products.
With the legalization of hemp in the United States last December, the industry has been exploding: Reports and Data estimates it’ll be worth $13.03 billion by 2026. While you’ve probably noticed hemp-derived CBD products everywhere, hemp also has major implications for sustainable clothing — and denim icon Levi Strauss & Co. has made significant progress in making this happen.
In March, Levi’s debuted a collaboration with the Outerknown label that includes a pair of jeans and jacket made from a 69%-cotton/31%-hemp blend that feels like pure cotton. Why’s that significant? Hemp, a cannabis plant with a negligible amount of the psychoactive chemical THC, uses significantly less water and chemicals than cotton. Unlike cotton, though, the material is difficult to work with. The cotton fibers in your shirt are derived from a puffy bud on top of a plant, while hemp fibers come from a tall, sturdy trunk.
“It’s a longer, stiffer, coarser fiber,” Levi’s head of global product innovation, Paul Dillinger, told Business Insider. “It doesn’t want to be turned into something soft. It wants to be turned into rope.” Levi’s has found a way to make hemp fibers soft and able to blend with cotton, but in a way that uses significantly less water than the process used to turn hemp plants into a rough material. “It’s great that it’s resonating with the consumer, but it’s more important that it’s helping to future-proof our supply chain,” he said.
Dillinger explained that this is a significant research project that will continue for years, rather than a project that only results in a couple of high-end, niche products. “Our intention is to take this to the core of the line, to blend it into the line, to make this a part of the Levi’s portfolio,” he said.
Dillinger said Levi’s is continuing to work on improving the quality of its cottonized-hemp, to the point where it can be nearly half of a cotton-blend for most apparel, as well as fully hemp for certain products. And in five years, he said, he expects “a 100% cottonized-hemp garment that is all hemp and feels all cotton.”
Dillinger said that the need for cotton alternatives became apparent when looking at the growth trajectory of cotton demand compared to access to fresh water required for its cultivation and processing. Since he was familiar with the nature of hemp, he did not expect to find a solution there… until Levi’s discovered cutting-edge research in Europe, where industrial hemp was already legal in many countries. Levi’s would not reveal its partners or details of its breakthroughs, except to say that it had a market-ready material after three years.
When Levi’s finds a way to make 100% cottonized-hemp clothing, “We’re going to go from a garment that goes from 3,781 L of fresh water, 2,655 of that in just the fiber cultivation,” Dillinger said, drawing from data collected by the Stockholm Environmental Institute. “We take out more than 2/3 of the total water impact to the garment. That’s saving a lot.”
Despite his optimism, Dillinger was quick to point out that he doesn’t want hype around the hemp industry to make it seem like Levi’s and its competitors are going to fully replace cotton or revolutionize the industry overnight. To do it properly, there remains many years of research and development. Plus, it’s likely hemp will be just one of several natural cotton alternatives.
The idea is that hemp clothing, whether in a cotton blend or by itself, isn’t going to be a fad. Dillinger said that while he can’t speak for the company on this point, he personally isn’t too concerned about the marketing of cottonized-hemp clothing, because the ideal down the line is that customers won’t even notice a difference.
“So often there’s the assumption that to purchase a sustainably-made product is going to involve a sacrifice, and that the choice is between something ethically made or something that’s cute,” he said. “You don’t have to sacrifice to buy sustainably.”
There were also concerns the release of information could embarrass Health Canada and expose ‘deficiencies’ in new medical marijuana regulations
A worker at Canopy Growth’s Tweed facility in Smiths Falls, Ontario.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press/File
In the spring of 2014, RCMP officers in Kelowna, B.C. prepared a press release about a big drug bust at the local airport. It described how investigators had intercepted two shipments of marijuana of “unfathomable quantity” that were bound for a couple of licensed cannabis producers in Ontario. The press release, however, was never sent.
Days went by with a virtual information blackout over what the Mounties had seized and why, even after one of the companies — Tweed Marijuana Inc., now Canopy Growth Corp. — decided to release its own public statement, containing what some RCMP members perceived to be “brutally misleading” information about the seizure.
“I don’t see how we can’t comment as we are now being put in a negative light,” one frustrated sergeant wrote to a colleague in an email. “Basic media principles state that we should confirm the obvious — Tweed has chosen to put this out there so we would be remiss if we did not comment on factual points that have been inaccurately represented.”
More than 900 pages of internal records obtained by the National Post reveal for the first time the lengthy deliberations that took place among RCMP members in B.C. and at RCMP headquarters in Ottawa over what, if anything, to tell the public about the March 31, 2014, seizures at Kelowna International Airport.
Among the “strategic considerations” outlined in emails was a concern that the release of information might affect the stock price of Tweed, which had gone public on the Toronto Stock Exchange that week — the first pot producer in the country to do so. There were also concerns that the release of information could embarrass Health Canada and expose “deficiencies” in new regulations over medical marijuana production that were rolling out that same week.
The National Post first sought access to the records five years ago through an access-to-information request. The RCMP initially refused to release any records, citing an ongoing investigation. The Post complained to the federal information commissioner, resulting in a process that dragged on until last fall when the RCMP finally agreed to process some of the records.
Asked this week about the national police force’s apparent concern over the impact of publicity about the bust on the company’s stock price and the potential political embarrassment to the federal government, B.C. RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said she needed more time to review the file. “Generally we can say that decisions with regards to communications will always consider impact on prosecution, timing and whether (or) not a company is publicly traded. These factors have been considered in the past and were not unique to this investigation,” she wrote.
“Impacts on partners, disclosure, potential or active prosecutions and privacy legislation must all be considered when determining what, if any, information can be made public.”
But Garry Clement, a retired RCMP superintendent, said whether a company is publicly traded or not should not have been a consideration.
“When you see something like that, how can you say the RCMP is being objective? They’re playing in the hands of the company. Investors may have made a decision differently had they known the facts, he said. “It doesn’t give the impression of being upfront.”
In September 2015, Tweed was renamed Canopy Growth Corp. Jordan Sinclair, Canopy Growth’s vice-president of communications, said in an email this week the seizures happened more than five years ago when the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations were in their infancy.
“The company believed then and now that it acted in compliance with regulations. Today, we are focused on the next five years and continuing to build a global cannabis leader creating thousands of jobs in Canada, investing hundreds of millions of dollars into the Canadian economy, and providing the highest quality cannabis products to medical and adult-use customers around the world.”
Mettrum Health Corp, the other Ontario producer whose shipment was seized that day, was acquired by Canopy Growth in early 2017. A former spokesman for Mettrum did not respond to an email requesting comment.
The seizures happened against a backdrop of dramatic change in Canada’s regulatory landscape. New rules took effect on April 1, 2014 that restricted production of medical marijuana to licensed commercial producers. Tweed and Mettrum were among the first to be licensed.
Prior to the transition date, individuals who had possessed personal-production licenses under the old regime were able to sell their starting materials — namely seeds and plants — to one of the new commercial producers, as long as they had Health Canada approval. Tweed and Mettrum received those approvals, Health Canada confirmed to reporters at the time.
But according to internal RCMP briefing notes, the items Tweed and Mettrum told Health Canada they would be importing from B.C. did not match what was seized at the Kelowna airport on March 31.
On paper, Tweed and Mettrum said they planned to transport 2,071 plants and 730 plants, respectively. But when RCMP examined the shipments, they instead found harvested marijuana buds that were packaged for resale, the records say.
“It was packaged bud that was seized, which is materially different from ‘plants and seeds,’” one RCMP investigator wrote.
“At best what has been seized are clippings,” a summary report stated. “The (regulations) do not allow for the sale of marijuana in this form.”
And there was a lot of it — more than 700 kilograms of B.C. bud stored in 55 hockey bags and 40 boxes.
A draft press release prepared by the Kelowna RCMP’s media relations officer on April 1 noted that the seizure was of a quantity “rarely seen in the central Okanagan.”
“Several local growers had pooled their products for transfer … but the shipment fell outside the parameters of the legislation and was subsequently seized by police,” it said, adding that the size of the shipments was enough to create 2.1 million single doses based on 0.3 gram cigarettes.
But senior officers, including the Kelowna detachment’s commanding officer, decided to hold off on the release, citing the lack of any charges.
Tweed chairman Bruce Linton told Postmedia in 2015 that the seizures may have been the result of “confusion.” Darren Brown/Postmedia/File
A couple days later, on April 3 — the day before Tweed was listed on the TSX Venture Exchange — the company put out its own statement. Tweed said it had completed the acquisition of “seeds and plants” from a number of licensed growers, ensuring a “wide variety of choices” and sufficient inventory to meet demand.
The company acknowledged that one shipment had been held by the RCMP “while it confirms the details of the shipment.”
“In an effort to be transparent,” the statement continued, the RCMP was informed of the shipment and “invited to examine the material.”
Tweed chairman Bruce Linton told Postmedia at the time the seizures may have been the result of “confusion” over the old and new regulatory regimes.
“When you call police to say, ‘Come look at this,’ you believe you have everything in order,” he said.
In internal emails, RCMP officers wrote that it was “painful” to not be able to respond and that the company’s version of events was “a long way from what transpired.”
“I find their language very interesting/misleading considering there were no ‘plants,’ ‘seeds,’ or ‘in-production material,’” Const. Kris Clark, Kelowna’s media officer, wrote to colleagues.
Officers also balked at the company’s assertion that it had invited the RCMP to inspect the shipment. Briefing notes indicate that in the week prior to the seizures, RCMP received “several calls” from airline charter companies enquiring about the “legitimacy of transporting 1500 lbs of marijuana.”
“Tweed never came to us, the airline did,” Const. Shane Holmquist wrote to colleagues.
Insp. John Ibbotson told a colleague in an email that although the company’s statement may appear to be a standard press release, “it is in fact a news release intended to inform investors of a publicly traded company of a significant event surrounding a company’s activity.”
Noting that some of the information in Tweed’s release was “factually incorrect,” Ibbotson suggested there had been a violation of section 400 of the Criminal Code — related to making a false prospectus — and wondered if the Ontario Securities commission should be notified.
Yet for several more days, RCMP communications officers declined to set the record straight, trotting out the standard line that they could not confirm nor deny an investigation.
“With some luck the media may dig up the facts and print them without the RCMP having to go public with any details and face the complications that would create,” Sgt. Duncan Pound, then a federal policing spokesman in B.C., wrote to a colleague.
Other emails reveal some of the reasons for the hesitation.
“The heart of the problem is that Health Canada has gone on record as saying they authorized the shipment, which has and will continue to cause us grief trying to set the record straight,” Pound wrote.
“Ideally,” he continued, Health Canada should issue a statement saying the shipments contravened regulations and were not what they had authorized. “If Health Canada says nothing it looks like two Ministries working against each other, which is a lose/lose for both of us.”
Jolene Bradley, the RCMP’s director of strategic communications in Ottawa, presented a briefing document to the deputy commissioner for federal policing on April 10 advising that the force should continue to decline comment. Among the reasons she cited: going public “would likely bring criticism on Health Canada’s part as it would highlight the deficiencies in the transition to the new regulations.”
The same document also stated that “any comments by the RCMP could impact stock prices” for the producers.
Dawn Roberts, an RCMP communications strategist in B.C., similarly wrote in an email to colleagues that Tweed “is a publicly traded company and any comments could impact on stock prices.”
Pressure, however, was starting to build “from higher up to proactively correct the story,” RCMP emails say.
The force eventually issued its first public statement about the March 31 seizures on April 11. But the press release was whittled down considerably from a draft version. The draft included the size of the seizure (705 kilograms) and the reason: regulations allowed for a pre-determined number of plants to be sold, but the shipments consisted of “harvested marijuana in lieu of plants.”
The final version of the statement did not mention the size of the seizure nor the specific reason, simply stating: “The marijuana did not match what was authorized to be transferred.”
No charges were ultimately filed against either company due to the challenge of proving criminal intent, RCMP briefing notes say. The seized marijuana, which caused a rotting smell in RCMP storage, was later destroyed.
