Buzz Kill: Marijuana Genome Sequenced For Health, Not Highs

by Eliza Barclay

from http://www.npr.org/

Enlarge JUAN MABROMATA/AFP/Getty Images

  The scientists who sequenced the marijuana plant say they hope the next generation of pot will have stronger therapeutic compounds.

The scientists who sequenced the marijuana plant say they hope the next generation of pot will have stronger therapeutic compounds.

Stoners and scientists alike may be stoked to learn that a startup biotech company has completed the DNA sequence of Cannabis sativa, or marijuana. But here's something that could ruin a high: The company hopes the data will help scientists breed pot plants without much THC, the mind-altering chemical in the plant. The goal is instead to maximize other compounds that may have therapeutic benefits.

Kevin McKernan, founder and chief executive officer of the company, called Medicinal Genomics, says Cannabis sativa has 84 other compounds that could fight pain or possibly even shrink tumors. But anti-marijuana laws make it difficult for scientists to breed and study the plant in most countries. That's one reason he decided to publish his data for free on Amazon's EC2, a public data cloud.
  McKernan, who has an office in Massachusetts and a lab in the Netherlands, where he can legally gather DNA from marijuana plants, has spent most of his career studying tumors in humans. But he tells Shots he had several friends with cancer who asked him about medical marijuana and whether it might do them some good. That got him interested in the emerging medical research on pot's healing properties.

Then he heard about a drug called Sativex, a Cannabis-derived drug developed by a German pharmaceutical company to treat muscle stiffness from multiple sclerosis. Sativex contains THC and another cannabanoid called CBD, which the company says keeps the psychoactive effects of THC in check. The drug is now available in the United Kingdom, Spain and Germany, and it's in trials to see if it works for cancer pain.
McKernan says Sativex might just be one of the first in a line of future pharmaceuticals using cannabis compounds for a variety of serious illnesses.

"We know which genes govern CBD and THC, but not the other 83 compounds," McKernan tells Shots. "Now that we've sequenced this genome, we can sequence other strains, and then we can tie the differences in DNA to different traits."

Opening up access to the data is especially important for a plant like Cannabis, McKernan says, because many scientists who'd like to study it in the U.S. and other countries can't get a license to grow it.
"A lot of people who want to contribute to this field can't, but now that this information is available, a lot of research can get done without growing any plants," McKernan said.

Marblehead startup seeks to unlock secrets of cannabis

By Carolyn Y. Johnson
from: http://articles.boston.com/

It’s a plant more commonly associated with lava lamps and Pink Floyd than cutting-edge science. But today, a small Marblehead company plans to post online the hundreds of millions of letters of DNA that make up Cannabis sativa in a first step toward truly understanding and enhancing marijuana’s therapeutic potential.
For years, Kevin McKernan built genome sequencing technologies - powerful tools designed to provide insights into cancer and potential treatments.

But when desperate friends with cancer forwarded studies of medical marijuana’s use, he became intrigued. Earlier this summer, he founded Medicinal Genomics, a small firm that will partner with pharmaceutical companies to explore compounds made by the plant.

It’s not what most people would think - or what most stoners might hope. Medicinal Genomics might, for example, use insights from the plant’s genetic blueprint to create a plant that produces more of certain compounds, such as cannabidiol, which shows promise in early cancer studies - and even look at reducing the amount of THC, which gives the plant its psychoactive effects.

“The genetics were poorly understood,’’ McKernan said.

The company ultimately plans to sequence more than a dozen Cannabis species. This fall, Medicinal Genomics will launch an iPad app providing access to the data.

McKernan acknowledged that by making the information public, someone might try to use the genetic code to brew more potent pot. But not him, he swears. He’s only interested in marijuana for its medicinal value.

“Our goal is to help people,’’ he said.

Carolyn Y. Johnson

Big Day For Medical Marijuana in Mass?

by Chris Faraone

0

From : http://thephoenix.com/

It's hard to make stoner jokes about this week's hearing for House Bill 625 (and corresponding Senate Bill 1161), which would “regulate the medical use of marijuana by patients approved by physicians and certified by the department of public health.” Sure some token pot smokers were on hand at the Massachusetts Statehouse, sporting homemade jewelry and Rasta head wraps for their testimonies before the Joint Committee on Public Health. But the pachouli stench was overpowered by compelling words from folks who need weed just to stand up and hold down food.

Select Massachusetts legislators have been trying to sanction medical grass for decades, according to veteran Amherst senator Stanley Rosenberg, a lead sponsor of the Senate bill. Still for a number of reasons, the commonwealth has yet to deliver for its most vulnerable citizens. Despite marijuana decriminalization, and reduced risk for those carrying less than one ounce, anyone caught growing cannabis faces severe penalties. To medical marijuana advocates, that's unacceptable.

Bolstering the state's most sophisticated push for prescription weed yet – 27 legislators co-sponsored the House bill – more than 80 citizens filled hearing room A-1 for several hours of testimony yesterday. Setting the tone, Brookline representative (and lead House sponsor) Frank Smizik described the measure – formally known as the Massachusetts Medical Marijuana Act – as a matter of “compassion,” explaining the obvious but oft-ignored fact that trees are less harmful than most legal drugs.

Anyone interested in the detailed mechanics of the bills should read them in full. But for the sake of clarity here are some basic elements:

-First and foremost, this is an “act to protect patients with debilitating medical conditions, as well as their practitioners and designated caregivers, from arrest and prosecution.” In other words: THIS IS NOT FULL-OUT LEGALIZE AND TAX LEGISLATION!!!

-This bill would set up a marijuana prescription and dispensary system similar to those currently in 13 other states, including neighboring Maine and Rhode Island. If passed, however, there won't be a might-as-well-be-legal free-for-all like in California, but rather a maximum of 19 licensed (and heavily regulated) medical treatment centers statewide.

-These medical treatment centers will be not-for-profit entities that are permitted to “acquire, possess, cultivate, manufacture, deliver, transfer, transport, supply, sell, and/or dispense marijuana” to qualifying patients and other approved cardholders like primary caregivers and treatment workers.

-In order to obtain a marijuana card from the Department of Public Health, patients must get written certification from a licensed practitioner (just like any other prescription drug). Qualifying ailments include cancer, glaucoma, and post traumatic stress disorder.

-Qualified patients (and their caregivers) can either use not-for-profit resources, or grow marijuana on their own (cardholders can legally possess up to 24 plants, and between four and eight ounces of smokable weed).

Presentations to the joint committee ranged from fact-filled to frightening, with one bill proponent pleading – while holding up two soda can-sized pill bottles – “What are you saying? That I either have to take these or break the law? Why should I be a junkie just so I don't have to be in pain?” Another gentleman, testifying from his wheelchair, spoke through a computer on account of his suffering from Lou Gehrig's Disease. “I can't function without it,” he said, explaining how weed relaxes his his nerve and muscle spasms. “But I don't want to go to jail for it.”

Some legislators seemed to get it. Medford representative Carl Sciortino, who sits on the committee and co-sponsored H625, even pressed a bill opponent to justify claims that marijuana is a gateway drug. Joint committee co-chair and Jamaica Plain representative Jeffrey Sanchez also showed a sincere understanding, asking questions that demonstrated an apparent commitment to advancing meaningful reform.

Other lawmakers, however, gave insight into why Mass has yet to make this happen. Lincoln senator Susan Fargo suggested the potential benefits of THC alternatives. Worcester senator Harriette Chandler touted the testimony of former Worcester commissioner of public health Leonard Morse – even though she admittedly missed most of it! One of the few outspoken opponents of H625 in the room, Morse rejects this particular measure on grounds that doctors don't know enough about weed.

Others in the packed conference room took issue with the House and Senate bills for other reasons. Attorney Steven Epstein, who founded the Massachusetts chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (MassCann/NORML) 20 years ago, believes H625 is unconstitutional on grounds that “people have the right to self-medicate.” He's also skeptical of the bill's livelihood, since powerful law enforcement officials are lobbying hard against marijuana prohibition. (It should be noted that legislators heard powerful testimony from members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), who hopefully convinced some that the war on drugs is a sham).

But for most people in the crowded room, it's too risky to hold out for legalized weed. “This is an issue of life and death for a lot of people,” said Erik Wunderlich, a board member of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, in an interview outside of the conference room. A chronic pain sufferer whose wife also has severe ailments, Wunderlich says there are countless people who count on marijuana just to make their final days tolerable. “This is not about getting high. This is about social justice.”

New Cannabis Comedy 'Wilfred' Debuts Tonight On FX

Thursday, June 23, 2011, at 12:07 pm

By Steve Elliott
From http://www.tokeofthetown.com/

Photo: Cheryl Shuman

From left, Jason Gann (Wilfred), medical marijuana consultant Cheryl Shuman, Elijah Wood (Ryan) and David Zuckerman (executive producer)

​​ Ever noticed how often TV shows get it wrong when it comes to the telling little details of marijuana culture? Inaccuracies, large and small, can diminish our enjoyment of a show because they call our attention to artifice rather than art.

Well, I can assure you those kinds of details are going to be correct in "Wilfred," a new pot-based comedy debuting tonight on the FX television network. How am I so sure? Because, in what appears to be a first, the producers had the good sense to hire Cheryl Shuman (yes, the well-known cannabis activist and Kush Magazine media director) as medical marijuana consultant.

Photo: Cheryl Shuman

The accuracy of "Wilfred's" dispensary scenes like this one is due to the expertise of the show's medical marijuana consultant, Cheryl Shuman

​This show has "hit" written all over it, and I'm not just talking about the bong kind. Shuman told Toke of the Town that "Wilfred" is breaking new ground when it comes to the public perception of cannabis use, both medicinal and recreational.

Mega-star Elijah Wood (of Lord of the Rings fame) plays Ryan, a suicidally depressed medical marijuana patient whose life is saved by an unexpected bond with a -- get this -- talking, pot-smoking dog, the titular Wilfred.

You see, Wilfred looks like a regular ol' dog to everyone else, but to Ryan, he's a six-foot-tall, anthropomorphic, recreational pot smoker.

See what they did there? We have a medicinal cannabis user and his dog, a recreational marijuana smoker. Bada-bing! Both ends of the weed spectrum covered, with plenty of low-hanging funny fruit just waiting to be harvested.

"This show will be edgy; I guarantee you it's going to offend a few people," Shuman -- a 20-year veteran of Hollywood, medical marijuana patient, and cancer survivor -- told me. "But it's also really, really funny."

Written and produced by David Zuckerman of Family Guy fame, "Wilfred" is a great opportunity for the medical marijuana community to rebrand itself to the mass American public. As such, it features authentic dispensary interiors, overseen by pot consultant Shuman.

Hey, if it a takes a few off-color jokes and a pot-smoking dog to get America to talk (and laugh) openly about cannabis, I'm all for it!

Don't miss "Wilfred," premiering Thursday, June 23, at 10 p.m. Pacific on FX.

New Hampshire House Passes Medical Marijuana Bill

By Steve Elliott
From: http://www.tokeofthetown.com/

Graphic: ReLegalize Indiana

​The New Hampshire House of Representatives, which has a nearly 3:1 Republican supermajority, overwhelmingly passed a bill Wednesday that would allow residents to use marijuana for medical purposes.

H.B. 442, which would create a narrow exception in New Hampshire law for people with certain qualifying conditions to use marijuana to treat their ailments with doctors' recommendations, will now move on to the Senate.

The bill passed 221-96, or by 69.7 percent, doing better than similar medical marijuana bills have done in previous Democrat-controlled sessions, proving that this an issue that both parties can support. The bill was introduced by Rep. Evalyn Merrick (D-Coos), a cancer survivor, and is sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Jim Forsythe (R-Strafford).

Photo: MPP

Karen O'Keefe, MPP: "This vote shows that compassion is not a partisan issue"

​"This vote shows that compassion is not a partisan issue," said Karen O'Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. "Lawmakers can come together despite their political differences when it comes to allowing sick people to use medical marijuana. They owe it to their constituents to do so."

H.B. 442 enjoys strong support among voters. A 2008 Mason-Dixon poll showed that 71 percent of New Hampshire voters are in favor of allowing the use of medical marijuana, with only 21 percent opposed.

The bill now goes to the New Hampshire Senate.

Medical marijuana treatment is currently permitted in 15 other states and the District of Columbia, and is being considered in more than a dozen state legislatures this year.

Cuttino Mobley Wants to Open a Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Rhode Island

by joePA | 
from: http://www.brobible.com/

Cuttino Mobley retired from the NBA as a New York Knick in 2008 because of a chronic heart condition. Now he wants to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Rhode Island, where he starred for the University of Rhode Island before being drafted by Houston in 1998. In a profile by the Providence Journal-Bulletin, Mobley stated that he wants to open a "wellness center" in Warwick, RI, because he "wants to help people." He is one of the 18 applications under consideration for opening a dispensary in Rhode Island, which legalized medicinal marijuana for chronic pain in 2009. The state will license three of the 18 applicants. More about why the ex-baller wants to become a greenepreuer and open a dispensary below, via the Providence Journal: 

It was about what he wants to do with the rest of his life. “I want to help people,” he said.

He knows that innumerable people have helped him along the way, from Max Good at Maine Central, to Jim Harrick at URI, who gave him confidence, assistant coach Bill Coen, who made him start to believe in his talent. It’s also the way he was raised, his version of spirituality, the sense that you help others when you can. So he helps fund an AAU team in Philadelphia. He built a basketball court in Africa. He helps out his old high school. He has a foundation in Philadelphia that helps single mothers and homeless kids.

“You get it after a while,” Mobley said. “You know what you’re supposed to do.” One of the things he wants to do now is start a wellness center in Warwick, one that will be allowed to dispense medical marijuana. He says he got interested in the field of wellness both through his own medical condition and those of other people close to him, and adds that the health field is one of the fastest growing in the country.

The plan also is to get more involved in Rhode Island, this state that helped him at a vulnerable time in his life, this state that saw him go from a young, unstructured kid to someone who grabbed the basketball dream and has made the most of it. This state that he feels has tremendous potential, a future he wants to be part of.

“I’ve done well,” he said, “and I want everyone to do well. Let’s all do well together.”

Anti-energy drinks: Relaxation in a can

By Madison Park

From: http://www.cnn.com/

A growing number of sodas and concoctions are doing the opposite of Four Lokos and Red Bulls -- they're slowing things down.

(CNN) -- It's not enough to fizz with carbonation and taste sweet.

For years, drinks have been infused with promises of electrolytes, caffeine and instant energy. But now, some sodas and other concoctions are offering the opposite of Red Bulls and Four Lokos -- they slow things down.
Energy drinks linked to alcohol abuse

As more sedating sodas enter the market, some beverage makers have taken relaxation to another level by producing sodas laced with marijuana or ingredients to mimic that drug.

"Everyone is looking for some effect somewhere," said Dr. Matthew Seamon, assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy at Nova Southeastern University.

Beverages such as Malava Novocaine, Drank, Unwind, Mary Jane's Relaxing Soda and Slow Cow (sold in Canada) are marketed as helping people unwind.

"When you are stressed out, normally you'd have a drink," said Matt Moody, founder of Mary Jane's Relaxing Soda. "You can't walk around smelling like vodka all day. I wanted to try to make something you can have to mellow you out. It's not going to make you stumble, fall down and slur your speech. It's a quick fix to slow things down when things get hectic."

Critics question the safety of such anti-energy drinks, which are sold in locations including college campuses and convenience stores. Not many scientific studies about anti-energy drinks have been done, as they are just emerging in the market.

Ronald Peters, associate professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, points to similarities between street drug concoctions and the anti-energy drinks.

Urban youths, especially in the South, started mixing codeine cough syrup with Sprite or candies such as Jolly Ranchers in the 1990s to make what's been called "purple drank" and "sip and syrup," Peters said.
He called the marketing of commercialized anti-energy drinks "one of the worst things I've ever seen with corporate immorality," accusing the companies of profiting off a higher-end version of a street drug. And a lot of parents aren't aware what these soda-like drinks do, he said.

"The modeling of this drug is worse than candy cigarettes," Peters said of the widely available anti-energy drinks. "It actually has sedatives in it. They didn't have quasi-nicotine in candy cigarettes, but this one has it in it. It makes it an unethical product."

Some anti-energy drinks carry warning labels of possible drowsiness and discourage driving after use.
Peters likened the drinks to a gateway drug -- kids who buy the commercialized products are more likely to try the candied codeine cough syrup mix.

Beverage makers say that their products are safe, and more so, that they help people. One company called the product"a positive alternative" to drugs and alcohol.

Tim Barham, president of Frontier Beverage, which produces Unwind, said his company's drink is not "associated in the same realm at all" with the cough syrup mixtures.

He said Unwind appeals to "high school and college students, soccer moms and Wall Street executives" to promote relaxation after a stressful day. Unwind and other drinks contain melatonin, a neurohormone used to treat sleep-related disorders that can be purchased as a supplement. Some studies found that melatonin can interfere with testosterone, so some sleep doctors don't recommend using the supplement until boys reach college age.
Melatonin is not approved as a food additive because it is not "generally recognized as safe" by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. So a company that uses the ingredient can be subject to a challenge by the FDA.
Last year, the FDA warned the makers of the relaxation drink Drank about its use of melatonin, calling it "an unapproved food additive." Drank sells its product now as a dietary supplement, rather than as a beverage, in order to contain melatonin, according to a company spokesman. The FDA had no further comment regarding the matter.
Many of the anti-energy drinks contain exotic but innocuous-sounding ingredients like kava, melatonin, valerian root, rose hips and passionflower. Seamon said such supplements could have risks.

Recalling how the original colas more than a century ago contained cocaine and lithium, when they were considered benign, Seamon said today, the companies are "a step above regulators. Maybe the science and risks haven't been documented."

The latest relaxation drink to capture headlines is Canna Cola, a marijuana-infused soft drink.
The product contains the chemical THC and is scheduled to go on sale in medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado this month and expand to California. The drinks will be available only in medical marijuana dispensaries to people who are legally permitted to buy them.

It is not available to the general public.

Despite its colorful and cartoonish branding and flavors like lemon-lime, grape and orange, the product is not marketed toward children, said Clay Butler, co-founder of Canna Cola.

He acknowledged that some critics "are nervous about products like this. I think they're incorrect and there's misguided fear."

"This is medicine, and you should take it as you would with any prescription drug," Butler said.

Canna Cola's ambitions extend beyond medicinal drinks into producing more widely available relaxation drinks that don't include marijuana, Butler said.

Pot meets pop: Local entrepreneur plans to market line of smartly branded medical-marijuana soft drinks

Clay Butler and his soda pot. (Bill Lovejoy/Sentinel)

By WALLACE BAINE

from  http://www.santacruzsentinel.com

SOQUEL -- How strange is the emerging world of medical-marijuana entrepreneurship?

Consider Clay Butler, who may soon be marketing a food product that he's never tasted, and that he would never buy. The product is called Canna Cola, and it's a soft drink that contains THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, aimed at medical marijuana dispensaries.

"I don't do drugs," said the Soquel-based commercial artist. "Never have. I never drank, never smoked. I'm a clean-living guy. I've had two beers in my whole life, and I remember them both too. No marijuana, I've never smoked a cigarette. I take an aspirin when I get a headache. That's it."

Yet, Butler is a partner in a company that is poised to move aggressively in a market that could one day be enormously popular by combining pot with soda pop, two products widely seen as scourges by many Americans -- though those upset by one tend to be approving or indifferent to the other.

"Even though, personally, I'm not interested and I don't think it's right for me," said Butler, "I'm a firm believer that adults have an inalienable right to think, eat, smoke, drink, ingest, decorate, dress any way they choose to do so. It's your life; it's your body."

What really intoxicates Butler is branding, the art of differentiating a product in the marketplace through words and images. And he's designed a line of soda pop that he says will be branded to take advantage of an entirely new market. The line includes the flagship cola drink Canna Cola, the Dr Pepper-like Doc Weed, the lemon-lime Sour Diesel, the grape-flavored Grape Ape and the orange-flavored Orange Kush. Marijuana sodas do exist in the marketplace. But, said Butler, none of them have the branding savvy of his product.
"You look at all the marijuana products out there, and they are so mom-and-pop, hippie-dippy and rinky-dink," he said. "If someone can put every color on the rainbow on it, they do. If they can pick the most inappropriate and unreadable fonts, they will. And there's marijuana leaves on everything. It's a horrible cliché in the industry."

Butler's epiphany was to market the THC-laced sodas "how Snapple or Coca-Cola or Minute Maid would make a marijuana beverage, if they ever chose to do it." 

Thus, he used the marijuana leaf -- it's an unavoidable part of the "brand DNA" of marijuana products, he said -- but he designed a leaf made of bubbles, to suggest soda pop.

The beverage line's dosage of THC will be "somewhere between 35 to 65 milligrams," said Scott Riddell, the founder of Diavolo Brands, which is marketing Canna Cola. He said the levels of THC in his line of soft drinks will be substantially below the levels of many drinks now on the market. He likened his product to a "light beer" alongside high-proof liquors.

"It's got a mild marijuana taste," Riddell said. "But the taste factor is really negligible compared to some competitors with three times the THC. When you get to that level, you really have a heavy aftertaste."
The new sodas will retail for between $10 and $15 per 12-ounce bottle. 

The company plans to launch its product in medical marijuana-friendly Colorado in February. California, however, remains a wild card. Plans are tentatively to have it in California dispensaries in the spring.
But, Riddell said, he is concerned about a bill in Congress, the so-called Brownie Law SB 258, which would double the penalties for anyone who produces a product that combines marijuana with "a candy product" or markets it to minors. The bill, which was sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, passed the Senate last summer and is currently in the House. The bill poses a threat to all so-called "medibles," food products containing THC, Riddell said.

Working in the medical marijuana field presents entrepreneurs with unique challenges. The use of marijuana for any purpose is still illegal in federal law, despite various state laws regarding its medicinal use. As a result, the soda cannot be transported across state lines. Canna Cola sold in California would have to be manufactured in California. The company also has to conform to a wide range of county and municipal laws regarding medical marijuana.

And then there's the supplier factor. Butler said that his company has had to inform all of its suppliers -- bottles, caps, the shrink-wrap labels that go on each bottle -- about the nature of their product. Many have balked. 

"We tell everyone flat out what the product is. We can't have a supplier finding out after the fact and saying, We can't be involved in this.' Not everyone will take your job," he said. "Of course, if we're selling cigarettes or alcohol or Vicodin or Viagra, it would be fine."

Assuming the Canna Cola line becomes profitable selling to dispensaries, its business profile will change dramatically if marijuana should ever become decriminalized on a federal level. If that were to happen, Butler doubts the food-industry behemoths will dive into the market immediately.

"My suspicion is that, if some day it is decriminalized, and you can get marijuana products in a liquor store or a 7-Eleven, I really don't think it would be the big established food companies that would get involved," Butler said. "I could see them buying out existing brands, which is a lot easier for them anyway. I think the market is going to the early pioneers."

Company Offers Training To AZ Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott

From http://www.tokeofthetown.com/

Graphic: PRWeb

Gus Escamilla, the founder and CEO of Greenway University in Denver, plans to offer fledgling Arizona dispensaries an education in the business of medicinal cannabis.

His team helped open more than 225 dispensaries in California, Colorado and the western United States, according to Escamilla, reports John Yantis at The Arizona Republic.

"The demographic that we recognized, it's not the 21- to 28-year-olds," Escamilla said of prospective dispensary owners. "It's the 35- to 65-year-olds, the displaced professionals, the people that want to get into this industry in total and complete compliance with the state laws or jurisdiction that they live in."

Later this month, Greenway University, which says its curriculum is provisionally approved by a division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education, plans a two-day, $295 seminar in Scottsdale. Students can learn about the political and legal issues surrounding marijuana, as well as how to grow the herb and prepare it in a snack form called edibles.

Those who do well can become "budtenders," helping patients select the best strains of marijuana for their particular ailments.

Photo: Denver Westword

Gus Escamilla, Greenway University: "There's a lot of people that kind of see it as a savior from a business perspective"

​ Escamilla isn't alone in seeing the opportunity represented by Arizona's coming dispensaries. For example, Bruce Bedrick, a Phoenix chiropractor, is already marketing a dispensing system.

Once the state's regulations are in place, many entrepreneurs will likely want to get in on the beginning of what some call a sure high-growth industry.

Arizona voters narrowly passed Proposition 203 last November. The new law will allow qualifying patients with certain debilitating medical conditions buy up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana every two weeks from dispensaries, or grow up to 12 cannabis plants if they live 25 miles or farther from the nearest dispensary.

The Arizona Department of Health Services is now reviewing more than a thousand comments on the proposed medical marijuana rules. A new draft of the rules is expected by the end of the month, followed by a second comment period. Final rules are expected in March.

Those who attend his classes are "flat-out entrepreneurs," according to Escamilla, who see the industry as more than just growing and selling marijuana. For example, insurance brokers who sell medical marijuana insurance, real estate agents who lease or sell dispensary space, and security people employed by pot shops have attended his program, he said.

"There's a lot of outside interest just from those who are more entrepreneurial," Escamilla said. "There's a lot of people that kind of see it as a savior from a business perspective."

Arizona State University

Professor Gary Keim: "It's the classic high-risk, potentially high-return situation"

​ Starting up a pot dispensary is much like launching other businesses, according to Gerry Keim, a professor of entrepreneurship at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. There's learning how to cater to customers, measuring the competition and building relationships with suppliers.

"But this is one where you have uncertainty about the future of the rules of the game," Keim said. "They will be emerging."

Those able to land a spot in the market early may be better able to influence legislators and regulators, Keim said. "It's the classic high-risk, potentially high-return situation," he said.

Bedrick, the Phoenix chiropractor mentioned earlier, has held local seminars to inform others about medical marijuana permitting and how to properly run a dispensary.

He is marketing what he said was the most technologically advanced solution to get marijuana to patients: A medical dispensing system that looks like an ATM and could be run from a business office. The system is called the Medbox.

Bedrick said his system was the most affordable way for entrepreneurs because it requires as little as $25,000 to get into an investment pool.

"We are the most compliant, most fraud free, safest and most lean business model," Bedrick claimed, predicting there will be more security and regulations as rules develop.

Bedrick said his licensed technology was devised after regulatory problems plagued California.

"The best way to be compliant is to take human error out of it," he said, adding that his machines offer video security and biometric scanning if necessary. The Medbox machines take cards, so patients don't have to pay cash for medicine.

Software that will meet state requirements for a real-time database would be able to shut down dispensing to patients with expired medical marijuana ID cards, or those who already bought their supply, Bedrick said.

"Our technology and software does that whole job for the state," Bedrick said. "Whatever system Arizona creates, we will seamlessly integrate with that."

According to trainer Escamilla, traditional sources of funding for startups are hard to come by in the marijuana business. "People either self-fund or they put together business plans and attract friends and family to fund their startups," he said.

Greenway University has lawyers, CPAs and dispensary owners speak at seminars. Escamilla suggests that future pot shop owners hire a good attorney and an accountant.

"It's more for business transaction and formation as opposed to criminal defense, which, for most people, that's their first thought process," Escamilla said.

Finding landlords who agree to host a dispensary can also be a challenge, Escamilla said. But if you follow the rules, he said it's possible for some owners with several dispensaries to earn seven figures annually.

Startup costs run from $25,000 to $500,000, according to Escamilla, who expects annual license fees to be about the same as Colorado's: $7,500 for less than 300 patients, $12,500 for 300-500 patients and $17,500 for more than 500 patients.

Escamilla stressed professionalism as a way of winning over communities. "We express to the student base it's a professional environment, that we have to be mindful of the neighbors, the communities that we live in, and to tailor your marketing in such a way that it's tasteful," he said. "It's an approach where you want to have a 42-year-old mother of two be able to come to your facility and use this as an alternative form of medicine."

One of the ways to make people more comfortable with marijuana, he said, is to educate them that medical cannabis does not have to be smoked. He emphasized that patients can get their medication through edibles, sodas, ice creams and through vaporization, which eliminates toxins associated with smoke by heating the cannabis to form a mist.

Oaksterdam University's Dale Sky Jones: On a Marijuana Mission

After years in corporate America, Dale Sky Jones found her calling as head of California's Oaksterdam University, a trade school focused on the marijuana industry.

By Patrick Sauer

From http://smallbusiness.aol.com/

Have we become a nation of chronic employment? Out in California -- spiritual home to the Grateful Dead, Snoop Dogg, Cheech & Chong and Weeds -- it appears to be the case. According to a 2009 Field Poll, 56 percent of Californians want marijuana legalized, although enthusiasm for Proposition 19, the bill for voters to decide if recreational pot usage is legit for those 21 and older, appears to be burning out as election day approaches. Pass or fail, however, attitudes seem to be shifting all across the country. A recent Gallup poll found more Americans than ever (although still a minority) support legalization, with a whopping 78 percent of self-identified "liberals" saying marijuana should be decriminalized and taxed.

The Golden State already has a booming $2 billion medical marijuana industry, and estimates of the total market are at $14 billion, which would make it the state's largest cash crop. For medical patients, 14 other states have followed suit, and a January ABC/Washington Post poll found that Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of allowing doctors to prescribe medical cannabis to alleviate pain and suffering.

For entrepreneurs, there's gold in them thar crops. Richard Lee, who founded one of the nation's first hemp retailers in Houston, is a leader in the blossoming field. In 2007, he founded Oaksterdam University, a trade school with a curriculum focused on the cannabis industry. Today, executive chancellor Dale Sky Jones, a medical marijuana patient who spent years in corporate America, handles the day-to-day operations and expansion projects at Oaksterdam U.

In a wide-ranging interview, Jones, 35, explained how the operations work, why it's such a potential growth industry and who stands to benefit. And for the record, there's no need to ask her about "higher learning," or if students remember to go to class. She's heard it all before, thanks.

Tell us a bit about your background.

I grew up in a rock-and-roll household. My mom was a popular radio host in Miami, who used my teenage years as fodder, but raised me to be a go-getter. My stepfather, who raised me from 10, was a drummer for Grand Funk Railroad and Bob Seger. In true rebellious fashion, I went conservative and got the hell out at 18 to work in corporations. I spent years working in retail and hospitality management for companies like Brown Shoe, Radisson and T.G.I. Friday's. I lived all over, in cities like Seattle and small towns like Casper, Wyo. I learned a lot of best practices that need to be brought to the cannabis industry.

What brought you to California?

I took a job managing a group of doctors in Orange County, which is where I learned about medical marijuana. In 2008, I was sitting in an Oaksterdam class in Los Angeles and the doctor got lost and couldn't make the class. Since I was already teaching patients about it, I stepped in as a facilitator. I'm still teaching today. There's been a lot of red-eye flights, but come hell or highwater, I haven't missed one yet.

Explain how Oaksterdam University got started.

California went through a nasty learning curve after medical marijuana was legalized in 1996. Richard Lee saw an opportunity to teach people not only how to grow and cultivate the crops, but also the history, politics, First Amendment issues and science. Most of us slept through our 8th-grade civics classes. People don't know their rights. One of our faculty members, Robert Raich, was an attorney in the two medical marijuana cases that went before the Supreme Court. Initially, it started out somewhat as a marketing scheme to get people involved in government meetings. We want to educate folks so they become advocates.

How big is Oaksterdam University?

Our mothership is in downtown Oakland, which is where the city's dispensaries are. We have a 30,000-square-foot campus with classrooms, auditoriums, a grow lab and a theater. We have satellite campuses where we hold weekend seminars in Los Angeles, Sebastopol in the North Bay, and in Flint, Mich.

How many students have taken courses, and what are the offerings?

Around 12,000 people have taken classes, everyone from kids out of high school to out-of-work real estate agents to retired law enforcement agents. The weekend seminar is $250 for 12 hours of instruction and a binder full of core source material. The $650 advanced semester program is 32 hours over 13 weeks and features classes like Methods of Ingestion and Cannabusiness. We also offer electives with guest speakers, and a comprehensive hands-on Horticulture Semester.

Is it legal to work with marijuana?

No. Our students work with rosemary, unless they are qualified medical-marijuana patients. We don't dispense. All we do is educate. The marijuana that is grown legally by our gardeners is donated to a local wheelchair-bound woman who suffers from MS and to a nearby AIDS patient.

It must be a challenge running a business with all these legal questions.

It is. We have to walk the line of both federal and state laws. Until marijuana is legalized, this isn't an industry, it's a movement. Right now, I'm almost entirely focused on California's current legalization campaign. I sort of fell into the role as one of the political leaders. This is a for-profit business, we're big fans of capitalism, but right now we're reinvesting everything back into the company and the greater cause.

If marijuana is legalized, what kind of economic benefits do you think California will actually see?

We know it's the largest cash crop, but the size of the black market is tricky. Conservative estimates are that, if controlled and taxed, California would receive $1.4 billion in tax revenue a year. Once it's legitimate, there will be tens of thousands of green jobs for gardeners, farmers and growers. But it's not just marijuana, there's also hemp, which can be used for paper and fiber. There are also all the ancillary businesses like insurance, tech support, cleaning crews and so on. It will be a huge growth market, ideal for single-earner families or people looking for a new career. We haven't had a major new industry in California in decades other than the brief housing bubble and the growth of the prison-industrial complex.

What about those who say it will lead to more crime?

I think taking the power out of the hands of the Mexican drug cartels will lead to less crime, and our prisons won't be so overcrowded. We're way over capacity, and the majority of inmates are non-violent drug offenders. I'd rather have tax dollars going to support law enforcement agencies than illegal revenue going to criminal enterprises.

As more and more states legalize medical marijuana, will Oaksterdam set up shop there?

We plan on partnering with other states, but what we provide is a blueprint. We want to help start programs, but let local communities implement them as they see fit. We still have plenty of places in California to start weekend seminars like San Diego, Orange County and the Inland Empire.

It seems that discussing the decriminalization of marijuana in a public forum no longer tars politicians with a scarlet pot leaf.

In many parts of the country, we're finally having an honest debate. Cannabis isn't seen like heroin anymore. We've always had science on our side, and now politicians are realizing it isn't necessarily a ballot killer. A lot of small local governments, like in Oakland, love what we're doing because we encourage people to do things the right way. We encourage growers to take off the tie-dye, put on a suit, and come meet with city officials so you're licensed and paying taxes.

And you are a medical marijuana user yourself?

I am a patient, for cyclic vomiting syndrome. It's involuntary and usually an issue reserved for chemotherapy patients. A couple of times a year, I used to go into wicked cycles of dry heaving that required going to a hospital to get hooked up to IVs all night. The only option was a pill, to be taken immediately upon feeling nauseous. Problem is, you can't keep water down, never mind a pill, so I've thrown up some expensive medication. I lost six pounds of water weight in 36 hours last time. Not fun, or pretty. Cannabis doctors recognized my issue was not mysterious allergies but what cancer patients go through, and more importantly, that I can control these triggers to reduce incidents. Once the cycle starts, I can have some hash, immediately feel better, and go about my business rather than curling up in a fetal position, dry heaving all day and night. The plant I can grow in my closet is way cheaper than those pills that didn't work anyway, and I save an average of a thousand bucks out of pocket per hospital trip. This was a revelation I could have used 15 years ago!

It sounds like you've found a calling.

I'm right where I belong. I fell down a rabbit hole and came out on the other side. Twenty years later, I am marching along the same folks from NORML as my mom did 40 years ago.

Entrepreneur Spotlight

Name: Dale Sky Jones

Company: Oaksterdam University

Age: 34

Location: Oakland, Calif.

Founded: 2007

Employees: 30 with another 25-30 part-timers, volunteers and interns

2010 Projected Revenue: $2 million

Website: www.oaksterdamuniversity.com

20 psychedelic strains of Star Wars-themed marijuana

From: http://blastr.com/

(image via lookingthemoon)

Despite Carrie Fisher's recent acknowledgment of cocaine on the set of The Empire Strikes Back, we're pretty sure that everyone on the right side of the Force would tell you to just say no to drugs. (With the exception of Han Solo, who'd probably tell you're to just say no to smuggling drugs on any ship other than the Millennium Falcon.)


However, if you were a medicinal marijuana patient in Southern California in 2010, then chances are your dreadlocked "budtender" sent you home with at least a gram of Skywalker OG. (We'd like to see Lucasfilm deal with THAT little nug of copyright infringement!)

In fact, throughout 2010, a slew of Star Wars-themed strains of cannabis were circulating throughout California, most of them ending with OG, a reference to the fact that they're crossed with Ocean-Grown Kush, a particularly potent strain of the famed Afghani marijuana.

As it turns out, Star Wars and cannabis have gone hand in hand for decades. Yeah, don't act like you're surprised. For your consumption—but only if you're a card-carrying patient—we present these 20 different varieties of marijuana named inspired by Star Wars.

1. Starwarz

A long time ago, in a Dutch city far, far away ...

Bud fact: "Starwarz" is what Gerrit, founder of Holland-based Magus Genetics, named his cross between the Sensi Star and Warlock strains (Star-War, get it?).

2. Skywalker

Bud fact: The Dutch Passion Seed Company (the same Amsterdam company responsible for the "Strawberry Cough" strain Michael Caine grew in Children of Men) crossed two of its award-winning strains to produce, Skywalker, which it hoped would be "one of the best indicas in the world."

3. Skywalker OG

Dude, where's my X-wing?

Bud fact: One of the more prevalent strains in California at the moment is Skywalker OG, which is Skywalker crossed with a OG Kush.

4. Purple Skywalker

"But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some ... yeah, err ... power converters!"

"You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done."

Bud fact: Skywalker was also crossed with Purple Kush to create, you guessed it, Purple Skywalker.

5. Master OG Wan Kenobi

Help me, Obi Wan, you're my only toke.

Bud fact: This cross between Master Kush and Skywalker OG hybrid was sold as the "Special Reserve" bud at California Caregivers Alliance in 2010.

6. Yoda OG, 7. OG Master Yoda, 8. Yoda's Breath

Doobie or doobie not, there is no try.


Bud Fact: We've also heard of OG Master Yoda and Yoda's Breath, but, as near as we can tell, they're names for the same strain.

9. Jedi OG

Succumb to the power of the Dankside!

10. Han Solo OG

"What an incredible smell you've discovered!"

How's this for a scruffy-looking nerfherder: According to Strainreviews.net, Han Solo OG has "a little bit of a cat piss smell odor to it" and "tasted a bit like a burnt match."

11. Chewbacca

Pack it, Chewie!

Bud fact: According to the UrbanDictionary.com Chewbacca is "Very high strain of marijuana that some don't even consider to be part of the Cannabis family it's so potent." There seems to be little evidence that such a strain exists, though in 2006 one grower named his home-grown hybrid "Chewbacca" on account of how hairy the nugs are. A "Chewie" is also a joint laced with cocaine.

12. DarkSide (Granddaddy Purps)

Never underestimate the power of the THC.

13. Darth Vader

I find your lack of rolling papers disturbing.

14. Death Star

Credit: Kindreviews.com

It's as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced ... but in a good way.

Bud fact: According to Colorado Alternative Medicine, Death Star's "fragrant smell translates to its taste as well, and the hits are mind-numbingly dense."

15. Death Star Hash

It's unclear whether Death Star Hash is concentrated Death Star, or whether it's just the Emperor's second attempt after the ultimate party foul.

16. Jedi Death Star, 17. Jedi Storm Trooper

These aren't the buds you're looking for.

18. R2-D2, 19. C-3PO

Luke: This R2 unit has a bad motivator, look!

Uncle Owen: [to Jawa] Hey, what are you trying to push on us?

According to Nature's Medicine in Boulder, Colo., C-3PO is "was named after its intentions. If you enjoy thinking creatively and want to become an inter-galactic language expert—these buds are for you." R2-D2 is a hybrid found in Santa Ana, Calif.

20. Jawa

Reportedly bred in the mountains of Colorado, Jawa derives its name from its parents, a Jamaican Pine strain and a Maui Wowie.

Medical Marijuana Coming Soon To Israeli Pharmacies

By Steve Elliot

From: http://www.tokeofthetown.com/

Graphic: IRXMJ.org

IRXMJ.org says it supports Israel's sick, ill and dying with free medical marijuana.

​The Israeli Health Ministry's committee on medical cannabis recommended last Wednesday the addition of marijuana to the official list of medicinal drugs. That means it should be available in Israeli pharmacies within six months, if the Health Ministry accepts the recommendation, reports Phillip Smith at StoptheDrugWar.org.

The news was reported Sunday by the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine, which cited a Thursday newsletter from the Israeli embassy in Germany.

Dr. Yehuda Baruch, who heads up the medical marijuana committee, made the recommendation. Baruch said medical cannabis is helpful for multiple sclerosis, patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, and for the relief of chronic pain.

Photo: Russia Today

Israel has the first medical marijuana program in the Middle East.

​ Until recently, Dr. Baruch was the only physician in Israel authorized to write medical marijuana prescriptions. But in another sign of loosening restrictions on medical cannabis, the Israeli Health Ministry announced in September that five more doctors will now be allowed to prescribe marijuana.

Only two Israeli citizens had marijuana prescriptions in 2000. The number had grown to only 10 by 2005, but it reached 700 around the middle of 2009. There could be as many as 2,000 medical marijuana patients now, according to estimates.

That number could increase to 5,000 by year's end, with tens of thousands more in the future, according to one Health Ministry official, with the loosening of the marijuana prescriptoin bottleneck.

The next step is to form an inter-minsterial committee to resolve open questions about the inclusion of marijuana on the list of medicinal drugs.

Israel's supply of medicinal cannabis is grown by three licensed national growers, according to irxmj.org.

Marijuana Policy Project: A clean sweep in Massachusetts!

November 3, 2010

A clean sweep in Massachusetts! Yesterday, 18 legislative districts were given the opportunity to let their legislators know that marijuana policy in Massachusetts needs reforming. On ballots across Massachusetts, voters were asked if their state officials should support medical marijuana or taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol. In all 18 districts, the voters sent a message to Boston. Reform must happen. Nine districts had public policy questions on the ballot asking if medical marijuana should be available to seriously ill residents with a doctor’s recommendation. All nine districts agreed it should be. Nine districts asked if marijuana should be taxed and regulated, like alcohol, as opposed to the current outright prohibition, which creates violence and wastes millions in resources. They all said yes. Although these questions are non-binding, they certainly send a strong message to legislators that reform must happen. Many thanks go out to the various organizations who worked so tirelessly on these PPQs, including the Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts and MassCann. These organizations have helped amplify your voice, now it’s time to make sure it’s heard in Boston! Thank you kindly for all your support and help. Sincerely, Robert J. Capecchi Legislative Analyst Marijuana Policy Project

S.F. Cops Return Seven Pounds Of Marijuana To Grower

By Steve Elliott
From http://www.tokeofthetown.com/

Photo: Salem News

Last week, in what may be the largest single cop-to-grower marijuana transaction ever (the largest amount of pot returned by cops we're aware of was 11 pounds, but that was given back a little at the time), the San Francisco Police Department gave seven pounds of cannabis back to grower Cody Phillips, whose cultivation for sale charges were dismissed in August.

The seven pounds of pot -- in good condition, according to his attorney! -- wasn't all that Phillips got back, reports Chris Roberts at SF Weekly. The cops also gave him back everything else they seized in the June raid, including grow lights and cash.

The grow equipment had been returned earlier, according to attorney Derek St. Pierre, but figuring out how to return the marijuana was problematic. There is apparently no standing protocol for cop-to-civilian marijuana returns, especially for such large amounts. (Toke of the Town suggests that someone at the SFPD should get right on that.)

Seized pain pills returned by the cops are usually processed through San Francisco General Hospital, according to SF Weekly, but SF General wanted no part of the seven pounds of marijuana, St. Pierre said.

So the deal went down like this. Phillips and St. Pierre met with uniformed police officers in an undisclosed parking lot, where a trunk-to-trunk pot transfer was performed, right from the unmarked police cruiser into Phillips' SUV, according to St. Pierre.

A few passers-by were gawking at the (probably not that unusual for San Francisco) scene, but attorney St. Pierre had nothing but praise for the way the SFPD handled their marijuana delivery duties.

"I thought the police were extremely professional in the way they handled themselves," St. Pierre said. "Everything was done in a respectful and courteous manner."

Read Chris Roberts' story at SF Weekly:

Marijuana Soda Provides a High Without the Smoke

Analysis by David Teeghman 

 

From: http://news.discovery.com/

Photo: Dixie Elixirs

One Colorado soda company has developed a line of sodas that have an unusual ingredient: marijuana. Dixie Elixirs has made their drinks available to anyone with a prescription for medical marijuana.

The drinks come in eight different flavors, including pink lemonade, root beer and grape. But if the company really wants to get their drinks into the hands of marijuana lovers, they may want to start working on pizza and nachos flavors.

But marijuana is only legal to consume in 14 states with a prescription from a doctor. So, unless you are one of the approximately half-million people who is a medical marijuana patient, this pot-infused soda won't do you much good.

It's an open secret that you can smoke marijuana and still be a valuable part of society. But when you think of smoking weed, you're more likely to think of Cheech and Chong than the people running the United States government. (Even though at least two U.S. presidents have admitted smoking it.)

The drink makers say part of the reason they developed their line of mary-jane drinks was to remove that "reefer madness" stigma associated with marijuana smokers.

If California voters decide to make recreational marijuana legal this November, you may start seeing these organic sodas (the drink makers really know their audience) in grocery stores and liquor stores right next to the stuff from Pepsi and Coke.

But if Coca-Cola's history is any sign of what the company might do next, they could return to the heady days of putting mind-altering substances in their sodas.

At a time of sagging soda sales, drink makers are looking for a way to boost sales, and marijuana might be the answer. Medical marijuana has already proven an effective way at boosting newspaper sales, of all things. The New York Times reports that medical marijuana ads in small Colorado newspapers boost revenues enough for it to increase the size of its staff.