Reform Regroups: 2011 International Drug Policy Reform Conference

by Bean, Mon Nov 7, 2011

Drug Policy Alliance Conference in Lost Angeles brings together anti-Drug War activists amid increased hostility to reform from the federal government.

Attracting national figures like former New Mexico Governor (and current Republican presidential candidate) Gary Johnson, California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, PBS travel host Rick Steves, and even a Skype appearance by Virgin CEO Richard Branson, the 2011 International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Los Angeles brought together leaders of the global ant-Drug War movement for a bi-annual meeting of the minds held amid an air of uncertainty regarding the federal government’s renewed attempts to “crack down” on medical marijuana.

Sponsored by the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates for the legalization of all drugs, the Reform Conference featured over …READ MORE

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Feeling NORML a Mile High

by Bean, Tue Apr 26, 2011

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws celebrates 40 years of activism with a major conference in Denver.

A sitting member of the US House of Representatives, the director of the Colorado State Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division, and top leaders of the cannabis liberation movement from across the country (any beyond) gathered this past weekend to celebrate the issue’s “Coming of Age” in a city that’s increasingly taking a leading role in America’s ongoing movement toward legalizing marijuana. And with the nation’s first statewide seed-to-sales medical cannabis regulations nearly in place, and a major push already underway for a 2012 legalization initiative, Colorado will remain in the forefront of the movement’s mind for the next year and beyond.

At their annual national convention, NORML celebrated 40 years of changing the world for the better with keynote …READ MORE

tags: norml, denver, colorado, activism, activism news, events article, legalization, headline news 14    « add a comment

Prescription Strength

by Bean, Tue Mar 1, 2011

Take an educational look inside the Dutch medical-cannabis program, where doctors send patients to the pharmacy instead of the coffeeshops, and the national Office of Medicinal Cannabis makes sure the entire supply line measures up to the highest standards.

She’s never said so publicly, but it’s well known in international cannabis circles that former Dutch Health Minister Els Borst started the Netherlands’ national medical-marijuana program with her husband in mind. Stricken with terminal cancer, he wouldn’t survive long enough to see the creation of the Office of Medicinal Cannabis in 2000, but it was apparently the reality of watching her life partner seek out a safe supply of Cannabis sativa inside a coffeeshop instead of a pharmacy that inspired Borst to create the first fully legal option for Dutch citizens whose physicians have approved them for the …READ MORE

tags: medical marijuana, mmjnr feb 2011, amsterdam 6    « add a comment

Stoner Voter Guide 2010

by Bean, Mon Nov 1, 2010

This Tuesday, November 2nd, marijuana is on the ballot in four states, with voter initiatives in Arizona, South Dakota and Oregon seeking to create or expand safe access to medical marijuana, while citizens in California decided the fate of Prop 19, designed to legalize possession and use of cannabis for all adults over 21. With California’s historic campaign driving the discussion, and the state’s battered economy necessitating a search for new tax revenue and green jobs, marijuana – medical or otherwise – has suddenly become a hot topic in the media, including extensive coverage on television news and in print media.

For the first time, and despite some obvious exceptions, we had the beginning of a rational and reality-based discussion about the wisdom (or complete lack thereof) of our nation’s approach to cannabis, along with record high polling of support …READ MORE

tags: legalization, vote, politics, proposition 19, california, arizona, tax, activism, medical marijuana 21    « add a comment

Tea Party!

by Bean, Tue Oct 12, 2010

Story by David Bienenstock

Photo by Robyn Twomey    

Richard Lee reaches out to tighten the cap on a small spray bottle of light brown liquid as he rolls through one of his thriving nurseries. These days, he may be the most high-profile marijuana entrepreneur in America, but not even the smallest detail of life in Oaksterdam escapes his attention. Of course, Lee’s not only the mythical town’s unofficial mayor; he’s the founding father of a nine-block stretch of Broadway in Oakland that’s now known to pot smokers worldwide as the home of his cannabusinesses, including the three-story, 30,000-square-foot main campus of Oaksterdam University, two coffeeshops, a medical-marijuana dispensary, a gift shop, a student union and his political headquarters – all of which have helped transform the area from a scene of urban blight into a “green oasis” of commercial viability and …READ MORE

tags: california, proposition 19, legalization, november 2010 31    « add a comment

HIGH TIMES at WAMMfest

by Bean, Tue Sep 21, 2010

HIGH TIMES Medical Marijuana News and Reviews will have a prominent booth at WAMMfest, this Saturday (September 25) in Santa Cruz, California’s San Lorenzo Park, where we’ll show off copies of our new issue, which includes a feature length interview with WAMM co-founder Valerie Corral, and amazing photos of this year’s WAMM garden.

WAMMFEST is a free annual event held to thank the community for its support during the aftermath of the 2002 DEA raid against WAMM. Everyone is invited to join in for a day of music, food, fun and games, with the proceeds benefiting this most worthy organization.

Recognized as the "gold standard" of how a medical cannabis collective should operate according to Prop 215 – which Valerie Corral helped author – WAMM has provided medicine to the most vulnerable in society on a donation basis since …READ MORE

tags: headline news, medical marijuana, medical news, events, events calendar 12    « add a comment

Burn Buds, Not Books

by Bean, Fri Sep 17, 2010

By David Bienenstock

No publication in America relies more heavily on our nation’s First Amendment guarantee of free speech than HIGH TIMES, so it should be noted at the outset that the US Constitution clearly protects David Grisham’s right to burn any book he pleases. Ironically, that’s one of the things that distinguishes the land of the free from places where religious extremists like David Grisham have the upper hand in the running of things.

Grisham heads Repent Amarillo, a self-appointed group of Christian extremists who’ve been waging holy war on the small Texas city, including campaigns against a local swingers’ club, a community theater, the mayor of Houston – even a nature preserve they’ve accused of involvement in witchcraft. Basically, they’re …READ MORE

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Festival Review: Outside Lands 2010, San Francisco

by Bean, Mon Aug 16, 2010

Why should seeing the (living) Grateful Dead in Golden Gate Park preclude you from sampling rare vintages from dozens of local wineries or a “Korean taco” wrapped in nori from one of San Francisco’s hottest restaurants? The Outside Lands festival reflects its host city’s love affair with food and wine by inviting local purveyors to take concert cuisine to the next level, and with marijuana legalization on the California ballot this November, it’s not too hard to imagine next year’s incarnation adding cannabis vendors to the already existing wine tent.

For this weekend, however, it was a strictly a bring your own event, with a classic San Francisco fog enveloping not just a monster headlining set by Further (featuring Phil Lesh and Bob Weir), but also high energy performances by Nas and Damian Marley, Slightly Stoopid, and dozens of other acts spread over two days …READ MORE

tags: music, reviews, festival article 5    « add a comment

Learn to Cultivate “Exceptional Cannabis” with DJ Short

by Bean, Tue Jun 8, 2010

Just days before he will take part in the first annual HIGH TIMES Medical Cannabis Cup in San Francisco, cannabis breeding legend DJ Short (of Blueberry fame) will instruct a two-day seminar in Pasadena, California that promises to reveal all of his secrets for producing amazingly medicinal marijuana, and other aspects of operating ethically and effectively as a legal medical marijuana cultivator. Sponsored by the Medical Cannabis Caregivers Directory and Training Program, the seminar is only open to California residents with a valid physician’s approval for the use of cannabis.

DJ Short will then make his way to San Francisco to bring his cultivation wisdom to the HIGH TIMES Medical Cannabis Cup, where he’ll join a seminar schedule that includes fellow cultivation experts Jorge Cervantes, Danny Danko and Nico Escondido, plus top activists and professionals from the medical marijuana movement.

For more on DJ …READ MORE

tags: medical cannabis cup, medical marijuana, cultivation 18    « add a comment

Concert Review: Damian Marley and Nas – Distant Relatives

by Bean, Fri May 28, 2010

Photo by Brittany Somerset

Coming soon to the cover of a HIGH TIMES near you, Damian Marley and Nas brought their Distant Relatives tour to Santa Cruz Wednesday May 26 in support of their just released “joint” album of the same name. Mixing new collaborations with top grade selections from their respective solo work, they kept the sold-out crowd jumping, chanting and even singing along on the hits as two of the most gifted lyricists to be found in any genre of music explored the common ground between rap and reggae.

Backed ably by Damian’s band (yes, including the guy who waves the flag!), Marley and Nas proved they’ve got a lot more in common than just a love of ganja, starting with serious stage presence. In fact, if there’s an opposite of “beef,” that was the chemistry on display when these two consummate performers traded off on the mic. …READ MORE

tags: marley, nas, concert review, reviews, music, reggae 1    « add a comment

Hollywood Hydro

by Bean, Fri May 21, 2010

The Oscar-nominated star of Fight Club explains the unique challenges – and philosophical joys – of playing a hydropondic ganja grower on the big screen.

Any movie that includes an A-list Hollywood star debating the relative merits of using sodium-vapor versus LED lighting in his hydroponic ganja growroom will likely get the attention of HIGH TIMES. In Leaves of Grass, a dark new comedy out this month, Edward Norton plays identical twins – one an Ivy League professor on the academic fast track, the other a down-home pot grower drifting into dangerous waters. What brings the two together, for better and worse, is a massive, state-of-the-art, nutrient-film-technique hydro setup secreted away in a Quonset hut in the backwaters of rural Oklahoma.

When Bill …READ MORE

tags: interviews, movies, hydro, may 2010 7    « add a comment

Kampia Returns to MPP

by Bean, Wed Apr 14, 2010

By David Bienenstock and Richard Cusick

Rob Kampia has been officially reinstated as the executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project—following a three-month, unpaid leave of absence—according to a spokesman for the organization.

"Rob is back effective today,” according to MPP director of communications Mike Meno. “The board voted yesterday and we're hoping to continue with the work of ending marijuana prohibition in this country."

HIGH TIMES has learned that Kampia was reinstated during a contentious conference call meeting of the nine-person board and that the close vote on his potential return was followed by the resignation of at least two board members, one immediately and one within twenty-four hours. A spokesman for the Berkeley Patients Group released a statement confirming that their “representative has decided to resign …READ MORE

tags: news exclusive, headline news, rob kampia 83    « add a comment

SSDP Takes San Francisco

by Bean, Tue Mar 16, 2010

Students for Sensible Drug Policy brings 500 young activists to the “epicenter” of marijuana law reform at their 11th Annual International Conference.

On the first day of this year’s Students for Sensible Drug Policy national conference in San Francisco, hundreds of budding young activists from across the country – and around the world – signed up for a tour of nearby Oaksterdam University and Harborside Health Center, giving most of the students their first look inside the world of medical marijuana. It was a rare chance to witness first-hand the common sense and compassionate policies that many have been working so hard to bring to their own home states, not to mention an incredibly exciting way to start a three-day weekend packed with seminars, activism, parties, awards, and plenty …READ MORE

tags: ssdp, activism, activism news, medical marijuana, headline news 11    « add a comment

MAPS Psychedelic Science Conference Tickets Available

by Bean, Fri Feb 5, 2010

Psychedelic non-profit's event brings Rick Doblin, Alex Grey, Andrew Weil, Ralph Metzner, Stanislav Grof and leading psychedelic scientists together in San Jose, California - April 15-18

MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, has announced its international conference on psychedelic research. The conference will bring together international experts on psychedelic substances and will be the largest such conference to take place in the United States in 17 years. The conference will feature three concurrent tracks, including a Continuing Medical Education track reporting on clinical research, a second on ayahuasca, and a third on psychology and a wide range of related topics.

The Psychedelic Science in the 21st Century conference is open to the general public and registration information is available at READ MORE

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Scandal at the Marijuana Policy Project

by Bean, Thu Jan 14, 2010

By David Bienenstock and Richard Cusick

As part of an ongoing investigation, HIGH TIMES magazine has confirmed that at least seven full-time staff members of the Washington, DC based Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) have quit their jobs in protest of an alleged incident of sexual misconduct by MPP Executive Director Rob Kampia, which took place following an informal staff “happy hour” in August of 2009.

“I left MPP because of an incident involving Rob Kampia and a female employee, and because of how that incident was handled by organization leadership,” Former Director of Membership Salem Pearce told HIGH TIMES. “This is all part of a pattern of behavior by Rob, who was known in the office for his sexually explicit comments and actions towards female employees and interns, particularly ones half his age and desirous of full-time jobs with MPP. Rob's willingness to jeopardize the organization for sexual …READ MORE

tags: headline news, news exclusive, rob kampia 326    « add a comment