GMO, Monsanto, and the future of cannabis?

[HempKat]

Monsanto is also an HERBICIDE company...think Agent Orange.......soon enough, they will get a new herbicide out there, that kills cannabis, and only the GMO cannabis seeds will flourish. If any grower, thinks their plants will be immune....well, we always hope we don't get pests, pm, or any deficiencies....but we always do. Why can't they make an airborne herbicide, that will get indoors, and wipe out cannabis?

Just because they can make agent orange doesn't mean they can make an airborne herbicide that will get into sealed rooms and only kill cannabis. I mean, yeah sure, if they could do that, it would be horrible for all us growers. There are lots of things that can be imagined that could cause all sorts of damage and harm but just because you can imagine it and see where someone could profit from it doesn't mean that person can or would do what you imagined they could.

I can't really say why they can't make something like that, nor can I say they can make something like that, neither can you because we don't have the proper background in chemistry to say if it's possible or not. I know that to get into a sealed room it would have to be extremely persistent, ready to do damage once the slightest access is given. I know in a general sense the more persistent you make things the more potentially dangerous and harmful they become. So my guess as to why they don't make a pesticide that can enter into sealed rooms is that it would probably kill far more then just cannabis.

I will agree that if such a thing does become possible Monsanto is just the type of company that wouldn't hesitate to try to profit from it.

 

[castout]

Hempy, I hear you, but I do not trust big business or government. If there is a way it can be done, I am sure they are researching it. That way, when it goes legal everywhere, only they will be able to grow it, and profit from it. Look at what they have done in Colombia, and the coca plant.....why is it far fetched to think they will try to eradicate cannabis here....especially if they didn't make the seeds, or the profit from those seeds?

 

[HempKat]

Hempy, I hear you, but I do not trust big business or government. If there is a way it can be done, I am sure they are researching it. That way, when it goes legal everywhere, only they will be able to grow it, and profit from it. Look at what they have done in Colombia, and the coca plant.....why is it far fetched to think they will try to eradicate cannabis here....especially if they didn't make the seeds, or the profit from those seeds?

Well for one thing they have tried to eradicate marijuana before back in the late 70's early 80's and it didn't work other then short term and it certainly didn't effect anything indoors. I mean as much as they've tried to stop the public from getting marijuana for decades now if they could easily do it then they would have done it by now. It's not far fetched to think they might want to or might try to but it is far fetched to think they could come up with something that would just be harmful to marijuana and nothing else and be able to somehow enter a sealed room.

Also and like I tried to say before, with the influence Monsanto apparently has with the government if what you're suggesting was doable weed would be legal everywhere now and Monsanto would be controlling it. Besides, we like to think weed being legal everywhere is just around the corner because some places have already gone legal even though it remains illegal on the Federal level. Unfortunately that's just wishful thinking on our part. In 3 years we'll have a new President, given how the Obama administration has failed on most of it's major promises there is a very good chance our next President will be a Republican and most Republicans are dead set against marijuana ever being legalized.

So the more likely scenario is that it's going to take a good while yet and when it does happen places like Monsanto will sit back at first and allow the little guys (us growers) do all the hard work of establishing the market, how it's distributed, etc. Then once it's all in place and running smoothly and profitably that's when big business will try to swoop in and take over. That's how Monsanto did it with Food crops they didn't start from the beginning, them controlling things is a relatively new thing and truthfully they don't completely control things even yet.

 

[skullznroses]

I doubt they will ever be able to spray public and private land from airplanes with whatever herbicide they want. This isn't Vietnam any more, believe it or not. The general population is getting smarter right?

 

[Nor'Easter]

I should hope so but wouldn't count on it, with all the apps and gadgets enabling everyone to communicate with someone 1000 miles away more or less, and ignoring those right in front of them and sometimes getting into accidents in the process... you have to wonder if we aren't getting dumbed down instead.

 

[PhenoMenal]

Interesting new doco ... "The World According To Monsanto" ...

http://eztv.it/ep/45768/the-world-according-to-monsanto-x264-aac-mvgroup/

 

[castout]

Another Monsanto Handout: EPA Set to Raise Limits on Glyphosate

In another glaring example of how Monsanto has the U.S. government in the palm of its Roundup Ready-covered hands, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is poised to raise – yes, raise – the limits for glyphosate residue allowed on fruits and vegetables sold in the U.S. stores. Glyphosate is the key ingredient in Roundup, Monsanto’s widely used broad-spectrum herbicide. The deadline to tell the EPA what you think of its new ruling is July 1.

The new EPA ruling is incomprehensible in light of the barrage of new studies revealing how much more dangerous glyphosate is than we originally thought. Monsanto’s story has always been that Roundup is harmless to animals and humans. Not so, say scientists who point out the many ways in which glyphosate causes widespread systemic damage to human health. One recent study found traces of the poison in the bodies of people in 18 European countries. And far more glyphosate is used in the U.S. than in Europe.

Unless the EPA changes its mind, and decides to protect us rather than Monsanto, flax oil, canola oil, soybean oil and olive oil will be allowed to contain glyphosate residues of over 100,000 times the concentration known to cause cancer. And that’s just the half of it.


Read the essay

View the EPA Regulation

TAKE ACTION BY JULY 1: Tell the EPA to Lower the Allowed Limits for Monsanto’s Roundup!





TRAITOR BOYCOTT

Are the ‘Traitor Brand’ Parents Hiding Behind the GMA?

We knew Monsanto and the rest of the pesticide-makers would top the list of corporations bankrolling the campaign to quash the next ballot initiative to label GMOs, I-522 in Washington State. But we were hoping that with your help, the “Traitor Boycott” would persuade the “Traitor Brand” parent companies to stay out of the fight.

So far, they have. Or have they?

The money to fund the NO on I-522 campaign has started rolling in, and topping the list of donors is the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA). The GMA spent $2 million to defeat California’s Proposition 37 GMO labeling initiative. On May 5, the GMA made its first contribution of $472,500, to NO on I-522. Will the junk food trade association stop there? Or will it donate more, maybe even more than the $2 million it gave to the NO on Prop 37 campaign, to build another anti-labeling war chest?

Will the “Traitor Brand” parent companies, like Pepsi, Coca-Cola, General Mills and other junk food manufacturers, funnel their donations through the GMA this time around, rather than face another round of wrath from consumers? Time will tell, but this we do know: Every single one of the “Traitor Brand” parent companies is a member of the GMA.

It’s time to take to the phones and facebook pages and twitter accounts. It’s time to hammer the parent companies about belonging to an association that’s hell bent on keeping consumers in the dark. And it’s time to remind their natural and organic subsidiaries, the “Traitor Brands,” that we won’t be buying their products until their parent companies pull out of the GMA and donate to the YES on I-522 campaign.


Download your wallet-sized boycott guide

Download a poster-sized boycott guide

Sign the boycott pledge

Order printed copies of the boycott guide or poster





SUPPORT THE OCA & OCF

Idiots? Not You! Not Us!

The indefatigable, fearless, one-of-a-kind Jim Hightower gets the credit for reminding us of the origin (Greek) of the word “idiote.” Recounting his speech earlier this month to the Denison (Texas) High School Class of 2013, Hightower recently wrote:

"Idiotes were not people with low-watt brains, but individuals who cared only about themselves, refusing to participate in public efforts to benefit the larger community – the common good. The Greeks, I told the students, considered such people selfish, contemptible, and stupid... and so should we." – Jim Hightower

Here in the OCA offices, both brick-and-mortar and virtual, we remind ourselves every day, that without you, our loyal and committed donors, volunteers and co-conspirators, we would be powerless to confront the corporate thugs who are destroying our soil and water, the air we breathe, the food we eat, the democracy we believe in.

So thank you. For caring about the world. For making a difference. For not being an “idiote.” As we gear up to defeat Monsanto and Big Food in Washington State, we will need all the support we can get. Please make a generous donation today. Thank you.

Donate to the Organic Consumers Fund (non-tax-deductible, but necessary for our legislative efforts in Washington, Vermont and other states)

If you need your donation to be tax-deductible, you can donate to the Organic Consumers Association (tax-deductible, helps support our work on behalf of organic standards, fair trade and public education)





FARM BILL UPDATE

The 2013 Farm Bill: What’s Next, What’s at Stake

TAKE ACTION: Demand a Better Farm Bill! Contact your Representative!

They call it the Farm Bill. But it’s really about food. And bad food, mostly, at that. Here’s where the 2013 Farm Bill stands, why you should care, and what you can do.

Last week (June 10), the Senate passed its nearly $1 trillion version of the 2013 Farm Bill. This week, House members are slugging it out over some of the 103 amendments to the House version of the bill. If the House is able to pass its version, both versions will go to conference committee, where the House and Senate will have to iron out their differences if Congress is going to pass a five-year Farm Bill this year. Assuming they can (they didn’t last year, which forced them to extend portions of the 2008 bill), President Obama could still veto it.

You would think that in a country where climate change is threatening crops, a country whose population is increasingly plagued by skyrocketing obesity rates and chronic illness, a bill about food would look to foster sustainable farming practices that produce healthful, nutritious food. Yet sadly, within those 103 amendments are billions of dollars’ worth of tax giveaways, to subsidize the wealthiest farms, that grow the most environmentally destructive conventional and genetically engineered crops, to produce the least healthy processed and factory farm food.

You deserve better. We all deserve better. It’s time we demand better.

TAKE ACTION: Demand a Better Farm Bill! Contact your Representative!






BYTES AND PIECES

Wanted: Highly Skilled Professional Liar to Make Over Monsanto’s Image

Perception is everything. And the public’s perception of Monsanto is, well . . . “World’s Most Evil Corporation” neatly sums it up.

Most of the world has awakened to the dark side of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). People are literally marching in the streets, all over the world, to show their disdain for Monsanto’s planned takeover of the world’s food supply and its penchant for drenching the planet in herbicides and pesticides.

Monsanto, meanwhile, has awakened to the fact that it has a little PR problem. According to the Holmes Report, a resource for public relations professionals, the Biotech Bully is looking for some experts to help paint a pretty face on its evil deeds. Talk about a challenging job.

Meanwhile, someone is obviously already helping Monsanto smooth over its little problem concerning the killing off of honeybees. According to the Pesticide Action Network, Monsanto had the gall last week to host something called the Honey Bee Health Summit, a gathering at the company’s headquarters in Missouri where, presumably, the pesticide-maker feigned great concern for the plight of honeybees. It just tests the limits of credulity, doesn’t it?


More from the Holmes Report

More on the Honey Bee Health Summit

More on the no. 1 killer of bees





VIDEO OF THE WEEK

The Gene Revolution and the Future of Agriculture



There’s the research that’s being paid for by the biotech industry. And then there’s the independent research being done in foreign countries, mostly in Europe, and foreign universities. Most, if not all the research sponsored by the biotech industry says genetic engineering is innocuous and safe. But most of the research done elsewhere concludes otherwise. So says Thierry Vrain, retired former pro-GMO scientist for Agriculture Canada, now campaigning against GMOs.

Watch the video







‘American GMOthic’: Not Just another Logo Shirt

Want to make a fashion statement, feed an artist and support the OCA all in one fell swoop?

Moondoggie Designs, a Southern California-based surf-inspired apparel company, is pairing up artists with charitable organizations to create compelling artwork with a mission: to inspire positive change. Their initial offering? An anti-GMO inspired design called "American GMOthic," a Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) version of Grant Wood's iconic "American Gothic" painting. Created in the style of a classic wood block print, the shirt’s bold design conveys the devastating effects that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have on the traditional family farm, and the environment.

The shirt is 100% organic cotton, manufactured in the U.S., and is hand silkscreened by the artist using environmentally friendly water-based inks.

Order your “American GMOthic” shirt today using this link, and Moondoggie Designs will donate 25% of the cost of each shirt to the OCA.


Order here







Calling All Moms (and Dads)! Let’s March Across America!

The timing couldn’t be more perfect. Just as we kicked off our plan to “out” the Senators who voted against states’ rights to label GMOs, Moms Across America has organized hundreds of marches in July 4 parades, to draw attention to kids’ health and GMOs. What better way to protest your Senators’ votes, than by marching in a parade with thousands of moms (and maybe some dads) fighting for their kids’ health?

The California State Grange and LabelGMOs.org have teamed up with moms to launch the first Moms Across America campaign. Moms Across America is urging everyone who supports "the freedom to choose our food" to march in the hundreds of fourth of July parades scheduled for the summer’s biggest holiday. So far, activists in 164 towns have heeded the call.


Fourth of July parades draw politicians and decision-makers of all stripes, and the 71 U.S. Senators who recently voted against states' rights to label GMOs are certain to be at an Independence Day event somewhere in the their home state. Let's make sure that they and their voting public are made aware that the nine out of 10 citizens who support GMO labels aren't happy with their votes against our right to know.


Join Moms Across America on July 4

Find out if your Senators voted against your right to know





LITTLE BYTES

Essential Reading for the Week

 

[castout]

I am truly surprised that people are not as horrified as I am.

 

[castout]

Is Monsanto Using Back-Door Trade Deal to Force GMOs into EU?

TAKE ACTION: Tell President Obama and U.S. Trade Rep. Michael Froman: Trade Agreements Shouldn't Be Secret!

Public approval? Government regulations? Who needs ‘em when you can use a global trade agreement to do an end run?

If you thought recent news stories claiming that Monsanto has given up on trying to sell its genetically engineered seeds in Europe sounded too good to be true, you were right. Far from giving up, the biotech industry is now looking to a new trade pact between the EU and the U.S. that could blow the European market wide open for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) calls for the removal of “unnecessary regulatory barriers” to trade. Among those barriers are restrictions on GMOs. Here’s what Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) had to say about the deal:

“US seed companies that for a decade have been struggling to break the deadlock over the authorization for the cultivation of their [GM] seeds now will be presented with the ultimate opportunity to change the entire process to suit their needs.”
The TTIP, and its Pacific Rim counterpart, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), are being negotiated in secret. No input from the public. No access by Congress, despite requests from more than 140 Congress members to see drafts of the negotiating texts. Who does have input? More than 600 corporations. And if President Obama gets his way, both deals will be “fast-tracked” with no debate.

 

[SirKaos]

are hybrid strains considered GMOs?

 

[Sam_Skunkman]

Have you had your head in the sand?
Few Americans seen concerned about GMO, much of their crops are GMO already.
You can try and get some of them to wake up by saying Monsanto will GMO their favorite Cannabis, but to be honest I doubt it.
There is no GMO Cannabis, why should there be?
GMO is illegal in the EU and Cannabis is illegal in the USA, so a GMO Cannabis could not be grown in the EU or USA, why make it?
Maybe if you use more CAPITALS when you post people will listen to you?

-SamS

I am truly surprised that people are not as horrified as I am.

 

[castout]

After enjoying a year of maximum profits, record stock prices, the defeat of a major GMO labeling campaign in California, pro-industry court decisions, and a formidable display of political power in Washington, D.C. – including slipping the controversial Monsanto Protection Act into the Federal Appropriations bill in March - the Biotech Bully from St. Louis now finds itself on the defensive.

It is no exaggeration to say that Monsanto has now become the most hated corporation in the world.

Plagued by a growing army of Roundup-resistant superweeds and Bt-resistant superpests spreading across the country, a full 49 percent of American farmers are now frantically trying to kill these superweeds and pests with ever-larger quantities of toxic pesticides, herbicides and fungicides including glyphosate (Roundup), glufosinate, 2,4D (“Agent Orange’), dicamba, and neonicotinoids (insecticides linked to massive deaths of honey bees).

Reacting to this dangerous escalation of chemical farming, toxic residues on foods and environmental pollution, over a million consumers and organic farmers have pressed the Obama administration to reject a new generation of GE “Agent Orange” and dicamba-resistant crops, forcing the USDA to postpone commercialization of these crops, at least temporarily.

According to the trade press thousands of U.S. farmers, as well as farmers worldwide, are moving away from biotech crops and searching for non-GMO (genetically modified organism) alternatives. At the same time U.S. and global market demand for non-GMO organic foods and crops is steadily increasing.

Compounding Monsanto’s superweed and superpest problems, scientific evidence continues to mount that GMO feed and foods, laced with Bt toxins and contaminated with ever-increasing residues of Monsanto’s deadly weedkiller, Roundup, are severely damaging animal and human health.

As the June 24, 2013 issue of Green Medical News puts it:

“ . . . within the scientific community and educated public alike, there is a growing awareness that Roundup herbicide , and its primary ingredient glyphosate, is actually a broad spectrum biocide , in the etymological sense of the word: "bio" (life) and "cide" (kill) – that is, it broadly, without discrimination kills living things, not just plants. Moreover, it does not rapidly biodegrade as widely claimed, and exceedingly small amounts of this chemical – in concentration ranges found in recently sampled rain, air, groundwater, and human urine samples – have DNA-damaging and cancer cell proliferation stimulating effects.”

On May 25, two million people from 436 cities, in 52 countries, on six continents took to the streets in a global “March Against Monsanto.” From New York to New Delhi, protestors reaffirmed their determination not only to force the labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods, as has already been accomplished in the European Union, India and at least 36 other nations, but also to drive all GMOs off the market. That includes GMOs in human food, animal feed, cotton, nutritional supplements, body care products, and GMO cotton and biofuels.

The same week as the global March Against Monsanto, the New York Times reported that U.S. food companies, “large and small” are starting to make arrangements to reformulate the ingredients in their processed foods and reorganize their supply lines so to avoid having to admit that their brand name products contain GMOs. Monsanto and its Junk Food allies recognize that if the Washington State ballot initiative on mandatory GMO labeling passes on November 5, which now appears likely, their ability to keep food consumers in the dark will be over.

Large processed food and beverage companies, such as Kellogg’s, General Mills, Nestle, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Kraft, Unilever, Dean Foods, Wal-Mart and others understand that once labeling is required in one strategic state, such as Washington, they will be forced to label in all 50 states.

The anti-GMO movement in the U.S. has identified Monsanto’s Achilles heel—GMO food labeling at the state level—and has begun to achieve some preliminary victories, both in the marketplace and in the legislative arena. For example, Whole Foods Market and dozens of natural food stores and co-ops, along with restaurants like Chipotle, are, or are planning to, voluntarily label GMOs. And Connecticut and Maine have passed GMO labeling laws.

Our common task now must be to win the all-important Washington State ballot initiative. This will require a tremendous fundraising effort and netroots-grassroots get-out-the-vote effort. If you have not already made a donation to this effort, please do so now. If you would like to volunteer, sign up here.


Monsanto’s Minions React

The food industry knows it will be difficult to stop voters in Washington State from bypassing the politicians and the federal government and directly voting into law a mandatory GMO food labeling initiative on November 5. So the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) is circling the wagons. Claiming that pro-labeling consumers have created “an unprecedented period of turmoil” for the food industry, the GMA convened a meeting, on July 10, in Washington D.C., of large food manufactures and supermarkets. Their agenda? Figure out how to co-opt and neutralize the growing anti-GMO movement.

One of the strategies apparently being put forth by members of the GMA is to ask the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to step in and formulate watered-down federal rules on GMO food labeling. The GMA would like weak labeling laws, similar to those in Japan and other nations, that would contain loopholes, high tolerances and weak enforcement, coupled with a lengthy implementation period, so as to preempt strict state labeling requirements and deflate the growing GMO-Right to Know movement.

On the international level, Monsanto and Big Food, joined by other large corporations concerned about the growing grassroots power of consumer, environmental, and Fair Trade networks, are lobbying for fast track passage of new secretly negotiated Free Trade Agreements, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), popularly known as “TAFTA,” and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Both TAFTA and TPP are basically supercharged versions of the highly unpopular NAFTA and WTO trade agreements.

These “forced trade” agreements would, among other things, lower standards on food safety and environmental protection, including taking away the rights of nations and states to require strict GMO food labeling and safety-testing. Provisions in these trade agreements would allow corporations to sue a nation if pro-consumer or environmental laws interfered with their trade and “expected profits.” Judgments and penalties would be determined by secret trade tribunals, with corporate lawyers serving as judges. Under the TAFTA/TPP regime, the U.S. and other countries would be required to hand over national sovereignty to foreign investors and multinational corporations.

So even as we mobilize for strategic GMO right-to-know victories in Washington, Vermont and other states, we must simultaneously mobilize the public to fight against federal preemption on GMO labeling, and stop the next generation of these secret Forced Trade agreements.

GMO Food Labeling: Just the First Step

Passing I-522, Washington State’s GMO labeling initiative, is a necessary first step toward honest labeling of GMO ingredients in the U.S. But Monsanto has survived mandatory food labeling in the EU and scores of other nations. The biotech giant will likely survive strict labeling requirements by U.S. states, too. What Monsanto can’t survive is mass awareness and rejection of all GMOs, especially GMO cotton and GMO animal feed on factory farms. A successful global boycott of factory-farmed meat and animal products and GMO-tainted cotton, combined with GMO food labeling, will literally drive genetic engineering out of the marketplace.

Eighty percent of all processed foods in the U.S. contain GMOs. Yet if we examine the entire global production and consumption cycle of GMOs, we learn that only 20 percent of GMOs grown worldwide go into human food. The other 80 percent end up in animal feed, cotton production, biofuels, body care products, and nutritional supplements.

Even in Europe, where GE foods are rarely sold in grocery stores or restaurants, several billion dollars worth of GE animal feed from North America, Brazil and Argentina are imported every year. Although EU consumers have forced voluntary labeling of GMO-fed non-organic meat and animal products in Germany, France and Austria, and in large chains throughout Europe, there is no mandatory GMO animal feed labeling law in the EU. India is the only major country up until now that requires labels on GMO animal feed. No country yet requires labels on GMO cotton clothing, nutritional supplements, body care products or biofuels.

Almost half of Monsanto’s profits now derive from its sales outside the U.S., especially GMO crops for animal feed. So if we’re serious about turning back the biotech threat, and building up an alternative food and farming system that is organic, local, climate-friendly and humane, we need to strengthen our international solidarity and cooperation as well as our domestic efforts. Once we take into account the full scope of agricultural biotechnology and its myriad products, we can position ourselves for the next stage of the battle: a comprehensive and global anti-GMO offensive, strategically targeting the entire GMO food, fiber, fuel, supplements and body care industry where they are most vulnerable. This Great GMO Boycott and GMO Right to Know mobilization will require a broader coalition, both domestically and internationally, and an unprecedented mass education effort around the role of GMOs and factory farms in exacerbating our health, environmental, animal welfare and climate crisis.

All Out for Washington State Nov. 5

But first things first. The consumer, farmer and fishing community insurgency that frightens Monsanto and its allies the most is the upcoming ballot initiative (I-522) in Washington State on Nov. 5. As Monsanto and its allies, such as the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) understand, this is the most crucial battle against GMOs today. If voters pass mandatory labeling in Washington, reinforced by contingent state labeling laws already passed or in progress in Connecticut, Maine and Vermont, it will mean the end of the road for genetically engineered food in U.S. grocery stores.

As the biotech lobby has readily admitted, GMO food labeling is a “skull and crossbones” that will drive genetically engineered foods off the market in the U.S. and North America. As evidenced by marketplace trends in Europe, the largest agricultural market in the world, once GMOs are labeled, consumers will not buy them, food companies and grocery stores will not sell them, and farmers will not grow them. This is why Monsanto and Big Food corporations—hiding behind the façade of their trade association, the GMA—will likely pour up to $20 million into defeating I-522. Pro-labeling forces currently have a commanding lead in the polls in Washington. But we need to raise at least $4 million more (to augment the four million dollars we’ve raised already) to buy enough TV and radio time to counter the forthcoming flood of lies that Monsanto and its minions will launch in Washington State. We already know what those lies will look like: Labeling will raise food prices, hurt family farmers and confuse consumers.

The Road to Victory means building up our war chest in Washington State for the Nov. 5 ballot initiative. Please spread the word. This is the most important food and farming battle in the world today. If you haven’t already made a donation to the Yes on I-522 campaign please do so now.

 

[castout]

GMO Cannabis Watch
A Watchful Eye On The State Of Bio-Technology Within The Cannabis Industry.

"World's Most Useful Plant" Cannabis Targeted for GMO Bug AttackGMO Hemp Monopolies & California's SB 676Is Monsanto going after the Medical Marijuana Market with Scotts Miracle-Gro?The Biotechnology of Cannabis SativaNew GMO Plants Grow Pharmaceutical DrugsKilling Cannabis with GMO FungiThe Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 and the Birth of a Synthetic EconomyWeeding out marijuana: Researchers close in on engineering drug-free Cannabis plantNational Grange wants only GMO hemp — with strong-arm enforcementHigh Times, (DEA) Operation Green Merchant & the Cannabis CupProposition 19, Monsanto & GMO Terminator CannabisFeminized Seed: The Terminator Technology of Cannabis
Saturday, October 22, 2011

$1.5 million to Cannabis RFID "Seed-to-Sale" Tracking System
SOURCE:
http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2011/10/medical_marijuana_seed_to_sale.php

In August, the Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division awarded a $1.5 million contract to Franwell Inc. to institute a seed-to-sale marijuana tracking method for Colorado MMJ enterprises using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. And while the system isn't expected to be in place until early 2012, at least one advocate is raising alarm about expense and the possible creation of new crimes. Should operators be worried?

According to a Franwell release about the Colorado contract, "RFID tracking of marijuana will capture information on the approved 6 plants allowed per patient, each stage of plant growth, distribution and final sale. Whether a patient requires smokeable product or marijuana infused products (MIP) such as ice cream or salsa, RFID will track that patient's product and allowance in accordance with state regulations."

READ MORE: http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2011/10/medical_marijuana_seed_to_sale.php
Posted by RadicalJusticeMan at 12:29 PM 8 comments:

Friday, October 21, 2011

Why We Must Ban GM Cannabis
SOURCE:
http://www.celebstoner.com/201110218771/blogs/misc/why-we-must-ban-gm-cannabis.html

Why We Must Ban GM Cannabis
By David Malmo-Levine

For those who pay attention to the history of medicine, it is clear that cannabis has been one of the major raw materials - if not THE major raw material - and one of the major medicines - if not THE major medicine - of humanity.

And for those who pay attention to the history of cannabis economics, it is clear that throughout human history there has always been a small minority of people who attempt to justify exclusive distribution rights of this raw material and medicine.

The latest version of this attempt is genetically modified cannabis. “Genetic modification” - also called “GM," "genetically modified organisms," “GMO” and "transgenic" - is a process by which genes from one living thing are spliced together with another, in a manner that nature would not allow to occur on its own – as opposed to “breeding," which is speeding up a natural selection process with human selection but still limited to what could possibly happen over time in nature.

There is no consensus in the scientific community that genetically modifying a plant helps farmers increase their yield in any way or that GM crops are safe for human consumption or environmentally friendly or pose no threat to global food security, but nearly everyone agrees that it does allow a monopoly on the selling of that particular seed, allows the producers to justify a patent, and allows those who hold the patent to sue those who grow the plants without paying for the seeds - even if the GM pollen drifted onto the field of the farmer in question.

Up here in Canada we’ve seen how a farmer’s rights to collect and replant their own seed has been totally destroyed by the courts, who sided with Monsanto. Take the highly publicized case or Percy Schmeiser, a farmer from Bruno, Saskatchewan who specializes in breeding and growing canola. He became an international symbol and spokesperson for independent farmers' rights and the regulation of transgenic crops during his protracted legal battle with Monsanto Company. He was the subject of the 1999 film, David Versus Monsanto.

In 1997, Monsanto's genetically modified Roundup Ready Canola plants were found in Schmeiser's field. Before planting his 1998 crop, Schmeiser was informed that Monsanto believed he had grown Roundup Ready canola in 1997. In the summer of 1998, the canola in Schmeiser's fields was found to be Roundup Ready canola. Monsanto subsequenty sued Schmeiser for patent infringement. Ultimately, a Supreme Court 5-4 ruling found in favor of Monsanto - that their patent was valid and there was infringement. The publicity around the case focused on whether Monsanto would be held responsible for “genetic engineering crop contamination." This issue was, not considered by the courts. The patent infringement finding was based solely on the determination that Schmeiser had recognized the cross-contamination, and knowingly went on to collect the crossbred seed, then replant and harvest it the next year. No punitive damages or the costs of the technology use fee were awarded to Monsanto, as the Supreme Court also ruled 9-0 in Schmeiser's favor that his profits were exactly the same with or without the presence of the Roundup Ready Canola.”

Schmeiser said of his battle with Monsanto: "Farmers should be concerned about this judgment as they now may lose their ability to continue with this practice. I believe that this ruling is an injustice and Parliament must act to ensure that farmers' rights are protected. The playing field between farmer rights and the bio-tech companies rights has been tilted towards the companies with this decision."

Monsanto introduced GM crops to the United States back in 1996. The largest share by far of the GMO crops planted globally are owned by Monsanto, which holds at least 70% market share for most major GM crop seeds.

The first mention of the possibility of cannabis being genetically modified I could find was cited in a document leaked to Cannabis Culture back in 2000, which read in part: "Cannabis seeds from Monsanto are almost definitely genetically engineered. Genetically engineered plants can be patented, and it is in Monsanto's best interest to hold a patent on any seed they sell. Seed patents ensure that companies like Monsanto can continue to profit from seeds from year to year, as farmers are legally bound to buy patented seeds from the patent holder rather than simply store them from the last year's crop.”

The Repeal Cannabis Prohibition Act of 2012 does not ban GM cannabis, but rather one of its stated goals is to “make cannabis available for scientific, medical, industrial,and research purposes."

The Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Act of 2012 (RMLW) will ban GM cannabis completely. Read the wording closely and see if you can find any wiggle room that would allow any corporation to grow GM cannabis:

“Experimentation, development, research, testing, cultivation, sales or possession of genetically-modified (GMO) marijuana, hemp and its seeds shall be banned throughout the state of California.”

Once it is in place, it will take another initiative to "unban" GM cannabis in California, and such an “unbanning” would be unlikely to appeal to voters.

It is vitally important that RMLW passes to: 1) prevent Monsanto from taking over the cannabis industry in the same way they’ve taken over many other crops (and perhaps hold the human race hostage by controlling the entire food supply); 2) maintain the genetic integrity of the plant; 3) protect the cannabis farmer from artificial dependence (not to mention the destruction of their livelihood); 4) prevent a “Roundup Ready” version of cannabis being developed that will allow even more massive amounts of herbicides to kill the soil microbes and poison the consumers of hemp seed; 5) decrease the quality and the yield of cannabis products, not least of which being the medicinal constituents; and 6) set a good example for other U.S. states and other countries to follow.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

For those who would like to learn more about genetic modification, I suggest checking out the films, The World According to Monsanto and The Corporation - it's as a good crash-course introduction about GM. When watching the GM segments of each film, try and picture what would happen to the cannabis farmer and the cannabis consumer if it was them - and not the soy or corn or rice farmer or consumer - suffering from the scourge of GM.

The RMLW petition drive begins Nov. 1. If you'd like to help out, please contact us here: http://regulatemarijuanalikewine.com/contact/

David Malmo-Levine is one of the authors of RMLW and is a longtime contributor to Cannabis Culture



Wednesday, July 20, 2011

"World's Most Useful Plant" Cannabis Targeted for GMO Bug Attack
"World's Most Useful Plant" Marijuana Targeted for Biological Bug Attack

July 24th 2004
SOURCE: http://www.onlinepot.org/medical/bugattack.htm


MORE INFO: http://ghostchild.org/a/agent-green-bio-agent_post827.html

An OnlinePot News Report Exclusive!

OK folks now for the Bad News they have All Ready Field Tested These Insects!
About 10 months ago a Grower in Hawaii Emailed me reporting that the
Night before. 2 Government Huey Choppers had hovered low over his marijuana
crop & Began dropping some unknown insects onto his crop, By the time daylight
had come every bud on his marijuana plants had been chewed OFF the stocks & were
laying on the ground! At the Time all I could do was pass the word to a friend who is a
Reverend from the AAMC email list who lives in Hawaii, to look out & ask around the
other growers. Well 10 months later we all now know the answers to what really
went on that dark Hawaiian night,


Genetically Engineered Insect Attack

& What Happens If These Bugs Mutate
& Decide To Start Eating More Then Just Pot Plants?

A Dark Day For All Plant Kind

Chris K. Webmaster

Paul J. von Hartmann
Project P.E.A.C.E.
Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics

FOR RELEASE: June 10, 2004

U.S. Congress Heads Up ARS Project:
"World's Most Useful Plant" Targeted for Biological Attack

Even as medical 'marijuana' patients and the hemp foods industry are
racking up Supreme Court victories against the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA); even as Canadian and European
farmers are cranking up Cannabis production to keep pace with public
demand for industrial hemp oils, resins, fiber and cellulose; even as Cannabis
is being recognized as being "the world's most useful plant," researchers at U.C.
Davis are indulging in "Reefer Madness," preparing to
infest North America with insect pest species from Eurasia.

Since 1999 the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Research Service (ARS)
has been preparing to attack the 'marijuana' plant, targeted for "classic biological control"
in 2005. "Secure facilities" have already been built in California, where scientists
will grow 'marijuana' in order to study the eating habits of various Eurasian agricultural pests.


According to the ARS annual report for 2003, "The problem is quite
serious as marijuana is a controlled substance in the United States and is often grown and sold
illegally. It is relevant to local and national law enforcement agencies and was initiated through
Congressional mandate." The Department of Agriculture's report continues, "Research was initiated
on this project at the request of Congress and the State Department to identify new biologically
based methods of controlling marijuana. Cooperating foreign institutions in Italy, Russia,
China and Kazakhstan conducted both field and literature surveys for natural enemies of
Cannabis sativa and selected two primary candidates, Psylliodes attenuata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)
and Cardipennis rubripes (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to begin further host-specificity
and biology research on."

According to the ARS report, "walk-in plant growth chambers" were constructed
at Davis last year, that "allow 'marijuana' to be grown under secure conditions and
used in quarantine." DEA certification was expected to occur in the fall of 2004. "These plants
will be used in the final stages of testing for the effectiveness and environmental safety of
selected biological control agents. This should lead to the availability of new biological control
agents for this narcotic plant." [sic]*

Faced with such monumental conflict of reason, and accelerating deterioration
of our environment, at some point people must ask themselves several questions.
First, it seems imperative to question the underlying motivations of a drug policy
that, after almost seventy years, has had only tragic, counter-productive results for the Earth's
environment, human economics and social evolution. Creation of a black market economy
is the most obvious and predictable result of any prohibition. "Forbidden fruit" is always
more expensive, leading inevitably to violence and corruption of police and politicians.

When a critical agricultural resource is prohibited for three generations, the destructive
illusion of a "free market economy" is even more dangerous, insidious and persistent. Industries
that would otherwise succumb to the laws of fair economic competition, have become
institutionalized, dominating the evolution of human values. Our generation is approaching the
end of that dead end road, fighting for limited energy resources when we could have been farming
biofuels all along. By devaluating the most useful and potentially abundant organic agricultural
resource on the planet, and inducing a prolonged condition of essential resource scarcity,
mankind has been diverted from a course of sustainable energy development. After three
generations of Cannabis prohibition, degenerative, anti-natural imbalances in economics have
steered a toxic course for our social and political structures as well. Teetering precariously
on the edge of synergistic collapse, the very real possibility of extinction looms in our foreseeable,
predictably tragic future.

The absence of balancing influence, inherent to a free market, has institutionalized anti-natural values to
desperate extremes. Such mad science as is happening at Davis, being directed against humankind's best
hope for sustainability, is clearly agricultural espionage carried out by a chemically vested government,
subverting the best interests of its own people. Unsustainable values, combined with the unpredictable
instability of atmospheric carbon imbalance, are no longer theory, capable of being characterized as
"gloom and doom" scenarios. Scientists agree that global warming is a real and present danger, even if
political front men for toxic industries would have us believe otherwise, in the interest of protecting
the short-term bottom line. Corporate influence of political leadership, the economics of punishment
at home and abroad, and the market dynamics of chemical industrial food and fuel production, has
engendered corruption blurring the lines between industry and government.


At U.C. Davis, government science is being employed by hemp's economic
competitors to strengthen the advantage that chemical industry already enjoys,
over agricultural solutions and common sense. As conditions of imbalance increase
it is critical to assess the impact that corporate/political hybridization is having in
perpetuating a self-serving prohibition.

After decades of conclusive studies and clinical reports in many countries,
identifying Cannabis as "the safest therapeutically active substance known to man," which
holds considerable benefits for mankind, it is inevitable to conclude that government health concerns
used to justify prohibition are not to be taken seriously. In fact, considering all available credible science,
it is obvious that prohibition only serves to increase profits for multi-national corporations
protecting chemical-industrial interests against competition from agriculturally-
based industries.

It is common knowledge that there are many substances approved by the
U.S. government, that are much more dangerous to people's health than 'marijuana.' Alcohol and
tobacco are America's primary recreational drugs, far more lethal and addictive to both users
and non-users than 'marijuana.' Chemical pharmaceuticals and even some foods that are
commonly consumed with deadly result are readily available to people who choose to assume the risks
associated with them. Even peanuts can kill. Obviously, realistic concerns for public health and
safety have nothing whatever to do with 'marijuana' prohibition.

Cannabis prohibition is clearly motivated by industries concerned with the plant's potential to
compete in a truly "free market" economy. More than ever it is essential to understanding which
industries and corporations currently control the present "un-free market," exercising
disproportionate economic influence, usurping control of the American government, leads to more
questions.

The petroleum industry and the pharmaceutical industry are two of the
most obvious competitors. Americans pay the highest drug prices in the world. Annual spending
for pharmaceuticals, is up to $250 billion, doubling every five years. More than 120,000 people
die every year in the U.S., from "legal drugs" taken in accordance with their doctor's prescription.
Virtually everything that is being made from petroleum hydrocarbons, can be made better,
cheaper, and with less pollution using Cannabis, a carbohydrate.

Less obvious, but equally powerful are the soybean industry with interests
tied to biotech and chemicals for agricultural. Monsanto controls more than 80% of the
biotech industry, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pfizer pharmaceutical. These are the economic
forces driving prohibition, through political influence and lobbying groups such as
Partnership for a Drug Free America.

It's no secret that America's second generation oil president is the petroleum & pharmaceutical
industry's favorite son. The CEO of Pfizer donated $200,000 to Bush's campaign this year. Other
blatant examples, of government officials serving billions of dollars worth of prohibitionist
interests on behalf of chemically-dependent industries, abound. In America's present
administration there are no fewer than six top ranking officials, directly associated with
Monsanto, including the Supreme Court Judge who put GW Bush in office (Clarence Thomas), the
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (Anne Veneman), the Secretary of Defense (Donald Rumsfeld), the
U.S. Secretary of Health (Tommy Thompson), Chairman of the House Agricultural
Committee (Larry Combest) and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

"The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), a coalition of militant peasant groups, has called
for a boycott of Monsanto products. KMP is attempting to block the use of the genetically
modified YieldGard Bt-corn and is protesting Monsanto's interests in the United States-led war
on Iraq. Rafael Mariano, KMP chair, said the program boycott on Monsanto products is part of a
civil disobedience campaign to protest against US industry's attacks on the Iraqi people. "The
US military campaign to topple the Iraqi leadership was for the benefit of US war industries
like the US-based Monsanto, the proponent of the genetically engineered Bt-corn in the country
and manufacturer of Agent Orange...Monsanto is no less than a war industry,

" Mariano said.

Mariano further stated that it was a "clear mockery" that US President
Bush launched the strike on Iraq under the pretext of disarming it of its weapons of mass destruction,
because the US itself is the primary producer of weapons of mass destruction. The forest products industry
is another cash cow tied to chemical production. Recent estimates put the potential market for hemp paper
at between $15 to $30 billion a year worldwide. About 20 paper mills around the world use hemp fiber,
with an estimated annual world production volume of 120,000 tons. This represents about .05 percent of
all paper. India and China dominate this potentially vast market. In the U.S., the "green" paper industry
(including recycled and natural fibers) accounts for about $20 million in a $230 billion industry.

Expanded use of agricultural crops and other tree-free materials for paper would not only spare
trees but would also produce paper with minimal environmental impact from the chemicals used to
manufacture paper. In the U.S., hemp food products are a small but fast-growing sector of the
natural foods industry, with annual sales of about $5 million. Canadian farmers seeded 3,800
acres of hemp in 2002 and harvested about two million pounds of the crop. In 1994, President Clinton
signed Executive Order 12919, specifically identifying hemp as a "strategic food resource" subject to
"essential civilian demand." Consider that the nutritional value of Cannabis seed makes hemp the most
nutritious and healing food on Earth. This is an inarguable fact, since Cannabis is the only common seed
with three essential fatty acids (EFAs) in proper proportion for long-term consumption.

Cannabis seed is also the best available source of organic protein on the planet. Consider that
neither the U.S. government, nor the United Nations, has any research projects, anywhere in the
world, where Cannabis is being considered as a source of vegetable protein. Even in countries
where it is perfectly legal to grow Cannabis, (even subsidized by the European Union in some
places), there are no U.N. Food & Agriculture investigations being carried out. Not one.

Instead of growing organic Cannabis, humankind is growing soybeans for protein. This is a relatively poor choice, since there are several good reasons not to eat soybean, unless it is properly fermented. Also, from an agricultural perspective, soybean is much more difficult to grow than Cannabis, requiring substantial chemical application to suppress competition from weeds. Cannabis naturally defends itself against most insect pests, and crowds out competition from most weeds.

This and many other beneficial agricultural characteristics make Cannabis an excellent rotational crop, useful as a companion plant to help with cultivation of other crops, re-mineralization of nutrient-depleted soils, for preventing soil erosion, as a seasonal windbreak, and to break up compacted soils.Cannabis is such a valuable plant, capable of producing so many products, that it may not be possible for mankind to achieve sustainable existence on this planet without it. Certainly, without hemp the United States of America as we know it would not exist. As most people know by now, all of the founding fathers of this country were hemp farmers, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Alexander Hamilton.

"Make the most of the hemp seed and sow it everywhere." --George Washington
(1794)

"We shall....want a world of hemp more for our own personal consumption."
- --John Adams (1783)

"Hemp is of first necessity....to the wealth and protection of the
country." --Thomas Jefferson
(1791)**

"Hemp is an article of importance enough to warrant the employment
of extraordinary means in its
favor."--Alexander Hamilton (1791)

Cannabis is capable of producing more food, fuel, medicines, fiber, cellulose, and resins
organically, sustain ably than any other plant on Earth. Not only is it imperative to stop the
waste of money and obviate the destructive impact of the research being done at U.C. Davis, it
is as important to ask why this research has been allowed to continue for five years, in light
of what is common knowledge about this critically important agricultural resource.

Such obvious abominations as the importation of invasive insect species from one continent to another, serve to make the absurdity and economic motivations of prohibition that much more blatant. As nothing else could, this plan to self-inflict a bio-terrorist attack on the world's best hope for sustainable agriculturally-based industry, should finally wake up America to the sinister character of corrupt economic forces that are running our government. Unless people recognize (before the election) the insidious
predation of impacted economic forces, perverting the human economic structure, treasonous influences
imbedded within our political fabric will continue to impose essential resource scarcity, capitalize on, and
exaggerate the imbalances which result from it.

Walt Kelly is as right as he ever-loving' was, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

* Note: While Cannabis can be "psychoactive" it is non-narcotic.

** Thomas Jefferson even smuggled hemp seeds into the U.S. from China.


#

Paul von Hartmann is an international freelance photojournalist, Cannabis
scholar, and Natural rights activist. This essay may also be found posted at the P.E.A.C.E.
blog entitled "Cannabis and Iraq: Why Prohibition Leads to War" http://cannabiswars.blogspot.com/


Thursday, June 10, 2004

Paul J. von Hartmann
Project P.E.A.C.E. Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics
http://www.webspawner.com/users/projectpeace/
Contact: e-mail: projectpeace@yahoo.com

(c) PvH 2004

1. Research Project: Classical Biological Control of Narcotic Plants
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm?ACCN_NO=402468&showpars=true&fy=2003

2.Medpot stars give for patients http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2569.html


3.Study Shows Therapeutic Benefits, No Adverse Effects in Long-Term
Marijuana Users
http://www.infoimagination.org/ps/drug_war/articles/mj_study.html

4. War foes urge boycott of US products http://www.geocities.com/kmp_ph/strug/032403.html


5. Asia Farm & Consumer Groups Denounce UN FAO Support for GMOs
http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/asia052404.cfm

6. Big Biotech Silencing Critics of Pesticides & GE Crops
http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/bigbiotech060304.cfm

7. Organic Consumers Association Campaigning for Food Safety, Organic
Agriculture, Fair Trade &
Sustainability Millions Against Monsanto If you're talking about PCBs,

Agent Orange, Bovine
Growth Hormone, water privatization, biopiracy, untested/unlabeled
genetically engineered
organisms, or persecuting small family farmers, you're talking about
the Monsanto Corporation.
Monsanto's Government Ties http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.html


8. Scientists Demand Action on Invasive Species: National Environmental
Coalition on Invasive
Species (NECIS) issued a "Call To Action on Invasive Species."
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/invasive_species/page.cfm?pageID=1275
Posted by RadicalJusticeMan at 1:04 PM

Sunday, July 17, 2011

GMO Hemp Monopolies & California's SB 676
"Imagine if any farmer in the world could suddenly grow a magic plant whose fruit could feed every starving person, its fiber could clothe every freezing child, it could be burned as industrial biomass fuel, giving cheap electricity to every factory and small town in the world, its pulp could replace the need for wood building materials and paper, make natural cellulose plastic that is 10 times stronger than steel, and it could supply non-toxic methanol fuel for every car on the road today. According to Popular Mechanics in 1938, this miracle plant not only existed but had been known for more than 12,000 years as Cannabis (Hemp), and could completely reverse the painful death of American family farming since the Depression."
http://www.jcrows.com/prouty.html

Emerging from the bowels of the California state senate is a bill entitled SB 676, the California Industrial Hemp Farming Act. The LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST pertaining to this act states the following:
.
“This bill would revise the definition of "marijuana" so that the term would exclude industrial hemp, as defined… having no more than 3/10 of 1% [0.3%] tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) contained in the dried flowering tops… The bill would enact certain provisions relating to growing industrial hemp which would apply only in Imperial, Kern, Kings, San Joaquin, and Yolo Counties , except when grown by an established agricultural institution…”

“The bill would require industrial hemp to be cultivated only from seeds imported in accordance with laws of the United States or from seeds grown in California from plants, cultivated plants, or plants grown by an established agricultural research institution. “

“The bill would require…the person growing the industrial hemp to obtain…a laboratory test of a random sample of the crop to determine the amount of THC… The bill would require that samples to perform the testing be taken in the presence of, and be collected and transported only by, an employee or agent of a laboratory that is registered with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.”
[SEE: http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/billtrack/text.html?bvid=20110SB67696AMD]

SB 676 goes on to site California House Resolution 32, passed in 1999, which states:

“Resolved, That the Assembly finds and declares that the Legislature should consider directing the University of California, the California State University, and other state
agencies to prepare studies in conjunction with private industry on the cultivation, processing, and marketing of industrial hemp.”
[SEE: http://www.votehemp.com/PDF/hr_32_19990816_introduced.pdf]

SB 676 - THC REGULATIONS FORCE FARMERS TO BE DEPENDENT UPON THE LIKES OF UC DAVIS, MONSANTO, DEA, NATIONAL GRANGE AND SCOTTS MIRACLE GROW FOR SEED.

It is clear from reading the foregoing excerpts that California’s future Hemp industry, under SB 676, will be born from a limited number of exclusive ‘pilot’ programs, initiated by State Agencies in conjunction with ‘private industry‘, as well as universities such as UC Davis, and other ‘established agricultural institutions’. These institutions could include everything from the State and National Granges to Monsanto and Scotts Miracle Grow. If one thing is for sure it does not include small, independent farmers and collectives.

It is also made clear that the only legal Cannabis strains that will be available for this new Hemp industry, are strains which have THC levels less then 0.3%, and which must be certified by a DEA registered laboratory. These strains would either have to be imported to California under DEA import licenses, or bred using defunct artificial breeding practices and/or genetic engineering. The reason for this is because there is no Cannabis growing in California that has a THC level less then 0.3%. All of California's strains have been bred for very high levels of THC. Furthermore, THC levels in Cannabis are unstable and hard to control, with increases as much as 100% in one generation being a common phenomena. [SEE: http://www.hempreport.com/issues/17/pdf/australia16.pdf]

It has also been shown that low THC varieties are much weaker and pest ridden compared to high THC strains. [SEE: http://www.hempfood.com/iha/iha03209.html] This could be due to the fact that THC has been shown to be a defensive mechanism in Cannabis. Everything from UVB radiation, drought, soil health, to insects and other pests all contribute to the environmental stress which increases THC production in Cannabis. [SEE: http://www.hempfood.com/iha/iha01201.html] THC is a UVB protectant for developing seeds, thus high THC varieties have been shown to produce much larger seed yields, with over 1 kilogram of seed per plant. [SEE:http://www.hempworld.com/hemp-cyberfarm_com/htms/research_orgzs/iha/ihagenetic.html]

With an understanding of the chemical ecology of Cannabis, we can see that limiting the production of THC can result in less yield, less vigor and less resistance to pests and diseases. Weakening the immunity of Cannabis serves to benefit the chemical agricultural establishment for it creates more of incentive for farmers to utilize pesticides, artificial fertilizers, and biotechnology to fight disease, rather then relying on the natural immunity of the plant.

THC regulations serve as a bureaucratic tool to monopolize the Hemp industry. All known low THC varieties grow only in temperates north of the earths 45th parallel circle of latitude [SEE: http://www.hempworld.com/hemp-cyberfarm_com/htms/research_orgzs/iha/ihagenetic.html] This is due to the low UVB radiation coming from the sun at those climates. California’s climate receives substantially higher amounts of UVB radiation then northern climates and thus drastic increases in THC levels are common. This makes the task of regulating THC very difficult. The result is that THC regulations effectively ban 100% of all Cannabis already being grown by California farmers, forcing farmers to be dependent on the agricultural establishment for seed.

By barring high THC strains from being used for Hemp production, the only other strains available must be imported through a DEA license or breed by an established agricultural research institution like UC Davis. By further granting exclusive cultivation rights to ‘established agricultural institutions’, the state has effectively granted a Hemp monopoly to elite agricultural entities such as the National Grange (Who openly advocates for GMO Hemp research and cultivation) and Monsanto.

Since the 1950’s, the USDA along with European governments have been using artificial and defunct breeding practices to lower THC production in Cannabis. The specific method used is called hermaphroditic or monoecious inbreeding. This is where female plants are forced to produce male flowers and inbreed with itself to produce seed, this is an effective way to lower THC production.

Though there are many problems with monoecious varieties contaminating Californias Cannabis gene pool. The deleterious effects of inbreeding was first described in 1934 by Fleischman, who reported a 50% reduction in seed yeild. Bocsa in 1958 blamed inbreeding for losses of seed and fiber yield, short plant stature, shortened lifespan, production of sterile seed, and increase susceptibility to disease.

Written and researched by Conrad Justice Kiczenski



Saturday, July 16, 2011

IS MONSANTO GOING AFETR MEDICAL MARIJUANA MARKET WITH MIRACLE-GRO?
SOURCE:
http://www.growswitch.com/blog/2011...acle-gro/http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

The thought of it is almost unimaginable, but many think that the company often referred to as the most “evil corporation” in history is now going after the medical marijuana market with Scotts Miracle-Gro.

Please research and do your own investigation before using any chemicals or fertilizers, especially if it involves ANYTHING that you’re putting in your body or using medically.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Looks to Help People Grow Marijuana – by the Wall Street Journal

By DANA MATTIOLI

Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has long sold weed killer. Now, it’s hoping to help people grow killer weed.

Scott’s Miracle-Gro is hoping to cash in on the growing medical marijuana business. WSJ’s Dana Mattioli reports.

In an unlikely move for the head of a major company, Scotts Chief Executive Jim Hagedorn said he is exploring targeting medical marijuana as well as other niches to help boost sales at his lawn and garden company.

“I want to target the pot market,” Mr. Hagedorn said in an interview. “There’s no good reason we haven’t.”

But the Marysville, Ohio, company relies on sales at three key retailers—Home Depot Inc., Lowe’s Cos. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.—for nearly two-thirds of its revenue. With consumers still cautious about spending, the retailers aren’t building new stores as quickly as they used to, making growth for suppliers like Scotts harder to come by. Against that backdrop, Mr. Hagedorn has pushed his regional sales presidents to look for smaller pockets of growth, such as the marijuana market, that together could produce a noticeable bump in sales.

Sixteen states have legalized medical marijuana, the largest being California and Colorado. The market will reach $1.7 billion in sales this year, according to a report by See Change Strategy LLC, an information data services company.

While the report focuses on revenue from growers and dispensaries, Kris Lotlikar, president of See Change, said the market for companies selling hydroponic equipment and professional services is also thriving.

“We see very good growth for these types of companies as the medical-marijuana business grows,” he said.

via High Hopes at Miracle-Gro in Medical Marijuana Field

SCOTTS MIRACLE-GRO, GMO'S, AND MONSANTO:

"1998 also saw Scotts branch out into GM technology, through the acquisition of 80% of Sanford Scientific Inc, “allowing researchers to create desirable varieties of plants with value-added traits far beyond the capabilities of conventional plant breeding techniques”.[7] Scotts also entered into a collaboration with the Monsanto company to “bring the benefits of biotechnology to the multi-billion dollar turfgrass and ornamental plants business.[8] Under the agreement, Scotts and Monsanto agreed to share technologies, including Monsanto's extensive genetic library of plant traits and Scotts' proprietary gene gun technology to produce 'improved' transgenic turfgrass and ornamental plants. Other acquisitions in 1998 included the US company EarthGro Inc. and the continental lawn and garden products company ASEF."

"Scotts relationship with Monsanto became even cosier in 1999, when Scotts completed agreements with the company for exclusive US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and Austria agency and marketing rights to its consumer Roundup herbicide products. Scotts also purchased the remainder of Monsanto's lawn and garden business, which included the pesticide brand Ortho."
http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=367

Do You Think Monsanto is Helping Your Garden?

by TAMARA

Do we really want the creators of Agent Orange engineering our food? Surprised? Let me share their specialty is neurotoxin POISON. They have already contaminated over 70% of our food supply and infiltrated our political system. Yes indeed, the makers of Round Up and Scott’s Miracle grow are buying up patents to our seeds, our food, and our future. One of their former attorneys now works for our FDA helping to write a bill for their bovine hormone usage in our food supply.

They do not have our best interests at heart. Their GMO foods are making us sick, their Round Up and Miracle Grow toxins are poisoning our earth and their profits are making THEM happy.

Stand up and refuse to buy GMO foods. Mac and cheese for your kids? You might as well hand them poison because 80% of all pre packaged food in the US are GMO. Wondering about fertility rates being so low? Our seeds are becoming sterilized thanks to GMO foods and that trickles into our bodies.

Don’t be fooled by Miracle Gro, produced by Scotts Company an arm of Monsanto. They are a billion dollar chemical company. It’s chemical based and it’s new Organic line is a Marketing ploy. There is no organic watch dog for gardening or cleaning products.

It is INorganic and contains oh so good for us grow crystals made of chemical fertilizers. Scotts also makes Hyponex soil which was studied by Colorado State University and showed poor plant growth. Read the report here“

Read the full article here via Daily Transformations: http://www.dailytransformations.com/do-you-think-monsanto-is-helping-your-garden/
Posted by RadicalJusticeMan

Monday, May 16, 2011

Cannabis Declared Endangered (Endangered Species Act)
SOURCE:
http://thc-ministry.org/forum/showthread.php?t=6939




Posted by RadicalJusticeMan

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Just Say NO to GMO Hemp!
Okay here's the situation as I understand it to the best of my impaired ability. In a few states farmers are finally standing up for themselves and banding together to be allowed to grow that which we have been waiting for all these long years. Good news, right? Oh how I wish!

See, out of concern for the welfare of the women and children (like Waco), the Great White Fathers in WDC (and their Illuminati masters) have determined that the only hemp that civilization can tolerate are patented low to no THC varieties.

So? Why not just grow the "safe, drug-free" hemp and get the ball rolling and a real hemp industry started in this country? Well for one thing, the low to no THC hemp sucks in every way. It's designed primarily to be a fiber crop but the plants are short and the fibers are real short. Most industries are wholly dissatisfied with the products and the results are disappointing at best. And because of terminator technology we can't use them for seed production. It gets worse.

There is every reason to believe that they will export their multipurpose suckyness to every other cannabis variety unlucky enough to be anywhere downwind. (Remember the "Starlink" feed corn and the Canadian canola catastrophe?) THC is a UV blocker which protects developing hemp seed from damaging radiation. Low THC hemp mutates and rapidly loses its reproductive vigor. Exporting this characteristic or God forbid the Terminator trait through air borne pollen would rapidly lead to the demise of the species.

Since they frankenfucked with the genetics I’m concerned about it being released into the environment at all. So please help me out here people whatta ya think we should do? I mean it's only the most important ally our species has ever had.

By Uncle Tim
SOURCE:
http://hempevolutionnyc.tribe.net/thread/c90e0ced-8d3f-4021-9625-b69ebeca89a2
Posted by RadicalJusticeMan at 1:46 PM 5 comments:

 

[dddaver]

There is an interesting article about GMO activists in the July/Aug. issue of Playboy ...I know, I know...airbrushed, immature, unrealistic view of women, etc , etc. Still Playboy always has led the charge in some progressive shit. A wise man once said to me, "Ya always have to take some shit with your sugar".

This article is ostensibly about Eddie Rothman (the article is called Fast Eddie's Last Stand) but it also includes a brief history of Oahu, Hawaii, of the long standing world class North Shore surfer wars and implies the well embedded cannabis culture there too. But it hammers home the anti-Monsanto efforts in Oahu. THAT is what Fast Eddie Rothman is really all about now. A man with a violent history protecting HIS North Shore now sees Monsanto as the biggest threat ever and some of what he and his cohorts are doing about it there.

Monsanto is a big landholder and polluter of everywhere of everything they touch. Lotta research and crap is done by Monsanto in Hawaii, in that perfect constant 75F climate, rich volcanic/slightly acid soil, 4 growing seasons, Hawaiian paradise.

That place, and everywhere else too, will soon be ruined by Monsanto. And soon on OUR doorsteps too... Fuck that, they're already here. GMO foods are already in the American food system. We really need to stop them fuckers NOW. The FDA should have, but didn't, yada, yada. So now WE have to. You and me.

Anybody interested in this Genetically Modified Organism and the seed modification bullshit and raping Mother Earth might be interested reading that eye-opening (to me anyway) article.

Sorry, I have no link. A quick search should find it. GO ELF!

 

[castout]

dddaver, I love Playboy, and not just for the articles, lol. I will check for that article, thanks for the info.

 

[dddaver]

Fixed the articles name, Fast Eddie's Last Stand. I hadn't finished reading it when I wrote that.

Are you the same Nugs and Jugs party organizing castout who used to post on Cannabis.com back around 2006 or 7?

"Party on Garth. Party on Wayne"

 

[soil margin]

All the smaller (5k and under) indoor and outdoor growers will pretty much be shut down overnight...

They haven't been able to shut them down now and it's illegal, how are they going to shut them down when it's legal? Prices dropping might move some indoor growers out of the market because their margins are low. You are never going to get smaller private growers to stop doing their thing, regardless of the law.

 

[dddaver]

dddaver, I love Playboy, and not just for the articles, lol. I will check for that article, thanks for the info.

You might also get a kick out of reading the Forum piece What Happened to Science on p.66. The author, Taffy, makes a point but I personally think each and every "study" needs to be read with huge skepticism these days. And that sucks.

A lot of "scientific studies" these days turn out to be just some telephone survey of 50 people in Bum-fuck Arkansas and sponsored be some shit company like Monsanto. Then they also make preconceived conclusions and use only that data that just supports their bullshit hypothesis. That's back-asswards at the start. Usually they are also authored by some PhD who actually just wrote his dissertation about the social norms of inner-city butt whores or something too. Then it was an independent DOCTOR? run scientific study?

Most of that shit is not scientific by any stretch of the imagination. I think these big-ass mother raping companies like Monsanto ASSUME people are stupid.

 

[MJPassion]

AGRIBUSINESS controls the food supply, from antibiotics for the beef supply, to seeds, to pesyicides that their seeds need, cause they are wek, to the water supply. You prolly had GMO food today...i know I did!!!!

Are you saying monsanto is the hand that feeds you? Sure sounds like it to me...

Agribusiness does NOT control the food supply!
YOU simply purchase the food that is supplied instead of growing it yourself. And your choices, within that supply, have/are become/ing limited.

You can choose to grow your own food or you can choose to purchase it... If you choose to live in a small apartment within a densely packed city, then you have made your choice.

Stop playing victim and speak with your hard earned $$$!

 

[dddaver]

Wait...what? You must be joking but I'm afraid I missed the punch line.

If a bug is unsuspecting of the shoe coming at him I guess he is playing victim then, is that what you mean?

First, how many citizens in any country are paid enough so they don't have to buy whatever is available. Secondly, I see your point of how people spend their income is what drives the economy but what about the pollution being generated and actual patenting genes and the life forms they engineered. Is that economically driven too? Please enlighten me.