A Profound Moment for American Marijuana

May 16, 2011 By Chris Goldstein 

Photo by David Sygall

The spring of 2011 has brought tension to the air for everyone involved with cannabis in the United States. Federal authorities have unleashed a coordinated attack on political efforts to tax marijuana and they have made war on medical marijuana programs. This has been matched by additional states changing local laws, putting more skin into the game than ever.

The bets are now in for the biggest cannabis policy showdown in our generation – right in Washington DC. The Schedule I status of marijuana in the federal Controlled Substances Act will either be re-affirmed or changed, likely over the next 24 months.

Marijuana prohibition has become the most refined and serious states’ rights issue of the 21st Century.  Millions of Americans are now participating in a multi-billion dollar medical cannabis economy.

In December, 2010, a Congressional Research Study on Hemp as an Agricultural Commodity was released, finding: "Some estimate that the global market for hemp consists of more than 25,000 products. It can be grown as a fiber, seed, or other dual-purpose crop. The Industrial Hemp Farming Act would amend Section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(16)) to specify that the term “marijuana” does not include industrial hemp, which the bill would define based on its content of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), marijuana’s primary psychoactive chemical. Such a change could remove low-THC hemp from being covered by the CSA as a controlled substance and subject to DEA regulation, thus allowing for industrial hemp to be grown and processed under some state laws. This legislation, or other legislation related to hemp cultivation, could be introduced in the 112th Congress."

Since this Congressional Research Report came out, just this past December, 2010, Ron Paul has introduced "The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011, To amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude hemp from the definition of marihuana, and for other purposes", as I reported on realNEO:

Of all the places I've lived around Cleveland, Hessler was my favorite neighborhood... just a few blocks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Steffanie Coble Roulet, our daughter Grace and I lived in the amazing historic Tudor townhouses at the corner of Hessler Street and Hessler Court... a massive brick landmark certainly built for Case professors and their families, right along with the original university, right on Case campus... Hessler Street is paved in brick and Hessler Court in wood blocks... and it all is intact as Cleveland's first Historic District thanks to a bunch of Hippies back in the 1960s, some of whom are still around today. They formed the Hessler Neighborhood Association (HNA) and fought to protect buildings on the street from demolition, and to designate the street an Historic Landmark District, and they started what became The Food Co-op, still operating on Euclid Avenue, and they organized the first Hessler Street Fairs, formally established in 1969, to fund doing all their good deeds.

Brownhoist Gallery will open with its inaugural exhibition, "The Form of Cleveland," on Friday evening, June 3rd, at the historic Brownhoist Building in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood. Sculptor Timothy Riffle and photographer Jerry Mann will exhibit artifacts, carvings and photographs that celebrate the industrial archaeology of Cleveland.

Coal Pile at FirstENergy Lakeshore Plant, in Cleveland, Ohio, which is scheduled to Move Beyond Coal

This Tuesday in Akron is our chance to help move First Energy Beyond Coal.

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Historically, my roses have bloomed the first two weeks in June or the last week in May and the first week of June. Last year, however, they were finished with the first flush of bloom on May 31.

It looks like this year will be the same. All the roses have big buds, pink is starting to show on one. Global warming? 

Bike to Work Day—Who’s In?

Posted on May 13th, 2011 - 12:00 PM

By Aaron Ferster

I’ve been working—and commuting—in Washington, DC since 1996 when I moved to the area from the Bronx for a job writing interpretive signs at the National Zoo.

My wife and I lived just behind the back entrance to the park. It was a five-minute ride to work, but 15-minutes home because of the big hill standing between my office and our apartment. If the traffic light at the bottom of our street was green, I could make it in without a single pedal stroke.

At that time, the notion of partaking in official “Bike to Work Day” festivities seemed almost comical. “It would take me longer to get to the event than it would to actually ride to work,” I bragged. Then a colleague told me about the t-shirts and free coffee.

I’ve been hooked ever since.

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I MEANT to post a recipe to make your own laundry soap powder very cheaply using a fantastic Mexican laundry soap bar so gentle it can be used on baby clothing and you can use it to bathe with yourself. My sister saw a glowing writeup in the LOUISVILLE COURIER, bought an extra bar for me at Big Lots for all of 88 cents and mailed it to me.

Ron Paul's signature on hemp paper version of the Industrial Hemp Farming Act.

realNEO readers are among the first to see "The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011, To amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude hemp from the definition of marijuana, and for other purposes", signed by its sponsor, US House Representative of the 14th District of Texas Ron Paul, around 1 PM today, May 11, 2011, and introduced to the US House of Representatives to be enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 112th US Congress.

As Paul previously concluded, in a a statement for Hemp History Week: "The federal government should change the law to allow American farmers to grow this profitable crop as American farmers have through most of our nation's history.  I plan to reintroduce the Industrial Hemp Farming Act next week."

Paul clearly is a man of his word. Above is "The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011"... on hemp paper, and below is Ron Paul signing the bill. 

You are invited to the Inspired Art Benefit Auction, a collaboration of Cleveland artists and young Cleveland poets of the after-school program America SCORES Cleveland (SCORES). The original poetry of Cleveland kids involved in SCORES has compelled over 30 local artists to create and donate artwork to support the after-school health and literacy program. At the Benefit, students will witness their visions brought to life and artists will experience the poetry on a deeper level as select youth perform. On June 11th you too can experience the profound impact of these youths’ words.

Enjoy hors d’oeuvres, an open wine bar, and live music while bidding on one-of-a-kind artwork. The benefit auction features local artists including CPAC Fellowship Award winners Amy Casey and Stephen Yusko. For more information, visit www.InspiredArtCleveland.com.

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US veterans and their friends and families turned out by the 100s for the 2011 Cleveland Medical Marijuana Rally

I can't ever remember enjoying converging with 1,000 or so amazingly diverse Clevelanders so much as I did Saturday afternoon, May 7, as Northeast Ohio held the 2011 Cleveland Medical Marijuana March and Jobs, Peace and Freedom Rally. The crowd created the buzz of a perfect championship game day - Cleveland was in the World Series again.

At the 2011 Cleveland Medical Marijuana Rally, medical patients experienced an historic moment of personal freedom and liberty, in peace, and went home healthier - we all saw Cleveland may actually win the world championship, for the first time in our lives - as Ohio... an agricultural, healthcare, industrial and education powerhouse... realizes we must take our rightful place in the Cannabis Economy!

On November 20, 2004 - about a month after I set up realNEO, as I was still configuring the site - one of the first "books" I established was called "Dear Peter", in honor of Clevelander Peter B. Lewis, Chairman of Progressive Insurance. As I added "categories" to the site, and moved away from using books for general content management, I made "Dear Peter" one of the first categories on realNEO, allowing members to designate their content to be listed with other "Dear Peter" content. I doubt most realNEO visitors have ever noticed Dear Peter exists, or known the meaning.

For decades, Peter Lewis has been one of Northeast Ohio's most inspiring and demanding leaders. I dedicated a category on realNEO to Peter Lewis because he has inspired me to "disrupt IT" with his proactive, positive challenges of authority in Northeast Ohio and worldwide. I know the Lewis family to be high quality intellects truly committed to the betterment of this community and the world, and I support their pursuits here. They challenge me to push the envelop for realNEO.

Before realNEO was dedicated to Ed "Citizen" Hauser - while Ed was still alive and working FOR REALNEO - we were dedicated to Peter "Billionaire" Lewis... since November 20, 2004:

“Don’t miss the world premiere of a new work by Bill Wade at Cleveland Public Theatre’s Danceworks ‘11, May 12-15. For more info go to: cptonline.org”

Until marijuana is legal for economic development in Ohio - and then America-wide - I will be sorting through the various MMJ proposals being developed for Ohio and the world and will keep realNEO readers informed of important developments, like... from the Columbus Dispatch, today:

The Daily Briefing: Billionaire Peter Lewis floating marijuana ballot issue
Monday, May 2, 2011  10:16 AM - By Alan Johnson - The Columbus Dispatch

Sunday, May 1 · 3:00pm - 5:00pm

Mayfield Regional Library
6080 Wilson Mills Rd
Cleveland, OH  

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Comet Elenin meets Comet Levy

Discussion of about the two comets heading our way Levy and Elenin - why are the mainstream media being so quiet about this? When it is there, you just have to know what to look for. http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2011%20EM51;orb=1  [//]

The Ohio Medical Cannabis Act of 2012

A Message From The Campaign

Apr 27, 2011

For the better part of a decade, advocates have attempted to pass bills in the Ohio General Assembly to provide Ohio's sick and dying citizens with safe access to medical marijuana (cannabis). However, when confronted by this issue, our state's elected leaders simply shy away. While the effort to pass a bill in the statehouse is still being pursued, there is another way citizens can enact change.

If a group of citizens feel strongly that an issue has not properly been addressed by the Ohio General Assembly, they can propose an initiated constitutional amendment to the people for a statewide vote. This is the route we've decided to take, placing the issue before the voters on November 6, 2012.

Thank you for today's header--if you haven't already done so, get out on this fleeting weekend to enjoy the cherry blossoms and the daffodil days in University Circle and at parks throughout NEO.

I was fortunate to be up early, both yesterday and today, to hear the robins and the sweet plaintive call of the white-throated sparrow.

CLEVELAND ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME STREAMING

Cleveland Confidential Book Tour Featuring

Cheetah Chrome, Mike Hudson, Bob Pfeifer and David Thomas

Event begins at 7:00 pm EST today (Monday, April 11th, 2011).  Copy and paste URL into your browser to enjoy the live stream:

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Cleveland Public Library (CPL) is celebrating the beginning of our national pastime by announcing the opening of the Cleveland Public Library Sports Research Center and its inaugural exhibit, “Pride & Passion: The African American Baseball Experience.” CPL is proud to be partnering with the Cleveland Indians for the opening reception to display the new Center and Pride & Passion exhibit on April 25 at 3:30 p.m. on the 5th floor of the Main Library, Louis Stokes Wing, corner of East Sixth and Superior. The Center will be open and free to the public year round.

Crone's Lament, Woodcut, 26 x 17 inches

 "Memory's Witness" Woodcuts by Pamela Dodds

Opening Reception:

Friday, April 29, 2011  

 

Exhibition continues through June 9, 2011

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The Social Sciences Department of the Cleveland Public Library will hold their non-fiction book club discussion Thursday, 

Norm --

Today, we are filing papers to launch our 2012 campaign.

We're doing this now because the politics we believe in does not start with expensive TV ads or extravaganzas, but with you -- with people organizing block-by-block, talking to neighbors, co-workers, and friends. And that kind of campaign takes time to build.

So even though I'm focused on the job you elected me to do, and the race may not reach full speed for a year or more, the work of laying the foundation for our campaign must start today.