California has moved a step closer to making cannabis legal after it was announced a vote is to be held on the issue. Campaigners submitted almost 700,000 signatures on a petition to make the controversial topic eligible for a ballot in November. The vote could pave the way for California to become the first US state to decriminalise the drug. Approval would mean possession of 28.5g of cannabis, which is currently illegal and punishable by a $100 fine, would be legal for anyone over 21-years-old. It would also be lawful to grow limited amounts of marijuana at home for personal use. The California Secretary of State said campaigners, who needed 433,971 valid signatures for the ballot to go ahead, submitted a total of 694,248 verified through a random sampling. Stephen Gutwillig, California director of the Drug Policy Alliance which launched the ballot campaign, said: "This is a watershed moment in the decades-long struggle to end marijuana prohibition in this country. "Banning marijuana outright has been a disaster, fueling a massive, increasingly brutal underground economy, wasting billions in scarce law enforcement resources and making criminals out of countless law-abiding citizens." In a recent survey in the state, more that 50% of Californians said they would support the legalisation of cannabis for social use and the taxation of sales proceeds. US pollsters Gallup also found that 44% of Americans favored legalisation. Supporters believe the California vote could be the first step in marijuana being legalised throughout the US. Lobbyist John Lovell said: "This is the first step towards the ban's defeat." But many Californians are strongly opposed to a change in the law. Silas Miers, a spokesman for California Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said: "With legalisation of recreational marijuana use, impaired driving, fatalities, injuries and crashes will go up, and we don't want to see that." http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/California-Cannabis-Legalisation-...
Monday, 29 March 2010
Friday, 19 March 2010
GW Pharmaceuticals expects approval for MS drug derived from cannabis
GW Pharmaceuticals, which makes drugs derived from cannabis, is due to have its first medicine on the market within months. The British biotech company announced that regulators in the UK and Spain said that there were no quality, safety or efficacy issues with Sativex, its drug to treat spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS). Full approval is expected within three months. Sativex has been much delayed, but the news that it was finally close to approval sent GW’s shares up 15 per cent to 115p. Sativex is the first prescription medication in the world to be derived directly from the cannabis plant. Marijuana plants grown at secret locations in the English countryside provide its main ingredient. It is an oral spray which works by acting on the same parts of the brain that respond to smoking cannabis. Sativex works by protecting against damage to nerve cells and restoring normal functions to nerve cells that are already damaged. Its approval will trigger a payment of �10 million to the company by Bayer, the pharmaceutical company which co-owns the drug in the UK, and �2.5 million from the Spanish partner Almirall. The company is still 22 per cent owned by its founders Geoffrey Guy and Brian Whittle, who also founded Phytopharm. GW will be able to expand into other European countries quickly under the mutual recognition procedure, in which countries recognise drugs that have been approved elsewhere more quickly. The company hopes that recognition will be confirmed in the first half of next year. Justin Gover, managing director of GW, said: “This will also allow us to start thinking about expanding into markets beyond Europe.” Trials of Sativex to treat pain in cancer patients are taking place in the US. Stefan Hamill, analyst at the stockbroker Execution Noble, said: “This is a watershed moment for GW where the intangible becomes tangible. The immediate benefit will be milestone payments and product royalties from launch, but the greater significance is validation of GW’s cannabinoid focused business model.” http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/health/articl...
Monday, 8 March 2010
Autoflowering cannabis seeds from Short Stuff Seeds
We have now extended our catalogue of cannabis seeds, adding Short Stuff Seeds to our range of autoflowering seeds. Short Stuff are a like-minded group of seed breeders and growing enthusiasts who have been working with autoflowering seeds for the past three years. They have produced a range of regular and feminised seeds that much the offerings of bigger seed banks, but at much lower prices.
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