Last month, pesticide use in the legalized cannabis market made headlines and sent some shock waves through the industry, with articles such as, “Millions of Dollars of Pot Sales on ‘Hold’ in Denver Due to Bug Spray Concerns,” which explained that a growing number of cultivators had been forced to halt distribution, affecting at least many tens of thousands of plants.

During the heyday of the industrial hemp industry during World War I and II, Wisconsin was home to over 70 percent of the hemp mills in the U.S.

Quite a feat for an industry that was largely unknown in the Badger State in 1912.

One of the oldest cultivated fiber plants in the world, hemp seed was brought to the U.S. by the pilgrims in 1620. The early settlers used the fiber from the woody stalk to produce twine, thread and rope.

According to state archives, six acres of hemp were grown on the asylum farm at Mendota and three acres as the Wisconsin State Prison farm in 1908, by the Agronomy Department of the Wisconsin Experiment State in cooperation with the Office of Fiber Investigations of the USDA.

DENVER (AP) -

Researchers are gathering in Denver to discuss their research about marijuana as a medical therapy.          

The symposium at National Jewish Health will include presentations on Saturday by researchers funded by the state of Colorado to study the safety and effectiveness of marijuana as a treatment for medical conditions. Those conditions range from pain to epilepsy, post-traumatic stress syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome and insomnia.           

The symposium will include details on research challenges, and presentations from patients on their perspectives.           

Previously, I had suggested that people try topical cannabis for herpes simplex infection which seems to work quite nicely. Will wonders never cease?

Along with cannabis’ laundry list of laudable applications let’s add one more: the treatment of psoriasis with topical marijuana preparations. There’s plenty here so I put it into two parts. In the second part of this series we will explore further dermatologic uses.

PSORIASIS

What is psoriasis? From the Mayo Clinic’s definition:

Psoriasis is a common skin condition that changes the life cycle of skin cells. Psoriasis causes cells to build up rapidly on the surface of the skin. The extra skin cells form thick, silvery scales and itchy, dry, red patches that are sometimes painful.

In New York City, misdemeanor marijuana possession arrests were dramatically lower between January and March 2015 than in the same period of 2014—2,960 compared to 7,110, respectively—but stark racial disparities persist among those arrested, new data obtained by Newsweek indicate. 

During the first quarter of 2015, African-Americans were arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession 1,494 times: That’s 50.47 percent of the total. Hispanics were arrested 1,130 times, or 38.18 percent, and together these two groups accounted for 88.65 percent of the total. Meanwhile, whites totaled 228 of these arrests (7.70 percent) and 79 (2.67 percent) of the arrestees listed as Asian/Indian, according to the state’s Division of Criminal Justice Services.

The House advanced a budget resolution Thursday that says marijuana can't be sold for two more years in Washington, D.C. The vote comes on the heels of several maneuvers in the legislative body to protect medical marijuana laws in the states, including a measure that instructs the Drug Enforcement Administration not to target state medical marijuana dispensaries. 

SAN FRANCISCO – If a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, imagine what a pancake breakfast might do for medical marijuana.

Marijuana is only legal for medical purposes in California, but that isn’t stopping purveyors of pot-infused cupcakes, nuts and other edible forms of the drug from putting on an outdoor food festival to showcase their wares.

The “Get Baked Sale” happening Saturday at a food truck hub in San Francisco comes as marijuana advocates are working to legalize recreational use of the drug through a statewide voter initiative in November 2016.

ED ZIMMERMAN: “Businessmen they drink my wine, Plowmen dig my herb.”

Show opens with Chris Tinney giving an update on the current legislation regarding hemp and introducing his two guests: Anndrea Hermann of the Hemp Industries Association and Bruce Perlowin, CEO f Hemp Inc.

The Oakland County Narcotics Enforcement Team prides itself on investigating cases that win many a conviction. A mere sticky note almost closed this case — until the Michigan Supreme Court saw it.

All that stood between a mother of two young children and a felony drug record after an Oakland County narcotics team raided their home was a sticky note.

More specifically — how would the courts view this Holly Village woman who'd jotted a few words and a date on a small adhesive-backed note? The words were to remind her husband of when it would be time to harvest the medical marijuana that he used for a health condition.