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Why Hemp Supporters Must Support Black Lives Matter, TooPhoto: A black person's hand holding up a handmade Black Lives Matter sign, against a natural looking background.
With its historic ties to drug prohibition and the War on Drugs, hemp supporters and the hemp industry need to back the Black Lives Matter movement. (Unsplash / Maria Oswalt, public domain)
June 19, 2020
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Why Hemp Supporters Must Support Black Lives Matter, Too

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

Over at Ministry of Hemp, I wrote about our feelings about the current Black Lives Matter uprising and how it ties to the hemp and cannabis industries:

In this time of extraordinary global protest, hemp advocates and the hemp industry must live up to our ideals by supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and working towards real change.

Going even further, our involvement can’t stop with just the protests. In order to build an ethical and sustainable industry, we need to be active participants in undoing the damage that the War on Drugs caused. We need to lobby to defund police forces which grew out of control during this “war.”

Read moreWhy Hemp Supporters Must Support Black Lives Matter, Too
How The Media Fueled The Early War On DrugsFilm still: A fivesome of ladies in 50s cocktail dresses laugh uproariously as they smoke cannabis cigarettes.
The media helped spread the early War On Drugs, working with the early government anti-drug warriors. (Film still from "Marihuana: Weed With Roots In Hell" (1936))
April 28, 2020
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How The Media Fueled The Early War On Drugs

Posted in Journalism

Honeysuckle Magazine published my article on the early history of the drug war in the media under their “Honeysuckle Magazine’s Honeypot” imprint.

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Charlotte Figi, Young Activist Who Inspired A CBD Movement, Dies After Viral InfectionCharlotte Figi, who recently died of an illness resembling COVID-19, gazes upward in a black & white photo.
Charlotte Figi, October 8, 2006 – April 7, 2020. Figi inspired cannabis laws to change nationwide, and changed millions of people's minds about the benefits of cannabis. (Photo: Facebook / Paige Figi)
April 9, 2020
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Charlotte Figi, Young Activist Who Inspired A CBD Movement, Dies After Viral Infection

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

Charlotte Figi, a girl who helped inspire a movement for access to the healing powers of CBD and cannabis, has died after an illness resembling COVID-19. She was just 13 years old.

Reports of Figi’s death first appeared online on April 7. According to a Facebook post by the family, Figi died of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest after an extremely severe seizure, likely brought on by illness. Her entire family were sick with a severe illness resembling COVID-19 for a month prior.

Figi suffered from Dravet syndrome, a rare and severe form of epilepsy that begins in the first year of life. People with Dravet syndrome suffer frequent, intense, prolonged seizures and the condition resists conventional forms of epilepsy treatment. Remarkably, cannabidiol, a natural compound found in cannabis that’s better known as CBD, brought relief from the hours-long seizures she often suffered, reducing their length and frequency.

Read moreCharlotte Figi, Young Activist Who Inspired A CBD Movement, Dies After Viral Infection
FDA Warning Letters Hint At Future Of CBD RegulationPhoto: A white woman in a lab coat helps a white man with many tattoos, wearing a black t-shirt, select a CBD oil product in a dispensary.
Currently, the FDA doesn't regulate CBD products. But that could change someday soon. (Pixabay / altika, public domain)
December 23, 2019
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FDA Warning Letters Hint At Future Of CBD Regulation

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

Even as CBD’s popularity grows, so does confusion about its legal status and the Food and Drug Administration’s handling of CBD. In reality, the FDA currently does not regulate CBD.

In December, the FDA issued a “consumer update” about the safety CBD. The administration also sent 15 warning letters to CBD brands around the same time. This only added to the tension and confusion. Is CBD safe? Is it legal?

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The Felony Ban Is Hemp Legalization’s ‘Original Sin’A hemp leaf rests on a background of rough paper made from hemp or another natural textile.
The felony ban in the 2018 Farm Bill perpetuates the racism of the War on Drugs in the new legal hemp industry. (Photo: Pixabay / Wild0ne, public domain)
November 13, 2019
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The Felony Ban Is Hemp Legalization’s ‘Original Sin’

Posted in Hemp Magazine, and Journalism

My article on the “felony ban” in the law that legalized hemp in the United States was published in issue 7 of Hemp Magazine.

The felony ban in the 2018 Farm Bill perpetuates the racism of the War On Drugs in the new legal hemp industry. Under the law, many people with drug felonies are banned from being a producer in the hemp industry. At least one state even bans people with drug misdemeanors.

Read moreThe Felony Ban Is Hemp Legalization’s ‘Original Sin’