Planet Watch

Cannabis certain winner in California's new "Emerald Triangle" congressional district

CaliforniaThanks to last year's redistricting, California now has a new Second Congressional District that some call the "Emerald Triangle District"—running from the Golden Gate to the Oregon border, through the cannabis counties of Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity. The primary is in five days, and under California's new open-primary system, the two leading vote-getters will move on to the November general election, regardless of party. In the field of 12, the most outspoken herbal advocate is Garberville's veteran Earth First! tree-hugger Andy Caffrey.

Ecologists protest impacts of outdoor grows

Posted on January 19th, 2012 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , .

CaliforniaA five-county study assessing impacts on salmonids presented Jan. 10 in Eureka, CA, named unpermitted grading as a major impact—and cited the cannabis industry as a key culprit. Humboldt County's Supervisor Mark Lovelace said the effects of illegal grading connected to cannabis grows are as bad as the impacts seen during the worst years of the timber industry. "It's shocking," he said, referring to photos he'd viewed of grow-related grading. "It compares with the worst of the worst from some of the bad years of the timber industry."

Humboldt firm markets vegetarian cannabis nutrient

Posted on October 1st, 2011 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , , , .

Northern California's Humboldt Plant Fertilizers (HPF) announced Sept. 22 that it will become "the only natural liquid plant nutrient company banning any use of slaughterhouse by-products such as the bone meal, blood meal, and feather meal almost universally found in all other natural fertilizer products." Every product manufactured by HPF will now bear the "Holy Cow" symbol—a smiling bovine head with a halo and the words "We never use slaughterhouse by-products."

Will market sustain eco-friendly cannabis?

Posted on July 14th, 2011 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , .

earthWe have noted before that the cannabis industry has a huge carbon footprint—something of a dirty little secret for the legalization movement. David Downs in the July 13 issue of East Bay Express has a fascinating cover-story, "How Green Is Your Pot?" Traveling to backwoods Humboldt County, Downs finds: "A new collective is trying to sell sustainable, organically grown marijuana, but patients are hooked on indoor weed that wastes energy and pollutes the planet."

"Global war on drugs has failed": report

Posted on June 3rd, 2011 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , .

earthA new report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy finds that the "global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world," and calls upon governments to explore the legalization of cannabis and other controlled substances. "Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately, that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem and that the war on drugs has not and cannot be won," the report states.

Does cannabis cause global warming?

Posted on April 15th, 2011 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , .

earthEvan Mills, an analyst at the US Energy Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Labs in California, recently completed a study entitled "Energy Up in Smoke: The Carbon Footprint of Indoor Cannabis Production"—seeking to quantify the previously undocumented energy demand of the domestic marijuana industry.

Facebook censors cannabis leaf image

Posted on August 27th, 2010 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

Shadow WatchThe blog FireDogLake reports that Facebook ads for its pro-legalization campaign Just Say Now, which included an image of a cannabis leaf, have been banned by the social networking site. Facebook decided to ban all images of the cannabis leaf after the ad had been viewed an estimated 38 million times. FireDogLake has launched an online petition against Facebook's censorious policy.

Activists rap UN for "meddling" marijuana policy

Posted on March 26th, 2010 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

cannabisThe Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) March 9 denounced efforts by the UN International Narcotic Control Board (INCB) as it met in Vienna to meddle in United States marijuana law reform efforts. In a recent report, the INCB said it was "deeply concerned" that 14 state medical marijuana laws are sending the "wrong message to other countries."

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