MYROLE RTM1- Featured GrASS on 25 Jan 2011, 330pm

GrASS's Product Video

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We Need YOUR HELP

Dear Friends,

We here at GrASS need your help to help us gather the below mentioned items to help us raise funds for our shelter and other independent pet rescuers.

The items are:

Scrap Paper
Old Newspapers
Old Magazines
Unwanted uncooked/raw Acidic Fruits ( Oranges, pineapples, lime,lemons)
Unwanted uncooked/raw fruits
Unwanted uncooked/raw Vegetables
Brown Sugar
Rice Bran
Red Earth
Glass Jars/Plastic containers with lids
Cardboard boxes (any other cardboard materials)
Aluminium Cans
Expired Food Products

For more ways on how or what items you can donate to help please visit HERE


Thursday, August 6, 2009

Article: Pot of gold

Thursday August 6, 2009

By MARCUS WOHLSEN and LISA LEFF

Since California legalised marijuana for medicinal use, 'weed' has become a major economic force, with the state reaping a 9.25% sales tax on purchases.

A DRUG deal plays out, California-style: A conservatively dressed courier drives a company-leased car to an apartment on a weekday afternoon. Erick Alvaro hands over a white paper bag to his 58-year-old customer, who inspects the bag to ensure that everything he ordered over the phone is there.

An 8oz (3.5g) supply of organic marijuana buds for treating his seasonal allergies? Check. An eighth (3.5g) of a different pot strain for insomnia? Check. THC-infused lozenges and tea bags? Check and check, with a free herb-laced cookie thrown in as a thank-you gift.

It's a US$102 (RM358) credit card transaction carried out with the practised efficiency of a home-delivered pizza – and with just about as much legal scrutiny.

More and more, having premium pot delivered to your door in California is not a crime. It is a legitimate business.

Cough, cough: Californian farmer Jim Hill grows marijuana for 'medical purposes' in a temperature-controlled greenhouse for up to 20 patients, including himself and his wife, whom he says suffers from a serotonin imbalance.

Marijuana, or cannabis, has transformed California. Since the state became the first to legalise the drug for medicinal use, the weed the US Government puts in the same category as heroin and cocaine, has become a major economic force.

No longer relegated to the underground, pot in California these days props up local economies, mints millionaires and feeds a thriving industry of startups designed to grow, market and distribute the drug.

Based on the quantity of marijuana authorities seized last year, the crop was worth an estimated US$17bil (RM59.6bil) or more, dwarfing any other sector of the California's agricultural economy.

Experts say most of that marijuana is still sold as a recreational drug on the black market. But more recently the plant has put down deep financial roots in highly visible, taxpaying businesses: stores that sell high-tech marijuana growing equipment. Pot clubs that pay rent and hire workers. Mari­juana-themed magazines and food products. Chains of for-profit clinics with doctors who specialise in medical marijuana recommendations.

The sheer scale of the overall pot economy has some lawmakers pushing for broader legalisation as a way to shore up the finances of a state that has teetered on the edge of bankruptcy. The state's top tax collector estimates that taxing pot like liquor could bring in more than US$1.3bil (RM4.56bil) annually.

Money spinner

Cash crop: A worker packing harvested medical marijuana at a dispensary in San Francisco

Although marijuana is cultivated throughout California, the most prized crops come from the forested mountains and hidden valleys of Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity counties – the Emerald Triangle.

The economic impact of so much pot is difficult to gauge. Authorities say the largest grows are run by Mexican drug cartels that simply funnel money from forest-raised crops back into their own bank accounts.

Still, marijuana money from outdoor and indoor plots inevitably flows into local coffers. Marijuana increases residents' retail buying power by about US$58mil (RM203mil) countywide, according to a Mendocino County report. The county ranks 48th out of 58 counties in median income but, by counting pot proceeds, could jump as high as 18th.

Businesses benefit from mom-and-pop growers who cultivate pot to supplement their incomes and from marijuana plantation workers who descend on the Emerald Triangle from all over the United States for the fall harvest. Pot "trimmers" can earn more than US$40 (RM140) per hour.

In Ukiah, the county's largest city, business owners say the extra cash is crucial. "I really don't think we would exist without it," says Nicole Martensen, 37, whose wine and garden shop is stocked with bottles from county vintners.

But Ukiah banker Marty Lombardi says existing businesses cannot compete with pot industry wages for workers. Lombardi's bank does not make loans to anyone suspected of trying to fund a pot operation, but he said most growers do not need them.

"I don't think you or I have any sense for how much money is generated," he said.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman says medical marijuana operations that follow state and county laws will face no hassles from his department. His deputies left intact 154 marijuana grows they visited last year, he said.

Which is not to say that there is no legal risk to growing, selling or buying marijuana. Federal laws still apply, and pot dealings not deemed medicinal are considered criminal by the state.

Local, state and federal authorities pulled up 364,000 plants across Mendocino last year. And the state's Department of Justice reported more than 16,000 felony arrests and nearly 58,000 misdemeanour arrests for marijuana offences in 2007 – the highest numbers in a decade.

Tonic: At the THC Expo in Los Angeles in June, an exhibitor offered many flavours of drinks infused with marijuana that are available at the Farmacy.

Doctor's orders

Even people accustomed to buying marijuana over the counter are impressed when they visit the Farmacy, a dispensary-cum-New Age apothecary with three locations in Los Angeles. Decorated in soft beige and staffed by workers in lab coats, the Venice store sells organic toiletries, essential oils and incense along with 25 types of pot stored in glass jars.

Anyone can shop there, but to buy the cannabis-infused gelato, olive oil, soft drinks and other "edibles", customers must show a doctor's recommendation, have the information verified by the doctor's office and obtain a patient identification number for future visits.

During a two-hour span, the dozen or so customers who made a purchase all bought pot products and paid the 9.25% state sales tax on top of their purchases. The clubs, which are not supposed to turn a profit, call their transactions "donations".

California's "green rush" was spurred by a voter-approved law 13 years ago that authorised patients with a doctor's recommendation to possess and cultivate marijuana for personal use. Although a dozen other states have adopted similar laws, California is the only one where privately owned pot shops have flourished.

Los Angeles County alone has at least 400 pot dispensaries and delivery services, nearly twice as many outlets as Amsterdam, the Netherlands capital whose coffee shops have for decades been synonymous with free-market marijuana.

Promoted as a way to shield people with AIDS, cancer and anorexia who use marijuana from prosecution, the 1996 Compassionate Use Act also permitted limited possession for "any other illness for which marijuana provides relief."

The broad language opened the door to doctors willing to recommend pot for nearly any ailment.

In a survey of nearly 2,500 patients, longtime Berkeley medical marijuana advocate Dr Tod Mikuriya found that more than three-quarters of the patients used the drug for pain relief or mental health issues.

California's pot dispensaries now have more in common with the corner grocery. They advertise freely, offering discounts and daily specials.

Like just about everyone else connected to the cannabis trade, Justin Hartfield, a 25-year-old website designer and business student, has a letter from a doctor that entitles him to buy medical marijuana from a dispensary.

But he sees no point in pretending he is treating anything more than his taste for smoking weed. "It is a joke. It's a legal way for me to get what I used to get on the street," he said. – AP

In Malaysia, any person found with 200g or more of cannabis will face the death penalty under the country's Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.


This article was taken from: The Star Online: Lifestyle: Focus 6 August 2009

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