National Geographic Channel is joining the Cannafest with the premiere of Marijuana Gold Rush. Depicting the many highs and a few lows of this past year’s emerging dream of bringing cannabis into the mainstream, going from the boardrooms of New York to our own Mendocino County’s Emerald Cup, with the participants not knowing what really is to come.

Marijuana Gold Rush is different from the other documentaries and reality shows that are about to be released because of the way, director/producer/writer, Marc Shaffer, has shown the emerging medical marijuana not in its infancy, but trying to make that paradigm shift to the next level.

What Shaffer has done in a Rashomon-style is to portray the many players on both coasts and in between, revealing their ideas and perceptions on where to go with a budding industry while the cameras were rolling unobtrusively in the background.

We’re privy to Steve DeAngelo going back and forth with marketers, advising the suits:

“People who are involved in the industry because they want to make a lot of money are premature. Let’s remember: it’s a psychoactive substance. I don’t think that we’re going to win the trust of our fellow citizens by coming in and saying, ‘We just want to treat cannabis like any other commodity. We want to have ads for the Super Bowl. We want to it to be in 7-Eleven’s. We want to be just like any other product.’ I don’t think Americans are going to go for that.”

Then you have the Young Guns like partners Derek Peterson and Dhar Mann of the so-called “Wal-Mart of Weed” with the company, WeGrow, navigating their way as outsiders with money trying to get in.

For the new ganjateers like Derek Peterson, the documentary shows the startling insensitivity to the hippie doctrine of the mellow way of doing business by explaining, “Let’s face it. Cannabis is becoming more legitimate, right? So traditional business practices are now entering the arena. And that is cutthroat, backstabbing, stepping on, and trying to grab market share. And that’s just how it is.”

What’s so interesting about this documentary is sadly we now know the outcomes to many of the entrepreneurs scenarios, namely the heavy-footed boot of the Federal Government that is about to come down. We root for the underdogs yet we know what’s waiting for them around the corner when Black Autumn hits.

Marijuana Gold Rush shows struggle of embracing capitalism while walking the balancing act of keeping your morals intact, or at least finding out how much your morals are worth.

Mendocino Icon Tim Blake having lived in the area for decades understands what is facing his Northern California forest community.

“Every business in Mendocino would be gone without cannabis. There aren’t any more trees to cut down up here. We’ve fished out every fish in these oceans. There’s nothing left, okay? So what we’ve got here as a growth industry is cannabis.”

And then there’s Big Pharma. Among the notables and leaders of the emerging cannabis industry, Shaffer has also included the CEO of Great Britain’s G.W. Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Geoffrey Guy.

That’s a very interesting part of the film and I cannot state this strongly enough: Keep your eye on Dr. Guy; he’s the man with the plan. Watch.

The documentary is part cautionary tale and up-close look at behind the scenes of an industry that meets resistance on Main Street while Wall Street whistles seductively for attention and their possible dollars.

This documentary film a year ago, finished in spring, captures a moment in time when everything seemed possible. This was before October 4, when the California Attorney General decided that she had had enough. When the Top Cop of Cali — who was elected with the help of cannabis dollars — declared war on cannabis and every patient in the Golden State.

Through these dreamers and schemers and with the benefit of hindsight, we get glimpse into the backrooms of an industry that has yet had a chance to flower.

Text: tokeofthetown.com

Video: nationalgeographic.com
National Geographic Investigates – Marijuana Gold Rush

WeedGeist is a Web documentary about the legalization of Marijuana and why it is fundamentally necessary to not only decriminalize it, but to completely legalize it. In times like this where our Monster economy attacks the public and bleeds us and our government, we need need to make the choice to step up into the future and create new choices and ideas.

Marijuana can very easily revive our entire nation, and help us step forward to new industry, health care and social services that will not only NOT be a burden on tax payers, but bring large relief as well. I remember a day and age where our country was all about moving forward and taking new chances to leap into a better future for all.

But now these seem to be a thing of the past. We’ve given all of our industry away, created miles of laws in the land of the free, and fight wars over oil which an nonrenewable resource. America is supposed to be about moving around these problems and perfecting them. Why aren’t we the leader in advancing in our known renewable resources and capitalizing in a very profitable way to end the needs to even have war. This is 2011 alright, I want my damn flying car and apartment on moon! WE HAVE THE MEANS TO DO THIS LIKE 30 YEARS AGO!!

Legalizing this one plant can not only aid in getting us that step forward, but completely assist us on the way. I haven’t been blessed with the faith so I don’t know if this plant was handed down by god, but do know we are gifted to have it. So please help spread the word and let us help each other fight for a better tomorrow by fighting for this piece of nature, Marijuana.

This is a homemade web documentary, nothing professional. Just and illustration of my ideas and opinions. I as do many feel very strongly about this plant and our rights. The film is made up of, local footage (by me), Animations (by me), and internet footage use for the educational purpose for informing others on a social, medical and political matter. I have not and will not receive monetary compensation for this video and it is free for all to use, view and upload. All I ask is that you leave a link back to me at www.newsflash420.com .

Enjoy and thank you.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This video may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the US Copyright Law.

Proposal for a Medical Cannabis Safety Program:
An introduction to the facts, the program, the organizations and their roles, the stages of development, and the multiple safety and health hazards.

Ahimsa International is seeking the cooperation and support of numerous organizations and proponents of safe medical cannabis in order to bring to California a system which will provide qualified patients throughout the state with safe access to safe medical cannabis. By providing patients with the safety that they so urgently need and deserve, we are remedying serious, community health and safety hazards while also providing safety and other benefits to the families of the patients, their communities, state and national forest visitors and neighbors, law enforcement officers, and all citizens served by county programs maintained by a well-funded treasury.

SB 420 places the burden of creating a viable system of access to medical cannabis on the counties, particularly the county departments of health. To meet and exceed SB 420’s guidelines, and turn what is ostensibly a new administrative and budgetary burden into a health, safety and financial boon for each county, Ahimsa International proposes the statewide implementation of a county-run program, which will generate much needed county revenue to help offset the devastating effects of the state budget crisis.

A Summary

The Medical Cannabis Safety Program is rather comprehensive, involving the cooperation of a number of organizations performing very specific and necessary roles. Essentially, the program calls for each county to establish at least one medical cannabis dispensary where qualified patients may purchase safe medical cannabis.

Several organizations, acting as community partners, will work with the counties to effect the program. Ahimsa International would provide managerial and inventory purchasing services. The California Medical Cannabis Directory would provide patient registry and tracking services. The California Medical Cannabis Growers Guild will provide strict cultivation guidelines for members who will be supplying the medical cannabis to the dispensaries. The Medical Cannabis Safety Center will be responsible for performing the quality control testing of the medical cannabis, potentially with the assistance of Sheriff and Health department lab facilities. Local law enforcement agencies could assist with public education, provide support for the Guild, and enhance safety in the communities that are hosting the dispensaries. The county health departments could oversee the patient registry, the Guild member cultivation operations and the dispensaries.

Chris Conrad: www.chrisconrad.com

The Facts

• Serious hazard exists, both medically and environmentally:
• Patients are ingesting medical cannabis which is known to contain contaminants that can compromise their health and exacerbate their illnesses.
• State and national forests and watersheds are being destroyed by the pesticides and high phosphate chemical fertilizers that marijuana growers are using on their illicit crops.
• Local tourism and fish and game economies are being seriously impacted by the known danger of entering certain areas of state and national forest and the large re-direction of water flow to illicit grow operations.
• Chronically and seriously ill patients throughout California remain in desperate need of safe access to safe medical cannabis.
• The enactment of SB 420 requires California counties to implement a program(s) to meet this need.
• County treasuries are severely diminished due to the loss of county revenue to the state treasury, which has compromised the counties’ abilities to fund already existing programs.
• California counties are faced with the burden of funding an additional program.
• Medical Cannabis is in high demand, and the criminal market is thriving..
• The sale of medical cannabis is a lucrative business best diverted to county treasuries to fund education and prevention programs in the community.
• Ahimsa International has developed a program that will provide qualified patients with safe access to safe, quality medical cannabis and provide county treasuries with a source of revenue to fund both a medical cannabis program and other county programs.

CBC Television’s THE NATURE OF THINGS with David Suzuki examines the medicinal uses of marijuana.

There is a growing number of people who regard marijuana ( cannabis ) as a benign medicine, offering relief to people suffering from a variety of illnesses, including epilepsy, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma as well as lessening the side effects of medications and treatments given to cancer and HIV patients.

People who use marijuana to alleviate their suffering, live with the added anxiety of possible arrest, jail and forfeiture of property. They all say it’s worth the risk. This program tells the stories of those who have shown courage in providing marijuana to the sick and suffering as well as the stories of people whose lives have been transformed by its medicinal properties.

Reefer Madness 2 also travels to India where marijuana is openly cultivated and used in medicine, rituals and recreationally, as it has been for thousands of years with little indication of its supposed damaging effects. It came to the West in the mid-1800s, and was commonly used as a folk medicine. In the United States of the 1930s, it became identified with the corrupting influence of the jazz culture and with Mexican and Chinese immigrants. From then on, it was labeled as a Schedule 1, or dangerous drug. The Black Candle, written by an eminent Canadian judge stirred the controversy in Canada in the 1920s.

Reefer Madness 2 introduces audiences to the personal stories of two women who provide marijuana to the sick. Valerie Corral of California established the Women’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana ( WAMM ) and supplies over 200 people in the Santa Cruz area. Vancouver’s Hilary Black runs The Compassionate Club. She talks about her dealings with sufferers, the police and the growers she relies on for supplies.

Dr. Lester Grinspoon of Harvard Medical School and the author of Forbidden Medicine, recounts how a personal experience affecting his own family reinforced his determination to try and set the record straight about the marijuana use and cancer patients.

Reefer Madness 2 is written by John Bassett and produced by Vishnu Mathur. Executive producer of  THE NATURE OF THINGS is Michael Allder. From the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

In 2002, Britain produced 15 per cent of its own cannabis.

In 2010 that figure is 90 per cent, and police around the country raid at least three factories every day. Organised gangs are cashing in on widespread demand for cannabis among Britain’s youth by setting up sophisticated factories in suburban homes and disused warehouses.

Research shows a third of the UK’s 15-year-olds have tried cannabis and a quarter of young people aged 16-24 smoke it regularly.

Presenter Rickie Haywood-Williams journeys beyond the scaremongering headlines to find out the true impact of the UK’s skunk-smoking habit.

Rickie accompanies Avon and Somerset police on raids, and rides in a heat-seeking helicopter as it uncovers cannabis farms with hi-tech thermal imaging equipment.

He also meets a landlord who was horrified to find his tenant was in fact part of an organised gang who were farming cannabis in every bedroom of his house.

Rickie’s journey also includes a trip to Amsterdam and meetings with some of the UK’s three million smokers, from those who fiercely defend their habit to others who regret the effect it has had on their lives.