Global Ganja Report

An online petition has been launched to rescue 10 black bears found living at a rural British Columbia cannabis grow-op. The bears were discovered on July 30, when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided a remote property near Christina Lake, about 540 kilometers east of Vancouver.

Oregon on June 16 became the latest state and the first in many years to officially reclassify cannabis from its status as a dangerous drug with no medical value. The Oregon Board of Pharmacy (BoP) voted 4-1 to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule II. The Oregon BoP decision comes after many months of deliberation and input from the public.

Vancouver's "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery, extradited from his native Canada, pleaded guilty in US District Court in Seattle on May 24 to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. As part of a plea bargain, Emery, 52, must serve five years in prison for selling seeds to US customers through his business, Marc Emery Direct. He will remain in custody at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac until sentencing.

The city of Eugene, Ore., held a Cannabis Cup at a medical clinic May 22, where card holders got to test various strains of cannabis to determine which one best helped their conditions. "We had 25 different patients try 18 different strands of cannabis and give us there perspective on how it helps with their debilitating diseases and symptoms," said organizer Jim Greig.

Canada's "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery was extradited to the US on the morning of May 20. He had been imprisoned in Canada for the last 10 days after Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson signed extradition papers. He is now a prisoner in a federal detention facility, where he awaits a court hearing in Seattle.

Canadian Justice Minister Robert Nicholson came to a decision May 10 in the case of cannabis crusader and one-time mail-order seed entrepreneur Marc Emery, approving an order to extradite him to the United States to face charges of money-laundering and "conspiracy to manufacture marijuana." He faces up to five years in prison, for a crime punishable by a $200 fine in Canada.

Members of Parliament from the Liberal, New Democratic, and Conservative Parties of Canada presented petitions March 15 to Ottawa's House of Commons with over 12,000 signatures asking the Minister of Justice to stop the extradition of activist Marc Emery.