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Hemp Farming While Black

Farmer CeeCan Rural America's Expropriated Use a New Crop to Forge a New Agrarianism?

Green Heffa Farms, in North Carolina’s Piedmont, has emerged as a national symbol of vision and success in America’s new hemp economy. As a producer of boutique full-spectrum hemp-flower products, it has won a cachet in the industry—which is augmented, at least in more enlightened sectors, by the fact that it is Black-owned, and has an overt political consciousness.

Green Heffa’s CEO is Clarenda Stanley—popularly known as Farmer Cee. She was featured in the April issue of Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine, and was last year the 2019 “Featured Farmer” for National Hemp History Week.

Brooklyn brutality re-ignites outrage over pot policing in NYC

Posted on March 11th, 2020 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , .

New York CityAn egregious incident of police abuse in Brooklyn has gone viral on the internet—and re-ignited public anger over racist marijuana enforcement in New York City.

Cuomo pledges legal cannabis for Empire State in 2020 —but whither equity?

Posted on January 23rd, 2020 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , .

New YorkThe new budget just released by New York's Gov. Andrew Cuomo includes his promised cannabis legalization measure. But activists in the Empire State will be watching closely to see if the proposed legislation delivers on his pledge to instate legalization in a way the corrects the social harms of prohibition.

MLK and marijuana: making the connection

Posted on January 15th, 2020 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , .

MLKMartin Luther King Jr never spoke about cannabis, but his life and works have much to say about the fight for legalization, and against the "New Jim Crow" of the war on drugs. 

Cannabis in hospitals: coming soon?

medical marijuanaGrowing numbers around the United States and the world are using cannabis to treat a wide spectrum of medical conditions, and legal space is widening for them to do so. So it's a particular irony that hospitals as a rule bar cannabis from their premises. More voices in the medical industry are now grappling with this dilemma.

Three worrying cannabis trends to watch in 2020

Posted on December 26th, 2019 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , .

leafPolitical space for cannabis is generally on the upswing, but there are some intersecting trends that advocates will need to keep a sharp eye on in the coming year. Corporate cannabis will increase pressure on independent producers, while prohibitionists will try to leverage the vape health scare for anti-cannabis propaganda. And the cannabis industry's own terminology may be actually adding to the confusion.

2019: the five biggest moments in cannabis politics

Planet Watch2019 saw advances for cannabis freedom on both the national and global stage—but also some near-misses, from New York state to Mexico, which have left activists frustrated if no less determined. As advocates prepare to carry the fight into 2020, here's a review of what was achieved—or almost achieved—over the past 12 months.

The vape health scare: what do we know?

Posted on November 25th, 2019 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

vapeThis year has seen a disturbing nationwide outbreak of lung injuries, some fatal, which researchers link to vaping—either of tobacco products or cannabis concentrates. A regulatory crack-down on the vaping industry has ensued—but amid serious confusion displayed by politicians and media alike.

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