19 December 2016
In Canada cannabis activists Marc Emery and his wife Jodie over the weekend after they opened retail selling cannabis before legalization and regulations are fully realised.. here’s the full report from Associated Press
Meanwhile in Japan the local industrial hemp program in Japan’s Tottori Prefecture is being closed down after the president and two employees of one of the permitted hemp processing companies were arrested on suspicion of cannabis possession Read more at the Japan Times
On a more positive front the San Diego Union Tribune reports that…..
Under Proposition 64, people who have been found guilty of possession, transportation or cultivation of marijuana can now ask the Superior Court to reduce those felony convictions to misdemeanors, as long as there are no disqualifying factors in their criminal histories.
For defendants dogged by a felony conviction, even one handed down decades ago, the ballot measure could be a life changer if they are resentenced or the charges are dismissed.
“It really helps,” said Jane Gilbert, a supervising attorney in the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office. “(A felony conviction) really impacts people’s ability to obtain employment, licensing, security clearances, even student loans.”
