Woody Harrelson championed the environmental benefits of hemp. Giorgio Armani and Calvin Klein incorporated it into their collections. Now a company promoting hemp as the eco-building material of the moment said it wants to build California's first hemp house.

Hemp Technologies said it wants to use hemp-based materials to construct a 500-square-foot structure at the ruins of Knapp's Castle near Santa Barbara. The castle, completed in 1920, was built for Union Carbide founder George Owen Knapp but destroyed by wildfire in 1940. Since then, all that has remained on the property are the sandstone blocks outlining the once-grand estate.

The principal material for the project is Hempcrete, made of the woody internal stem of the Cannabis sativa plant, which is processed into chips and mixed with a lime-based binder. That concoction is then sprayed on, poured into slabs or formed into blocks like concrete to create the shell of a building. Interior surfaces are plastered, and exterior surfaces are stuccoed.

“The walls are to be framed and earthquake-braced internally with lumber,” said Greg Flavall, Hemp Technologies' co-founder, who added that “hemp is very close in cellulosic value to wood.” The material helps to keep structures warm in winter and cool in summer, he said.

By Louise Dickson, Postmedia News March 10, 2012

VICTORIA — On March 28, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Johnston will set a date for his decision on a Victoria man’s constitutional challenge to Health Canada’s medical-marijuana access regulations.

Owen Smith, who was the head baker for the Cannabis Buyers’ Club of Canada, was charged on Dec. 3, 2009, with possession for the purpose of trafficking THC, one of the active ingredients in marijuana. He is also charged with unlawful possession of marijuana.

Smith was charged two years ago after the manager of an apartment building complained to police about a strong, offensive smell wafting. Police arrested Smith and obtained a search warrant.

They discovered the suite was being used as a bakery. Officers recovered substantial quantities of cannabis-infused olive and grapeseed oil, as well as pot cookies destined for sale through the club.

Smith’s trial began Jan. 16, but moved quickly into a voir dire — a trial within a trial — to allow Smith’s defence lawyer, Kirk Tousaw, to challenge the validity of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act regarding marijuana.

Health Canada denies they are knowingly meeting with owners of compassion clubs during a recent consultation session in Ottawa.

Health Canada held consultations in February in both Ottawa and Vancouver with individuals and organizations wishing to become licensed cannabis providers (LCP’s) under Health Canada’s reformed MMAR due out in 2014.

Discussions were held to get opinions from stakeholders regarding issues of quality, security, and data management. During one question period, a concern was raised that if production costs are too high, the patients will not be able to afford the medication.

Health Canada responded “It’s not our intention to create policies that will send Canadians to the black market...”.

The police came to our Montreal sign-up office on Friday Feb 17th with a search-warrant looking for cannabis, scales, money, and proof of our being affiliated with dispensaries.

Nobody was arrested, nothing was seized and they did not find anything illegal.

At that very same moment they also raided Natural-Pharma located 2 doors down from our Montreal signup office, and arrested 3 volunteers, and they raided a grow-op in the same building which was actually licensed and operating legally according to Health Canada.

All of this has led to much confusion and frustration on behalf of the staff and our members, and we sincerely apologize for the lack of communication.

What all members need to know...

By Kathy Michaels - Kelowna Capital News
Published: March 01, 2012 10:00 AM
Updated: March 01, 2012 10:27 AM

Just as alcohol prohibition failed, laws aimed at snuffing out Canada's underground drug industry have fallen short, say members of a coalition in Kelowna today to talk about legalizing and regulating pot.

"If the goal is to reduce the availability of marijuana, it's clearly been a dramatic failure," said Dr. Evan Wood, a founding member of the coalition called Stop the Violence BC, who will be speaking at UBC Okanagan at 12:30 p.m. and the Rotary Centre for the Arts at 7 p.m.

"As it stands now, we know marijuana is more available to young people than alcohol and tobacco… the price of marijuana is going down, and the potency is going up."

Conditions for organized crime improved in tandem, as what was once viewed as a basement pursuit morphed into what the Fraser Institute, in a recent report, deemed to be a $7 billion a year business.