Cannabis Investments

With so much new legislation that’s hitting mainstream media, it’s becoming confusing as we try to keep up with it.  Such is the case with the legalization of marijuana, especially in California.  Currently, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 is making a lot of noise with politicians, legal minds and of course, the medical sector.  What it means, says A. Harrison Barnes, founder of LegalAuthority.com, is that cities and counties in California would be allowed to adopt ordinances that allow the growth, transportation and sale of marijuana, with appropriate taxes just as anything else is taxed (think alcohol and cigarettes).  Many lawyers for the state say the tax advantages can save the ailing state, which is suffering incredible budget problems.  Still, there are those lawyers and politicians who say if this passes, it’s only the first step in weakened drug laws and it won’t be applicable only to California; the threat is to the country in its entirety.

Ever heard of Oakland’s Oaksterdam University?  If you haven’t, you will, says the LegalAuthority.com founder.  The institution holds classes that teach students how to not only grow marijuana, but to establish a prospering marijuana business.  The founder, Richard Lee, invested more than $1 million dollars to sponsor the legalization of marijuana and to ensure it hits the ballots this November.  Remember, this is also an election year for deciding who will become the next governor for California.  Many corporate attorneys say California could realistically expect more than a billion dollars annually in excise taxes alone.  With the legalization comes an eased burden on jails and court systems, too since they will no longer be hearing cases where marijuana arrests are concerned.  A. Harrison Barnes points out that California has seen an increase in marijuana arrests in the past several years.

So what are the odds of this bill passing?  That depends on who you listen to.  As one might expect, there are strong supporters on both sides of the controversy.  Medical marijuana is already legal in California and has been for more than a decade; it’s those wishing to legalize it for recreational use that has folks picking sides.  And in case you’re wondering how much support there is behind this legalization, a Field poll taken in late 2009 revealed 56% of Californians support making pot profitable.

It remains to be seen on how those in the state will overcome the current Federal law that prohibits the growth, consumption, sell or possession of marijuana.  Many say the current Supreme Court justices won’t likely overturn that law, either.   Of course, Congress would have to agree – which is highly unlikely.  Too many conservatives influence their representatives and these representatives aren’t likely to go against their constituents, says Barnes.  So does this mean the current debate going on along the west coast is moot?  Maybe.  Time will tell; however, one thing is sure: the effects go far further than the state lines.

Cannabis is scientifically named as Cannabis sativa in 1753 by the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus. So, it then classified into three major cannabis growing categaries:

Cannabis Sativa (Linnaéus 1753) or C. sativa L.
Cannabis Indica (Lamarck 1785) or C. indica Lam.
Cannabis Ruderalis (Janischevsky 1924) or C. ruderalis J.

The art of growing cannabis plants could be a lot of advantageous of all ‘indoor’ techniques. Growing cannabis allows growers to accomplish a lot of every changeable bulb and it’s an achievement that anyone can adroit with a little practice. Outdoor cannabis growers who carbon their plants are able to analyze gender aboriginal in the division and gather their variable plants during the sustained frondescence period. With low-powered bogus lighting, an able changeable can even be preserved for next year’s alfresco crop.

It is accepted affiliation with growing cannabis to be a twisty process. In fact, eradication could be added from the truth. Just as cannabis seedlings will yield advantage of the indigenous adventitious to cultivate, cuttings will bound achieve roots and become advantageous baby plants if a few altitude are met. The anomaly truth is agnate to the aberration amid calm and alfresco cultivation. Clay cannabis seeding necessitates beneath equipment, investment and, generally, beneath plan to control the assorted factors influencing growth. The unaided specialist accessories apposite for the simplest still clay start-up would be seeds, amoebic nutrients, a ablaze and a timer. The actual accessories – soil, pots, fans, cogitating abstracts and such should be calmly accessible in a lot of countries.

As an amoebic compound, clay is beneath acute to changes and baby variations than a constructed average like rock wool. It could be alleged an automated environment. Thus, pH testing accessories is usually not required.

Similarly, amoebic nutrients are gentler to plants than the concentrated salts and minerals of hydroponics augment mixtures. Consequently, while it is still accessible to over-fertilize an amoebic system, such a aberration is beneath acceptable to ‘burn’ or annihilate plants. An EC beat is not appropriate for cannabis growing.

As a landlord , when you let a property, you hope that your tenants will treat your property with care and respect ensuring that, at the end of their tenancy, they return the property to you in the same condition they found it in when they arrived. You also assume that your tenants will not undertake any kind of illegal activity in the house. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. In the UK there is a growing trend towards tenants renting properties for the purpose of cultivating illegal drugs. Make sure you reduce the risk of becoming a victim of this type of activity by learning how to spot the warning signs of illegal activity.

The equipment and materials required for growing cannabis can be acquired quickly and cheaply by almost anyone. This combined with the attraction of being able to carry out the activity in someone else’s property has made it a relatively simple task for the criminally minded tenant to set up a cannabis factory. However you can mitigate your risk of falling foul of this type of activity by looking out for a few simple clues

Your vigilance should start at the tenant viewing. Tenants intending to grow cannabis may show little regard for the practical considerations that would normally concern prospective tenants such as identifying a space to position their washing machine in the kitchen or checking there are enough sockets where they would want to position their television. They may not even look in all of the rooms. This is because they do not intend to use the property to live in, in a normal fashion

You should also be wary of tenants who show an unusual interest in the electricity supply at the viewing. If a tenant asks repeated questions about the location of the rcd board, where the supply enters the house, and other aspects of the electrical infrastructure this could be another indicator that they intend to grow cannabis at the property. The reason for this is that cannabis needs a lot of heat and light to grow, meaning that the  electricity consumption in the property will increase massively. Invariably the grower will try to tamper with the wiring, by bypassing the electricity meter, as a way to avoid detection

You should also be wary of any tenant offering to pay the rent for the entire tenancy upfront and in cash at the start of the tenancy. Cannabis growers will often make such an offer to increase the chances of you not needing to visit them and disturb their activity, during the tenancy. Also, doing this will mean that you do not have their bank account details, making them more difficult to trace if their activity is discovered.

When a tenancy has started there are other signs to look out for. Cannabis cultivators will obviously try to hide their activity from view and therefore will ensure that curtains remain closed and windows blacked out at all times. If you notice that this to be the case during the day time it should arouse your suspicions. You should then attempt to contact the tenant to arrange a property inspection. If the tenant ignores your calls or tries to avoid an inspection this indicates that they do not want you to see the inside of the property and should arouse you suspicions further.

In such cases you may wish to examine the rubbish being thrown out of the property for further evidence. Large quantities of plant waste and an unusual odour provide further reason to be suspicious.

Following these tips should ensure that your uk property investment is not an easy target for cannabis growers. However, if you have reason to suspect that cannabis is being grown in  one of you investment properties, you should contact the police immediately and ask them to investigate.

Everyone loves looking back at the straight faced seriousness of 1930s propaganda films, and laughing at the ignorant scare mongering that was once taken as fact. The cannabis world has some excellent examples of that, and these three films have recently been released as a box set for marijuana seed growers everywhere to see the ‘evil’ of their ways…

Marihuana (1936)

This follows a familiar theme of the exploitation film, and the promotional poster really showed these routes nicely. The phrases “daring drug expose” and “shame, horror, despair” appear above the subheading “WEED with ROOTS In HELL” and the promise of “Weird Orgies, Wild Parties” and “Unleashed Passions” appear at the bottom. With this in mind, surely the film can’t disappoint? Well, judge for yourself with its outlandish pot-plot: Berma is a typically good young girl who gets addicted to marijuana after one puff at a party… which turns deadly!

One of the revellers drowns as they all head naked down to the water. The dealers hide the body, and our heroine, out of her mind on the film’s version of marijuana, gets pregnant. To cover the costs, her boyfriend gets a job working for some of the dealers, before getting promptly shot on his first day ‘at the office’. Berma, now impoverished, is forced to give up the baby and become a drug pusher herself. Jealous of her sister who has managed to have a daughter of her own, the increasingly drug addled Berma decides that kidnapping said child for a $50,000 ransom is a great idea – only it turns out that the child is actually her own biological daughter. All this culminates with the dealers getting arrested, and our heroine taking an overdose of harder drugs and dying – and all because she smoked marijuana, kids.

Reefer Madness (1936)

Very much viewed as the ‘Casablanca’ of 1930s Cannabis exploitation films, Reefer Madness has gone down in folklore as such a classic that 20th Century Fox released a colourised version of the film straight to DVD in 2004. The unrealistic colours used add to the campy humour its now seen as, and an especially nice touch is the smoke from the marijuana, which is made to appear blue, green, orange and purple with each shade showing a different level of addiction.

The plot is a little too complicated to explain here (it makes The Usual Suspects look like The Fast and the Furious), but hopefully the movie’s idea of cannabis side effects will inspire you to rent this legendary flick:

Manic laughing while committing hit and run manslaughter
Having sex with people you don’t like
Accidentally shooting your friends
Memory loss to the degree you don’t remember being framed for murder

And most hilariously of all:

Playing the piano faster than humanly possible.

If you know anyone who does these things, you should probably stage an intervention or something.

The film, which takes the form of a parable told by a high school principal, finishes with said educator warning the parents that similar consequences could happen to their children. He states “the next tragedy may be that of your daughter’s… or your son’s… or yours, or yours…” before finally pointing to the camera and dramatically stating “or YOURS!” The words “tell your children” appear across the screen, and we fade out, left to worry that one day we too may play the piano exceptionally fast.

Assassin of Youth (1937)

Probably the least entertaining of the three, but not without its charms, Assassin of Youth has a more focussed plot. An elderly woman is killed in a car crash with a cannabis addicted youth (naturally). Her inheritance is left to her pure but simple grand daughter Joan on the condition that she leads a moral life. If she fails in this, the money goes to her evil drug dealing cousin. Unsurprisingly, the evil one goes out of her way to make the heroine look like a depraved, drunken and high reprobate by way of getting the money.

The best thing about the film (aside from the hilariously over the top side effects of marijuana) is just how terrible the dialogue is. At one point, our favourite simpleton Joan is approached by a stranger who has just spiked her drink:

Joan: “Gee, this tastes funny.”

Stranger: “Don’t worry. Just drink it.”

Joan: “Okay”

With a quick wittedness like that, you have to worry for her happy ending, where she does indeed get the money. She probably ended up investing in some magic beans.

It’s her sister Margie that lives up to the film’s promised marijuana abuse though, and eventually ends up in a coma, having almost killed someone and been diagnosed by a doctor as “a hopeless psychopath” – another example of the excellent dialogue.

If this has whet your appetite for stoner movies with a difference, all three films can be bought as part of a boxset from all good DVD sellers. For the full effect, make sure you watch them back to back!

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) announced today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to Amphotericin B Inhalation Powder (ABIP) for prevention of pulmonary fungal infections in patients at risk for aspergillosis due to immunosuppressive therapy, including those receiving organ or stem cell transplants, or treated with chemotherapy or radiation for hematologic malignancies (leukemias).

The FDA granted Fast Track designation for the following reasons:

– Invasive aspergillosis is a serious infection that usually affects immunosuppressed patients receiving organ or stem cell transplants, or treated with chemotherapy or radiation for hematologic malignancies. The infection is often lethal in medically immunosuppressed patients.

– There is no approved agent for prevention of pulmonary fungal infections in patients at risk for aspergillosis due to immunosuppressive therapy, including those receiving organ or stem cell transplants, or treated with chemotherapy or radiation for hematologic malignancies. Therefore, there is an unmet medical need for a new treatment.

Fast Track designation allows the FDA to expedite the review of new drugs that are intended for serious or life-threatening conditions and that demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs. An important feature of Fast Track designation is that it emphasizes the critical nature of close, early communication between the FDA and the sponsor company to improve the efficiency of product development. Under Fast Track, Nektar is now eligible to submit portions of the marketing application for review on a rolling basis prior to completion of the final registration package for the product.

“We are pleased that the FDA recognizes that Nektar’s product for this indication meets the criteria for Fast Track designation and this is an important step toward providing a much-needed medical solution to protect against life-threatening pulmonary infections,” said Dr. David Johnston, Nektar senior vice president of research and development. “Our product could represent a major paradigm shift in antifungal therapies as we aim to prevent infections by targeting the lungs directly and therefore avoid the serious systemic and dose-limiting side effects of intravenous and oral therapies. We look forward to working closely with the FDA through the development process.”

Nektar announced in February 2006 that the FDA had granted U.S. orphan drug designation to ABIP for the prevention of pulmonary fungal infections in patients at risk for aspergillosis due to immunosuppressive therapy. The Orphan Drug Act provides a seven year period of exclusive marketing to the first sponsor who obtains marketing approval for a designated product for the designated indication.

About Amphotericin B Inhalation Powder (ABIP)

ABIP is under development for the prevention of pulmonary aspergillosis in high-risk immunosuppressed patients. The product is designed to target the site of infection directly with a novel formulation of amphotericin B, a broad spectrum, “gold-standard” antifungal drug. Nektar’s innovative formulation and pulmonary delivery method could potentially eliminate systemic, dose-limiting toxicities found with current formulations of amphotericin B that are delivered intravenously.

Immunosuppressed patients — i.e., those receiving organ or stem cell transplants, or chemotherapy or radiation therapy for hematologic malignancies — are vulnerable to opportunistic fungal infections, such as aspergillosis, which start in the lungs and spread throughout the body. Aspergillosis has a mortality rate of over 50%, and in some immunosuppressed patient groups the mortality rate may be as high as 100%.(1) Using ABIP for patients at risk of developing the infection may potentially reduce the incidence of these infections, as well as associated high morbidity and mortality and significant treatment costs.

ABIP is currently in a multidose Phase I study. In February and March of 2006, encouraging pre-clinical and Phase I data on ABIP were presented at major scientific congresses, including the 2nd Advances Against Aspergillosis Meeting and Focus on Fungal Infections 16th Annual Meeting. In December of 2005, data on ABIP was also presented at the 45th Annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.