GrowBLOX Sciences is Making Big Moves in Anticipation of Opening Nevada Cultivation Facility

LAS VEGAS, July 23, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GrowBLOX Sciences, Inc. (OTCQB:GBLX), a biopharmaceutical company with state-of-the-art technologies in plant biology and cultivation designed to produce consistent medicinal cannabis, today announced that over the course of the next few weeks certain changes in management personnel and operating procedures would soon be implemented in preparation for the commencement of cultivation operations through our majority-owned subsidiary, GB Sciences Nevada, LLC.

More than 40 percent of Americans admit trying marijuana, the largest percentage in more than four decades of polling, a Gallup survey found Wednesday.

The 44 percent of people who say they tried marijuana is a significant jump from 1969, when Gallup first began asking the question. Back then, only 4 percent admitted trying the drug. By 1985, that figure had increased to 33 percent. 

"The changes over time may reflect either an increase in the percentage who have tried the drug, or an increased willingness to admit to having done so in the past," Gallup explained.

Last November, 58 percent of Florida voters supported Amendment 2, which would have made medical marijuana legal in Florida. Even though the majority of voters were in favor of the amendment, it wasn't enough to pass. The vote was just two points shy of the 60 percent threshold.

But the loss didn't dissuade United For Care, the group behind the push. In January, the group submitted a new constitutional amendment. They spent the last seven months gathering petition signatures. Today, Ben Pollara, the group's campaign manager, announced that the group is sending 100,000 (almost 30,000 more than necessary) signatures to the Supreme Court to review the language. 

Marijuana decriminalization and legalization initiatives are not only sweeping through the U.S. — countries across the world are beginning to signal the green light for cannabis policy reform.

Here are 10 countries where lawmakers and public sentiment are changing the tide on cannabis policy.

1. Jamaica

Jamaica — home to the Rastafarian movement — recently joined the list of countries to decriminalize marijuana, and this year it will be hosting the World Cannabis Cup in Negril Nov. 12-15.

The top moving destination in 2014 was Oregon, which voted to legalize marijuana last November.

When choosing retirement locales, a few factors pop to mind: climate, amenities, proximity to grandchildren, access to quality healthcare.

Chris Cooper had something else to consider – marijuana laws.

The investment adviser from Toledo had long struggled with back pain due to a fractured vertebra and crushed disc from a fall. He hated powerful prescription drugs like Vicodin, but one thing did help ease the pain and spasms: marijuana.

I struggle with the issue of legalization of marijuana, knowing what I know as a physician, but understanding the problems associated with its continued status as an illegal drug. For now, permit me to discuss medical marijuana, its potential medical uses, and suggest one change in federal regulation.

The tide has turned in America regarding attitudes toward marijuana. Medical marijuana is now legal in 23 states, and in the near future, medical marijuana will be legal in the majority of states. Colorado, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational use; more than 14 states are now considering legalization of medical or recreational marijuana.

Discussion of marijuana in the public space has come a long way since Bill Clinton famously claimed he didn't inhale in 1992. We've even come quite a way since Barack Obama said he definitely inhaled because, "That was the whole point," before saying in the same breath that he'd made a lot of mistakes in his youth. The moment that Rand Paul, Cory Booker, and Kirsten Gillibrand introduced the CARERS Act in the U.S. Senate, marijuana and its legal status was catapulted from a state to a national stage. In fact, Paul's widely publicized campaign for president -- including fundraising during the National Cannabis Industry Association conference in Denver -- is one of the many factors that will make marijuana legalization a front-and-center issue in the 2016 Presidential race.

Marijuana’s prolonged illegal status continues to impede on the growth of the industry, even in states that have already legalized pot for recreational use, such as Washington and Colorado. Due to a lack of reliable research on the cultivation of marijuana crops, growers are struggling with which pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides to use without compromising the safety of a product many Americans use.

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have co-written a letter in TIMEcalling for the elimination of red tape and the expansion of federally approved research into medical marijuana.

Newswise — CHICAGO, July 20, 2015 -- New research reported in The Journal of Pain, published by the American Pain Society (www.americanpainsociety.org, shows that inhaled cannabis reduces diabetic neuropathy and the analgesic effect is dose-dependent.