Johnny Green: There’s Nothing Like Homemade

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From top: The ‘Seedo’ fridge allows for perfectly timed cannabis cultivation; Johnny Green

Last week, Politico rocked the cannabis world with the exciting news that Luxembourg has legislation pending to legalise recreational weed within two years.

With Luxembourg and Malta fighting for FMA (first mover advantage) in the cannabis space, all that’s left for Fine Gael is to arrange a rousing rendition of The Green Fields of Athenry, on some godforsaken ‘vast’ bog.

Luxembourg’s health minister did a great interview which outlined his country’s clearly defined policy objectives and strategic plan to achieve them:

“After decades of repressive policies, we have acknowledged that this policy does not work, that it did not meet expectations. So it’s time to change mindsets, change our concepts and try something else”

If Luxembourg succeeds – and I really hope they do – it will have a domino effect on the neighbors, with markets flooded with diverted product, forcing legislation..

Some estimate that Massachusetts recreational cannabis stores close to state lines are selling/diverting 40% of their product to NY/NJ residents,where recreational is still not legal.

Luxembourg unlike Mass. has stated it will only sell to Lux. residents, similar to post-Brexit, whereby UK residents will also be banned from Amsterdam’s coffee shops.

Fine Gael’s only strategy is to stock pharmacies with extremely expensive imported finished products, forcing patients and the State to buy that, instead of following the Canadian model like Luxembourg.

Ireland needs start growing weed, its getting out-positioned, one way to kickstart the industry, is to empower patients by issuing licenses to grow 6-10 plants.

Ministers Harris and Canney are currently issuing licenses for importing only expensive finished product, none for any type of growing or cultivation.

Luxembourg when announcing its intention to legalize cannabis within two years, did not provide for home growing.

This pull back from allowing home growing is driven by greed, with major cannabis companies aligning themselves with states to force people to buy expensive products and pay high taxes for a plant that can be easily grown at home.

Illinois was the eleventh state to recently complete what Luxembourg is now starting, it also did not allow recreational home growing but does allow its 65,000 medical patients to grow five plants.

Home growing also featured in New York’s failed efforts, with extensive lobbying by the cannabis industry to prevent home growing, a FOI exposed the highly misleading arguments used by the industry.

New York will try again next year to pass comprehensive recreational legislation, home growing for medical patients is expected to be included.

Instead of pursuing ‘vast’ fields of weed in environmental war zones with Bord na Mona, the Irish goverenment can take a giant leap and start issuing medical patients growing licences.

It also needs expand the qualifications for medical cannabis to include ‘pain’. Most of the disingenuous arguments about home growing involve public safety, this play for profits is often disguised as concern for the public good,

The Windy City joins ten other states who have fully legalised cannabis. These states have different ‘home grow’ rules, with Michigan allowing individuals to grow twelve plants and Washington State not allowing any.

Thirty one US states have medical access programs despite it being banned at the federal level, with Deep South Louisiana recently passing legislation.

Most states allow medial patients to grow a few plants, from Alaska which allows six plants to West Virgina, none.

Many allow a qualified ‘caregiver’ to grow or cultivate the medicine, it also acts as a incubator for developing skills, which can then be used to build home grown companies.

A great example of a new but very expensive home growing kit  “Seedo  which utilises AI and machine learning to grow. It includes a phone app that allows you look at your grow in HD and remotely monitor water levels, nutrients, light while also speeding up grow times.

It’s about the size of a mini-fridge and is close to what’s happening inside the new state of the art industrial grow houses. Next week we will look at home growing options and caregivers or micro grows.

Home growing is set up and thriving in many states and Canada, it’s not perfect but Irish growers would get some experience, it’s a viable alternative for patients while also empowering them.

Fine Gael should be issuing growing licenses to patients for Irish medical cannabis with every licence to buy imported finished products.

The Roll Up column by Johnny Green will attempt to keep Broadsheet readers up-to-date on the growing cannabis industry worldwide. Follow Johnny Green on twitter for even more updates.

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54 thoughts on “Johnny Green: There’s Nothing Like Homemade

  1. Prof.Fart

    unfortunately, long afer I’m dead .. people will gasp at the notion that weed used to be illegal anywhere.

  2. eoin

    Great article Johnny, this whole series is transforming cannabis from some bogeyman to something you can visualise in a political, medical, social and commercial sense.

    After growing cannabis though, isn’t there some skill required to convert the flower/bud that you lop off the plant into something that can be used, smoked or eaten. The mini fridge seems to miss out this stage.

    1. Johnng Green

      -trying avoid a ‘how to’ vibe Eoin,so much that info is online these days.
      Lots very promising results from oh say juicing:)
      -It is recommended that you mix in another vegetable juice to cut down on the bitterness of the raw cannabis. A popular choice is carrot juice, and a ratio of 1 part cannabis juice to 10 parts carrot juice is a good rule of thumb-
      https://www.medicaljane.com/category/cannabis-classroom/consuming-cannabis/juicing/#introduction-to-juicing-cannabis

      Next week will add a few links for the home grow enthusiast,but in Ireland it’s totally legal to buy/sell cannabis seeds, so there are quite a few online forums and resources for gorilla growers.

  3. Increasing Displacement

    Can’t see it in Ireland. Even people my own age have the most outrageous “facts” about weed. Go to the older generations and it escalates.

    1. Johnng Green

      -its changing Sheehan in a snit issued his minority report due to in his opinion, the extremely high level of drug taking by survey respondents which in his small mind indicated bias-entire reports are here they worth a…

      “For example, 82% of those who responded to the online poll admitted to having previously taken drugs. It is hardly surprising that such a group is in favour of changing the law which prohibits possession.”

      http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/Report_of_the_Working_Group_to_Consider_Alternative_Approaches_to_the_Possession_of_Drugs_for_Personal_Use

      1. B9Com From No

        Reactionary cream stick.

        Why can’t we just inform these idiots they are going to be ignored completely ongoing?

      2. Louis Lefronde

        Sheehan’s “Waldorf and Statler” Report. Sure nobody takes that old windbag seriously?

        1. Johnng Green

          -Minister Harris appointed him Chair to arguably one the most important working groups in the current Dail….’a Working Group in November 2017 to consider alternative approaches to the possession of drugs for personal use. The group met on 19 occasions between December 2017 and March 2019″
          link above.

    1. Johnng Green

      -best bit ended up on Bodgers bedsit floor, man your libel laws are draconian:)
      You mean like say the alcohol industry where you can just home or micro brew beer-oh!

      1. B9Com From No

        Correct

        Really refreshing to read your stuff Johnny
        It’s free of genuflection and ingrown toenail-like subservience

  4. Pat Harding

    Actually Johnny Green, you’re not correct in your assertion that Fine Gael’s only strategy is to stock pharmacies with extremely expensive imported finished products. The Irish Government has done everything to make it extremely difficult for overseas producers to import their products into Ireland. The truth of the matter is that virtually every country in Europe is looking at producing their own medical cannabis, and the notion that Bord na Mona will be exporting cannabis to other European countries is fanciful to say the least? For example, Denmark has a surplus of homegrown medical cannabis and they’re running into difficulties trying to find markets outside of Denmark to take their surplus. Moreover, it is less expensive to produce medical-grade cannabis in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Croatia (just to mention a few who are gearing up production) then it will ever be to produce in the Irish midlands? But then, this all about local politics and votes in the end of the day?

      1. Johnng Green

        -keep an eye on Malta
        MGC Pharma is starting construction under a long term lease with govt owned Malta Industrial.Its EU headquarters for cultivation and research will involve over 10 million in capital investment and is expected to create almost 30 full time jobs.Malta has already passed medical cannabis cultivation, research legislation and construction has begun on state owned land.Malta is pursuing a clearly defined strategic plan to grab a 1% EU medical market share by 2020,involving multiple state agencies and stakeholders, Ireland is not.

        https://thewest.com.au/business/public-companies/mgc-inks-milestone-lease-for-malta-cannabis-facility-c-391230

        Ps-you may be conflating outdoor growing with medical grade GMP certified growing-most outdoor grows will be used for extraction and edibles.

  5. McVitty

    “Fine Gael’s only strategy is to stock pharmacies with extremely expensive imported finished products, forcing patients and the State to buy that, instead of following the Canadian model”

    That’s what Fine Gael would do – in fact Fine Gael would follow the Canadian model since it is so enamored with the smell of private enterprise.

    The Canadian model has resulted in lower quality weed being available at relatively exorbitant prices so far: https://www.straight.com/cannabis/1071316/boring-weed-real-threat-if-bc-ldb-sticks-rumoured-wholesale-prices

    A lot of people are still relying on dealers though it will be policed harder since it affects public revenue. So for now, the state is the biggest monopoly dealer and their product stinks. Hopefully home growing will take off (outside Manitoba and Quebec).

    1. Johnng Green

      -what boring weed in the most boring country in the world-agreed the weed is awful in Ontario dispensaries, but it will get better, phase 2 involving extracts/edibles rolling out shortly.
      -home growing BC rec rules attached.
      “Under the Cannabis Control and Licensing Act, adults 19 years and older may grow up to four non-medical cannabis plants at the dwelling house where they ordinarily reside.
      Non-medical cannabis plants cannot be grown in a place that is generally visible from a public place, such as parks, streets, sidewalks, sports fields, and K-12 school properties.”

      https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/public-safety-and-emergency-services/public-safety/cannabis/grow-nonmedical-cannabis-factsheet.pdf

      1. McVitty

        I was aware of the 4 plant allowance – they don’t have it in Quebec or Manitoba.

        Hopefully you are right and things will get better..people deserve more than being forced to suffer Bud-Light for their money.

        1. Johnny Green

          -is that not a direct challenge by Quebec to the legal doctrine of Federal Paramountcy and subject to challenges in the courts-in other words can provinces legislate around Federal laws which in this situation allow 4 plants.In a abortion case involving Nova Scotia i seem remember a ruiling that provinces can’t undermine federal laws:)

          -yeah it can only get better and it will, once the yanks get there and show them how grow!

  6. Pat Harding

    Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for homegrown weed for personal use, but medical-grade cannabis needs to be produced in a GMP (Good Manufacturing Practiced) certified facility if it is to be generally accepted by the various national agencies responsible for health products across the European Union.

      1. Johnny Green

        the opposite of bad:)

        “Good manufacturing practice (GMP) describes the minimum standard that a medicines manufacturer must meet in their production processes. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) coordinates inspections to verify compliance with these standards and plays a key role in harmonising GMP activities at European Union (EU) level.”
        https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory/research-development/compliance/good-manufacturing-practice

        Example-whats going happen all that UK weed after Brexit – it MAY be grown in accordance with GMP standards but will the EU ‘accept” UK inspections-NO !

  7. AJ

    “This pull back from allowing home growing is driven by greed, with major cannabis companies aligning themselves with states to force people to buy expensive products and pay high taxes for a plant that can be easily grown at home.”

    This series of articles is somewhat naive, and this excerpt above is plain silly. I don’t have time right now to go into it but this ignores a whole plethora of issues – accidental poisoning (which I’ve seen a lot of), impact on air quality (particularly relevant if there are children – especially asthmatic children – in the household), radiation hazards Etcetera. I could go on. I have recently conducted a fairly extensive research into home growing around West Cork (a good part of Ireland for this activity due to the Gulf Stream, but also on account of the let’s call it demographic). One recurring issue is that growers are selecting (and sharing) a particular plant that yields extremely high levels of THC but not CBD. CBD is really important to buffer the effects of THC on the user. What we’re seeing is a disturbingly high level of psychosis among users in this part of the country.

    TLDR: there are lots of reasons not to permit home growing. It’s facile and simplistic to put it down to “greed”. Cannabis is a wonderful product but it needs to be regulated.

    1. Johnny Green

      naive-hm!
      -“I don’t have time right now to go into it but….you did again.
      ..accidental poisoning (which I’ve seen a lot of)- no link/evidence I’m calling BS on this.
      …impact on air quality (particularly relevant if there are children – especially asthmatic children – in the household)-bat sh*t crazy time-WTF are you referring to ?
      ..radiation hazards Etcetera. I could go on.-you did and on and on….
      …What we’re seeing is a disturbingly high level of psychosis among users in this part of the country..again fact free nonsense its Cork FFS:)

      So Canada and oh over 30 US states got it all wrong, and you are right based on fear mongering fact free nonsense…..

      1. AJ

        You’ve got a basement level understanding of this subject, yet you’re presenting yourself as an expert. You’re an embarrassment.

        One example being:
        “…impact on air quality (particularly relevant if there are children – especially asthmatic children – in the household)-bat sh*t crazy time-WTF are you referring to ?”

        Crazy, is it?:
        https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24116667

        You’d benefit from some manners and some humility.

        1. Johnny Green

          -try play the ball there grandad and congrats on your 30 years of advocacy.Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.Take a knee and sit a few plays out,after 30 years times up old man, let the next generation run a few.

          -the report you linked as your source is based on law enforcement raids on illegal,mid to large sized gorilla home grows for profits,its as far away from what the above post is about as you can get, shaking head here….

          -its over 6 years old and was funded by grants from the Dept of Justice,Colorado Chiefs of Police and the Association of Colorado County Sheriffs,its completely irrelevant and funded by law enforcement,this weekly roll up up is so not about this outdated garbage, its all so fecking old-zzzzz

          1. AJ

            Genuinely can’t figure out whether you’re pretending or you’re actually this stupid.

            Here’s a recent one (2018 – that ok for you?), funded, compiled and published by the Public Health Agency of Canada / National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health (that ok for you?)
            It looks at personal cultivation, up to four plants only (so nobody’s talking about “llegal,mid to large sized gorilla home grows for profits” aside from some anonymous dunce)

            http://www.ncceh.ca/documents/evidence-review/growing-home-health-and-safety-concerns-personal-cannabis-cultivation

            Writing an article about home growing and not even mentioning – in fact, dismissing as “crazy” – the health risks, particularly when there might be kids in the house, is stupid, ignorant and irresponsible.

            I’ve read your other articles this evening. You don’t know what you’re talking about.

          2. Johnny Green

            try harder…
            “Note that although we draw on learning from illicit cannabis grow-ops”

            If you look at the BIG pic at top of this post its a link to a state art indoor home grow option, not a dark basement with gas fired generators and kids toys strewn about.

            The ‘box’ recommend above has all the features, which address the fear mongering and junk science in your link, which is outdated and based on illegal gorilla large scale, criminal enterprises, we are talking about patients growing maybe outside a few plants.

            “The industry is now using artificial intelligence and machine learning to grow pot, and Seedo even has a machine-learning agronomy database, similar to Tesla’s shared cloud database, which teaches all the Seedo grow boxes out there how to best grow high yielding and happy crops and share that data with other Seedo machines. That’s kind of a trip, so to speak.

            For parental types, it also comes with a child lock that can only be locked or opened by the mobile app, which also keeps your crops safe from any other prying eyes.

            The company’s product is pretty amazing, actually. You don’t have to grow marijuana (although that’s certainly an option according to what we’ve been told), but you can also grow herbs, vegetables, flowers, and more. But here’s the kicker: Regardless of what you decide to cultivate, Seedo’s weird little hydroponic box will increase your yield even more than if you grow it in your backyard.

            Why the app? In addition to monitoring things like water levels, you can literally watch your weed grow, in high definition no less. The device can grow up to five plants at once, and self manages everything your typical gardener might, including the climate, lighting and nutrient parameters to produce a significantly larger yield than traditional grows can produce….”

            https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/seedo-grow-box-cannabis/

            The industry has moved one,so am I…

          3. AJ

            I actually can’t engage with this level of stupid any more.

            So you stand by your claim that “This pull back from allowing home growing is driven by greed” – because, if it wasn’t “greed”, for the last 90 years, all states had to do was restrict it to growers using the state-of-the-art hydroponic indoor grow boxes with LED lighting. Sigh.

            And, by the way, as another example of your abject stupidity, one of the citations in your “article” is an April Fool’s joke. [Yes, dear reader, you read that correctly – that truly is the level of gormlessness we’re dealing with]. If the date of publication didn’t give you a clue, perhaps the references to:

            “Bas ‘t Aard, spokesman for the city council”

            or the police spokesman Boysen Blaauw

            or the claim that “And the EU is considering placing portable urinals alongside passport queues so that Brits can be drug tested on entry and exit.’

            or the sex worker Trudy Recht, who complained that the Brits “always go up the wrong canal.”

            or, my personal favourite:

            “News of the impending ban led to mixed reactions on the streets of Amsterdam. Fokker Burggeraaf, a long-term resident of the red light district, was overjoyed. ‘It’s about time the Brits realised that the sun has set on their empire,’ he said. ‘They lounge around the street like bearded sultans in the days of the Raj. If they want to get stoned now, I’ve got plenty of rocks.’”

            I rest my case. Over and out. Adios.

          4. B9Com From No

            What “case” have you rested?

            Every single “insight” you gave us was pure rubbish. You then backed yourself further in a corner with lies, personal insults and attacks

            BS won’t print what I have to say about the quality of the so-called “best practice” Irish products you are referring to above …

            What claim did Johnny make that was couched in that link? Can you please point it out?

            Maybe the fact you were repeatedly handed your ass on this thread had lead to your premature departure…

        2. B9Com From No

          What sort of waffle is this?

          Again , how biased is the sample by the simple fact that people have to hide this away?
          Maybe address the salient point or STFU

    2. some old unicorn

      And the reason why the current Irish produced award winning producers of CBD oil or juice cannot get state investment is?

      1. AJ

        The short answer: they can and they are getting it. There’s an excellent company run by a Canadian couple out of Athlone that’s forging a big reputation internationally for their CBD products from hemp grown here – they were using only the biomass the last time I spoke to them but planned eventually using the stalk (and the demand for that is strong too, especially eco-building uses where the stalk can be compressed for insulation). They have state funding.The leading player is Celtic Wind – and they also now have state investment as far as I know. Strong proposition because they’re so export focused – buy a CBD oil in Lloyds Pharmacies in the UK and good chance it’s from there. And they also sell the fiber in to the UK for bed mattresses. It’s a really on the ball, innovative company. Bottom line – if you’re creating jobs and exporting, you’ll get state investment.

        1. some old unicorn

          The leading player is Celtic Wind – says who exactly?

          It is a weed- hence the name- it can with minimum cultivation be grown on any field on the island of Ireland- the climate conditions are ideal.

          1. B9 Com From No

            He’s not that smart, and has been handed his butt here. We won’t see him again.

            SOU- my wife raised an interesting point one day, I wonder what you would think of this. In her view the campaign to recognise the need for unfettered personal use of weed has a lot of parallels with the successful gay marriage agenda. Please discuss.

    3. B9Com From No

      BS – absolute and utter crap
      Every single time I read some test case shill know nothing waffle on I should just scroll on but anyway ..

      Ever wonder if the restriction of legal growing results in market distortion you utter…

      1. AJ

        Yeah, you certainly sound like you know what you’re talking about. Not that I need to prove myself to some doofus on the internet but I’ve been at the forefront of campaign to legalize both rec and med use for almost 30 years. Shill? The opposite.

  8. Papi

    New Player Enters!!
    *Grabs popcorn, and minstrels and an ice pop, oh and those cola bottle jellies and rancheros and a wispa.

    1. Brother Barnabas

      disclaimer: this may be a spoof link that johnny hasn’t the smarts to discern

      heh x3

      1. Johnny Green

        Duh-it was satire!

        -Luxembourg unlike Mass. has stated it will only sell to Lux. residents, similar to post-Brexit, whereby UK residents will also be banned from Amsterdam’s coffee shops.-

        Great see your a fan Bro and thanks for your contributions and from your BFF Papi-not really aiming for the ahem older crowd here but thanks.

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