Feature

In cannabis culture, 4/20 reigns supreme as the “highest” holiday. But 7/10 has taken shape in recent years as another key day on the calendar for educating patient consumers about cannabis. On and around July 10th, you’ll find an increased emphasis on education about the various cannabis oil products available in dispensaries and retail stores. Lots of cannabis sellers hold sales and special events on 7/10, too!

Why is 7/10 Called Cannabis Oil Day? 

Like its sister holiday 4/20, the origins of the 7/10 holiday are somewhat up for debate. What we do know for sure, though, is that 710 when turned upside down reads OIL, and that’s how it’s suspected that the connection to cannabis oil happened. 

Lost in the aftermath of American Electric Power’s decision to cut power to tens-of-thousands is the lingering whispers amongst some weather experts that Columbus may have witnessed its hottest moment in its history during the afternoon of June 15th.

It’s debatable whether that fateful day was the hottest ever, but when considering how high the humidity was, it’s an argument for the ages, or in the forthcoming weeks, depending on when the next heatwave hits.

Nevertheless, welcome to what others are saying is just a taste of what it’s like to be a climate change refugee in Central Ohio. Don’t forget that AEP’s intentional blackout was partially due to 75 miles-per-hour wind gusts on June 14th which knocked out transmission lines.

During the afternoon of June 15th, the heat index in Columbus – defined as “what the temperature feels like” – reached 115 degrees, according to the NWS in Wilmington. There have been only two higher hourly heat index values over 115 degrees since 1945 – in July of 1995 (117 degrees) and July of 1980 (116 degrees).

The Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) and its partners invite you to experience the diversity of agriculture this summer during the 2022 Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series.

This annual series of public tours and workshops features nearly 20 organic and ecological farms and businesses in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, providing unique opportunities for farmers, educators, and conscientious eaters to learn about sustainable agriculture, local foods, and those who make it possible.

Tour guests can walk through urban farm fields, livestock pastures, and more during these OEFFA farm tours: 

Hilltop hero Zerqa Abid, who has dedicated her life to helping thousands of young people on the Westside, is threatening a hunger strike if the City does not take more action to curb increasing violence by young people.

Last Friday, following three homicides over two days of young people in the Hilltop, Abid and the Hilltop Youth Social Justice Collaborative held an emergency press conference.

“There are 10,000 children at risk in our neighborhood,” said Abid, founder and director of My Project USA. “We cannot just be patiently waiting on the promises and talk we’ve been given for a year.”

But the City has given millions since 2021. This May, $16 million in funding was announced for summer youth programs, with $8 million of this allocation going to anti-youth violence programs.

But many are asking, is it enough? What’s more, they ask, who’s getting the money and is their advocacy effective?

To win a statewide election in Ohio, one must overcome the twin tyrants: public opinion polls and fund-raising. Failure to do so means defeat.

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan has demonstrated that he understands the tyrants because he kept on advertising on television and on social networks after the May 3 primary election after he won the Democratic nomination, while his Republican opponent in the U.S Senate race, J.D. Vance, has remained quiet since the primary.

Ryan kept on fundraising, too. He has access to millions by virtue to his own solicitations, the money the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee will put in, and what independent committees might do for him.

The result was that the first public opinion poll on the race, done by Suffolk for the USA Today Network, found Ryan and Vance in a dead heat, as I suggested in my May 17 column. ColumbusMediaInsiderPoliticalOutsider: How Whaley Beats DeWine | ColumbusFreePress.com Vance had 41.6 percent to Ryan’s 39.4 percent but with a 4.4 percent margin of error.  It is too close to call.

On May 4, the Israeli Occupation High Court approved one of the largest forcible transfers of Palestinians from their land since 1967. Over 1,300 Palestinian residents of Masafer Yatta, an area in the south Hebron hills, are facing forced displacement by Israeli forces on a moment’s notice. Palestinian Bedouins have lived on this land for 918 years. 

Masafer Yatta is an area in the South Hebron Hills area of the occupied West Bank consisting of fourteen Palestinian villages that is home to 13,000 inhabitants. Its economy is based on farming and raising of sheep and goats.  In the 1980s, the Israeli army designated part of this area a closed military zone for training and sought to remove the communities for this use. Palestinian residents have continually faced demolition of their homes, cisterns, water mains, roads, structures, and schools. Israeli military equipped with bulldozers destroys it all. Israel forbids Palestinians to build homes on their own land, connect to water and power grids, and graze livestock. 

America’s history has been born and steeped in the struggles for freedom and the wars of the past. These are typically fought by an idealistic, motivated majority of citizens against some form of tyrannical government or autocratic rule, which in turn is usually run by a powerful minority hellbent on controlling an entire population. This Memorial Day, we should remember these struggles and understand that Americans have seen this play out over and over since the dawn of our country. By the 1770s, the majority of the thirteen colonies wanted to shake off The British Crown’s rule from across the sea, which was governed by a small group of tyrannical men. King George III and the last vestiges of the British supremacy he represented tried to prevail, only to be defeated by a universal desire for a more free nation.

Tanked by timing? Federal stall ball. AG Yost on fentanyl. Facts & Stats for all.

Selected bites of fresh cannabis news sliced from the headlines, with a legislative flavor and sweet Ohio twist. Sources are linked.

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FEDERAL LEGISLATION  See the tables Federal Cannabis Legislation and Active Federal Cannabis Legislation

Panic attacks are one of those things you hear about but think won’t happen to you, however they are actually more common than you would think and sadly women are twice as likely to have one as men. So how do you know if you are having a panic attack and what should you do if you have one?

Symptoms of Panic Attacks

A panic attack can take many forms but most people who suffer will say that they feel like they are dying or that it feels like a heart attack. They are terrifying to experience with a mixture of the following symptoms:

Health blogger Adam Thornton, Essayroo and Paper Fellows, advises, “They last around 5 to 20 minutes and though frightening are not dangerous as they will not cause physical harm to you.”

In the Thursday, April 28 Columbus Dispatch, an article reported that Mayor Ginther’s office had lobbied the Citizens Commission on Elected Officials Compensation to boost the pay of whomever would become mayor in 2026 by 14% in addition to cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). Joe Motil, former Columbus City Council candidate and longtime community advocate who has begun circulating petitions to run for Mayor in 2023  states that, “Mayor Ginther apparently believes that record-breaking monetary compensation justifies the central purpose of serving as a public servant. And the fact that Ginther’s office would use pressure to influence the commission’s recommendations is an unethical abuse of power. Instead of Ginther and his office spending valuable time lobbying his hand-picked members of the compensation commission for a possible raise, they should be lobbying officials of Intel and the Columbus Partnership to invest in our affordable housing crisis.”