Some countries ban possession and use of the drug marijuana, but it is legal in parts of the United States.
Nine states and Washington, D.C. have measures legalizing recreational uses of marijuana. The drug is approved for medical purposes in a total of 29 states.
But in Oregon, an oversupply of marijuana has driven down prices of the drug. This has led some worried growers to start moving towards to another product – the hemp plant -- to keep their businesses profitable.
Marijuana comes from the dried leaves and flowers of the Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica plant. Hemp is another kind of cannabis. It does not have the same intoxicating effects as the widely known drug.
Hemp contains less than 0.3 percent of THC, the substance that gives marijuana its powerful effect. Growing industrial hemp is legal under federal law, and the plant can be sold for use in things like cloth, food, seed and building materials.
In Oregon, the number of requests for permission to grow hemp is 20 time what is was in 2015. That makes Oregon second only to Colorado among the 19 states with active hemp farming.
The changing market comes at the same time as demand is rising for a chemical that comes from hemp. That chemical is cannabidiol, or CBD, which some people see as good for human health.
In its purer form, CBD oil can sell for thousands of dollars per kilogram. Farmers can make more than $100,000 on less than half a hectare of land by growing hemp to produce it.
That purified substance can also be made into crystallized particles.
Jerrad McCord grows marijuana in southern Oregon. He just added 5 hectares of hemp to his land. He told the Associated Press that many people see it as a new way to get rich quickly.
“This is a business,” he said. “You’ve got to adapt, and you’ve got to be a problem-solver.”
But there is a problem few people predicted when Oregon voters approved a measure to legalize marijuana four years ago.
The state’s climate is perfect for growing marijuana, and growers produce unusually large crops. And under state law, none of it can leave Oregon. That, combined with a decision to not limit the number of permits for growers, has created an oversupply.
The total amount of marijuana stored in Oregon is shocking for a state its size. Many people smoke the flower of the plant, and there are nearly 450,000 kilograms of usable flower in the state. There is an additional 159,000 kilograms of other forms of marijuana, including products one can eat or drink.
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission supervises the state’s marijuana industry. The commission says some of the flower is used in specialty products, like oils, which have increased in popularity. But the agency cannot say how much.
A detailed study of the market is currently taking place.
 
Falling marijuana prices
The price for a single gram of marijuana has fallen about 50 percent since 2015, from around $14 to around $7. That information comes from the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis. Growers and sellers alike have felt the effect.
Trey Willison changed his farming business from marijuana to hemp this season. Now, he says, he is considering destroying some of his crops instead of selling them at low prices.
“Whoever would have thought we’d get to the point of destroying pounds of marijuana?” Willison said.
This difficult choice is driving more of Oregon’s marijuana growers towards hemp. The crop is already popular in states like Colorado and Kentucky, and gets a lot of attention in the cannabis industry.
In Oregon, the number of government permits to grow hemp rose from 12 in 2015 to 353 by early May 2018. And the state is now second nationwide in terms of approved, licensed hectares.
Colorado is the U.S. leader in hemp production. It and Washington were the first states to widely legalize marijuana. Both have seen prices drop for marijuana, but not as much as in Oregon.
 
Growing interest in CBD
In Oregon, people are increasingly interested in the gold-colored oil CBD. Its popularity has risen sharply among self-described cannabis experts and is quickly being seen as normal by the general public.
At least 50 percent of hemp nationwide is being grown for CBD extraction. And Oregon is riding the top of that wave, said Eric Steenstra. He is the president of Vote Hemp, an independent organization that fights for pro-hemp laws.
“There are a lot of growers who already have experience growing cannabis, and when you’re growing for CBD, there are a lot of the same techniques that you use for growing marijuana,” he said.
CBD is appearing in everything, from beauty products to bottled water to animal food.
Supporters say CBD offers a number of healing effects, from easing pain to calming nerves. However, scientists warn that there have been few wide-reaching studies of how CBD affects humans.
That is mostly because the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration still considers cannabidiol a Schedule 1 drug -- meaning it is illegal to buy or sell. And the government requires special approval to study it.
Ziva Cooper is an associate professor of clinical neurobiology at Columbia University in New York. She is investigating the possible medical effects of cannabis and cannabinoids.
Cooper says small studies involving animals have shown CBD could be helpful in treating pain, drug dependency and other conditions.
Next month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could approve the first medicine made from CBD. It is used to treat people with epilepsy.
I’m Lucija Milonig. And I’m Pete Musto.
 
Gillian Flaccus reported on this story for the Associated Press. Pete Musto adapted her report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
Is marijuana use permitted in your country? How should your country react to the marijuana industry? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
______________________________________________________________
QUIZ
​______________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
 
recreational – adj. used for pleasure instead of for medical purposes
intoxicating – adj. causing someone to be unable to think and behave normally
crystallized – adj. change into a solid form that is made up of small pieces of a substance that has many sides and are formed when the substance turns into a solid
adapt – v. to change your behavior so that it is easier to live in a particular place or situation
licensed – adj. having official permission to have or do something
extraction – n. the act or process of getting a substance from something by the use of a machine or chemicals
techniques – n. ways of doing something by using special knowledge or skill
clinical – adj. relating to or based on work done with real patients(2018/05/21 07:03)

Today we are at the Newseum in Washington D.C. – where the history of free expression is explained and defended.
The first printing presses arrived in the United States in the mid-1600s, marking an important step in the history of America’s free press.
A free press is important in democratic society. It allows citizens to speak freely and criticize the country's leaders without fear. Some journalists have even lost their lives for that right.
But, it can also lead to news that is false. Last year, a fake news story about a Washington pizza restaurant went viral, causing a gunman to open fire at the business.
One of the most common terms we hear today is “fake news.” The public and politicians use it to talk about the news reports they do not think are accurate.
While people have paid much attention to the term in recent years, the problem is not new. False news reports have been around since modern journalism started.
Today, information moves around us in many forms, every hour of every day. Even if we do not seek out news on our own, we often receive it anyway, instantly, on our phones.
So how can we manage this mountain of information so that fake news does not mislead us?
We believe this requires news literacy. News literacy is the ability to use critical thinking skills to judge news reports. Are they credible? Can you rely on the reports to be true?
We use real media examples to teach useful skills and methods to recognize journalism over other kinds of information. We examine the differences between facts and what people report in the media as truth.
The course provides tools to identify real and reliable news sources. And, it demonstrates ways to separate news from opinion.
Professors at Stony Brook University in New York created the News Literacy education program. We will share it with you in simple English on VOA Learning English.
The need for news literacy is possibly greater now than ever before. Learning this important skill can give us the power to take full control of our own search for the truth.
Because as we’ve seen many times before, some news presented as truth can actually turn out to be completely false.
 
This lesson is based on the News Literacy course at the Center for News Literacy at Stony Brook University. For more information on how to become a news literate citizen, go to http://www.centerfornewsliteracy.org/getting-started/
_________________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
 
fake - adj. not true or real
accurate - adj. free from mistakes or errors
mislead - v. to cause someone to believe something that is not true
consumers - n. people who buy things
media - n. television, newspapers and other sources of information
reliable - adj. able to be trusted to do what is necessary
 (2018/05/21 07:00)

 
Koalas are officially listed as at risk of disappearing in New South Wales, Australia. Now, the state’s government has $34-million plan to protect the beloved animals.
Koalas have large, hairy ears. They have especially sharp claws, which help them climb trees. They are marsupials, meaning they carry their babies in an opening of skin on the mother’s stomach. The animals are native to Australia, and are described in many Aboriginal stories of creation.
Over the last 20 years, the koala population in New South Wales has fallen by 25 percent. About 36,000 koalas remain. The animals’ numbers have fallen in other parts of Australia, too.
As part of its plan, the government of New South Wales is setting aside nearly 25,000 hectares of forest where koalas will be able to breed freely.
It will also add more signs to help car drivers avoid koalas that walk into roadways. And, the state will build specially made bridges so that koalas and other wildlife can cross roads while avoiding cars and trucks.
Koalas face several threats, including loss of habitat due to land-clearing, dog attacks and heatwaves. A sexually transmitted disease – chlamydia – is also harming koalas’ health.
Gabrielle Upton is the environment minister of New South Wales.  She told VOA about her state’s plan to set up a group of wildlife hospitals to treat injured and sick koalas. She also said researchers are testing a vaccine that would protect the koalas against chlamydia.
A new koala hospital will open in Port Stephens, north of Sydney. It will join an already existing hospital in the New South Wales town of Port Macquarie, which began treating injured marsupials in the 1970s.
Conservationists have welcomed the idea of opening a second hospital. However, they argue that the government's multi-million dollar plan does not deal with the number-one threat to koalas: land-clearing.
Koala live in trees. They are herbivores, and need forest environments to survive.
I’m Susan Shand. 
 
This story was reported by Phil Mercer for VOA News. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
_________________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
 
claw – n. a sharp curved part on the toe of an animal
Aboriginal – n. native people of Australia
habitat – n. the place or type of place where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives or grows
breed – v. to produce young animals, birds, etc. : to produce offspring by sexual reproduction
transmit – v. to cause (a virus, disease, etc.) to be given to others
herbivore - n. an animal that only eats plants
 (2018/05/21 06:57)

 
Olivia Rubio is a seasonal worker on Hooper’s Island in the eastern state of Maryland.
She does the difficult work of processing crabs, picking the meat from the sharp shells by hand and putting it into containers.
The valuable seafood is sold across the United States East Coast and beyond.
Hooper’s Island is among a group of thinly populated islands in the Chesapeake Bay. The bay is one of the world’s largest estuaries and a busy center for seafood production.
Seafood harvesting and processing is what Hooper’s Island is known for.
Maryland crab meat producers have used temporary workers there since the 1980s.
These “guest” workers live and are employed in the U.S. for only part of the year. Many American industries depend on these foreign workers.
Rubio has been coming to the island for 15 years from Mexico on an H2-B visa.
“We have the opportunity to come here to work and support our family, help our children move forward, and support our parents. It’s good,” Rubio said.
Rubio can live and work in the U.S. during the warmer months, when there is work, and return to her home country in the winter.
She is happy to have received a visa for this year, but wonders about next year.
In 2018, the Trump administration gave out some H-2B visas using a lottery system. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that supervises the visa program, said there was a higher demand this year.
“I hope there are visas to be able to come back and do the work again,” said Rubio.
Rubio works for G.W. Hall & Son Seafood. The company needed 40 visas, but only got 30 for guest workers.
Robin Hall is co-owner of the company.
“I don’t know what we would do or the whole area would do without them. I mean from the stores to…I don’t know how to describe it because of the impact that they have. They keep it all moving.”
There are about 20 licensed crab processing businesses in Maryland. They employ 500 foreign workers.
Representative Andy Harris represents Hooper’s Island in Congress. He has asked the Departments of Homeland Security and Labor for extra guest worker visas. He said the limit for H-2B visas was reached in January.
That has left many businesses unable to get seasonal workers. Harris said these workers support “thousands of related jobs held by American citizens.”
From October 2017 to September of 2018, there were 66,000 H-2B visas available for non-agricultural industries. However, Congress could raise that number.
Businesses worry over lack of workers
Russell Hall Seafood also is on Hooper’s Island. But its crab containers are empty. The kitchen is unused and there are no workers to be found.
Harry Phillips is with Russell Hall Seafood. He said the company needed 50 visas, but received none. He said, “It never was this way before. We’ve done this for 25 years and no doubt some year it’s been slow getting workers, but we’ve always got them.”
Phillips says he advertised for jobs in local newspapers.
“We have to actually advertise in newspapers before we’re allowed to even apply for the H-2B program workers.”
Phillips said no local people have applied. He does not like the lottery system.
“That’s a big gamble. I mean, we can’t run our business at a gamble, whether we’re going to get our workers or not,” he said.
AE Phillips and Son also is not operating. The company, established in 1914, is part of the Phillips Seafood restaurant chain.
Morgan Tolley is the company’s general manager. He said he is worried about 2019.
Tolley says the H-2B visa should not be linked to other immigration issues.
“Speaking for the H-2B program, which is a non-immigrant work visa, to me personally, that has nothing to do with immigration. It’s a non-immigrant work visa. These people take tremendous pride in the fact that they can come here to the United States and work and go home, and they’re proud of that right that they have earned.”
Robin Hall has about 75 percent of the workers he needs. But he said he wishes all the local companies had workers.
He told VOA that people living on the island are mostly retired and there are almost no local workers.
The concern whether there will be enough workers to process the good-sized catch of crabs expected for Maryland this year.
I’m Mario Ritter.
 
Aline Barros reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
_________________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
 
estuaries –n. areas were fresh water from rivers mixes with salt water from the sea
lottery –n. a system of deciding something by chance
opportunity –n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done
impact –n. an important influence
allow –v. to let happen, to permit
apply –v. to formally ask for something, usually by filling out a form
gamble –n. a situation that is uncertain, a chance
manager –n.  someone who is in charge of a business, department, etc.
tremendous –adj. very much, to a great extent
We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.(2018/05/21 06:56)

 
When Americans Kay and Larry Day found a store selling kites nearly 20 years ago, they decided to buy a few kites for their family.
For fun, Larry bought one for himself.
“He went out and flew it and decided he needed to go back and get a better one,” Kay remembered.
Since then, she and her husband have loved kite flying. They own many kites and plan trips around flying them. They also organize a kite-flying event each winter in their hometown in Iowa.
“I’m at peace when I’m flying,” said Larry.
Kite-flying has a long history as an activity for adults and children. The custom of flying a piece of cloth high in the sky began more than 2,000 years ago in China. Since then, kites have been used to do scientific experiments, power boats, take pictures from the air and much more.
“There is a kind of a kite for everybody out there,” said Nic O’Neill, president of the American Kitefliers Association.
O’Neill told the Associated Press that kite flying can be done alone or with friends and family. Kites appeal to people who like to create works of art to fly in the sky; to engineers who try to improve on the kite’s design; and to those who like to combine kite-flying with music, she explained.
“The best thing about it is you can come at it from different points in your life and have it be a completely different experience,” she said.
Grant Lovett began flying simple kites as a child, but moved on to more costly and complex kites as an adult. Among the latter is a nearly 13-meter long inflatable kite.
Today, Lovett likes making his own kites. He builds them from strong, lightweight materials and products designed for sailboats.
“I’ve always been interested in stuff that flies,” he said.
Lovett likes taking his creations to public events and sharing them with others. He attends kite-making classes and looks for new models on the internet.
“I don’t make tons and tons of the same thing,” he said. “I like making new kites, finding new designs.”
Lovett makes kites of different shapes and sizes because flying conditions can differ greatly.
Flying kites requires skill, but also a little artistry, he noted. Experience makes a difference, as does the weather.
“Part of the reason I love kiting is that you have to risk trying and not succeeding. The best way to learn is to go out, undo the string and let your kite fly,” O’Neill said.
Ideally, you want a nice steady wind and a place away from trees and buildings, O’Neill said.
Sometimes the best flying conditions happen in winter — on a frozen lake, said Kay Day, who with her husband organizes the Color the Wind Kite Festival. It takes place every February on Clear Lake in Iowa.
The festival adds color to the winter sky and gives people a reason to go outside, she added. The Days invite expert fliers to come share their love for kites with locals and visitors. This year, more than 100 children attended a kite-making class.
“Kiters are a really good group of people. It’s a family,” said Larry Day.
The kiting community makes everyone feel welcome, said PV Nguyen of Portland, Oregon. She says her two children started flying kites about three years ago after attending a kite festival. “The kite fliers we know want to teach the kids everything they can,” she said. “They like that there’s a new generation coming up.”
Her sons, Dylan, and Cardin, fly with kiters of all ages. “I do enjoy seeing different people,” Dylan said.
The 13-year-old also likes the happy feelings that he experiences when his kite moves through the sky.
“It’s really calming,” he said.
I'm Susan Shand.
 
The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted the report for VOA Learning English. The editor was George Grow.
______________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
 
kite – n. something light that is designed to be flown in the air; a plaything
association – n. an organization or group
inflatable – adj. able to be filled with gas or air
festival – n. a special time or event when people gather to celebrate something
steady – adj. firmly fixed; not changing
stuff – n. things
string - n. a long, thin piece of material that one uses to hang things or connect things together(2018/05/21 06:55)