Pubdate: Sun, 18 Aug 2001
Source: Arlington Journal, The (VA)
Copyright: 2001 The Journal Newspapers
Page: Front Page
Contact:  http://www.mapinc.org/media/1550
Website: http://www.jrnl.com/cfdocs/new/arl/
Author: Karen Bousquet, Journal Staff Writer
Cited: Reams Reeferendum http://www.reeferendum.com
Patients Out of Time http://www.medicalcannabis.com

LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATE TARGETS DRUG LAWS

Reams Conducts 'Reeferendum' Campaign For Lieutenant Governor

Candidate Holds High Hopes For Hemp

Gary Reams' "grass" roots push to reform marijuana laws isn't about winning 
the lieutenant governor's race Nov. 6: He knows he won't.

But running a one-issue campaign is the only way voters will get the chance 
to protest what he calls "egregious and inhumane" laws that hogtie doctors 
and punish recreational users, he said.

"There's a growing constituency that isn't being listened to," the 
Libertarian said Thursday. "Marijuana laws have gone too far."

Reams, 45, moved to Lorton a few years ago after living in Prince William 
County for 17 years. He characterizes his unusual campaign as a 
"reeferendum" designed to give Virginians something its citizens don't have 
under state law: the power to place a referendum on the ballot. His 
ultimate goal is to effect reform of marijuana laws, he says, not to 
propose specific legislation at the state or federal level.

Politicians typically ignore the issue or refuse to take a stand, Reams 
said, because "they're afraid of losing votes."

Marijuana, considered a schedule 1 drug under federal law, has been used to 
treat symptoms of glaucoma and nausea associated with chemotherapy. In more 
recent years, it has been used by AIDS patients to stimulate appetite.

Al Byrne, co-founder of Howardsville-based Patients Out of Time said the 
group's exclusive purpose is to promote the use of cannabis as medicine.

Support for the use of medicinal marijuana is strong, Byrne said. He cited 
a a 2000 Virginia Tech "Quality of Life" survey undertaken annually for the 
Legislative Review, in which 78 percent of respondents favored such use.

"[Patients] are using it," he said. "I get calls all day long. I get 
e-mails all day long from people who are using cannabis, and all of them 
are using it illegally."

The Virginia Farm Bureau, a nongovernmental voluntary agency, also endorses 
the legal growth of low-grade industrial hemp as a cash crop.

"It's regarded in many parts of the world as an agricultural crop and it 
was in this country years ago," said Spencer Neale, senior assistant 
director of the Farm Bureau's commodity department.

Hemp, derived from the cannabis sativa plant, is used for rope, plastics, 
building products and paper products, Neale said. The oil that can be drawn 
from the seed is used in shampoo and makeup products.

"The true form of industrial hemp is definitely an agricultural crop. We 
support research to look at its viability as a cash crop," Neale said, but 
he added that resistance from the federal level to such measures is strong.

Virginia legislators, however, side with the Farm Bureau. In its most 
recent session, the General Assembly passed a bill requesting the 
Department of Agriculture, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, 
the Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia State Police to 
develop guidelines for the growth and production of industrial hemp.

Reams says the cost of keeping marijuana illegal has never been measured, 
but he estimated a conservative figure of about $200 million a year in 
Virginia - which doesn't include lost revenues from the cultivation of hemp 
and other ventures.

"Nonusers are carrying the burden of prohibition," Reams said. "There are 
700,000 arrests [nationwide] annually. [Those resources] could have been 
used to fight real crime."

Reams, who said he has smoked marijuana but no longer does, said he's 
always "felt strongly" about legalizing marijuana and now sees a growing 
groundswell of support for such change.

"This is an opportunity for voters to really make a difference," Reams 
said. "It's going to carry forward, and I'm going to carry that message 
forward also."