Pubdate: Sat, 16 Sep 2006
Source: Metrowest Daily News (MA)
Copyright: 2006 MetroWest Daily News
Contact:  http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/619
Author: Miryam Wiley

FREEDOM RALLY AT COMMON MAY SUPPORT US ALL

Want To Do Something Revolutionary Today?

Consider attending the Freedom Rally on the Boston Common, from noon 
to 6 p.m. The mood will be the one of a big fair with musical groups 
and fun. The underlying reasons are much more serious and deserve 
everyone's attention.

The Freedom Rally is part of a large movement that tries to educate 
everyone about a plant many of us know little about: hemp, or 
cannabis sativa, basically the same original plant as marijuana.

This is a touchy subject, no doubt, but why stay away from it? 
Cannabis sativa is indeed a super plant that could help the country 
and the planet, if all of us organize to understand its intrinsic value.

I started listening when recently, two days in a row, I met advocates 
of this cause who said exactly the same thing. They both couldn't 
believe how much they learned from reading the book "The Emperor 
Wears No Clothes," by Jack Herer.

"This book changed my life," said Mitch Fava, a hemp advocate and 
member of MassCann.org.

Hemp's early history includes its use for making linens as a 
substitute for flax or cotton. Also, until the 1880s, hemp was a 
basic resource for making some 75 to 90 percent of all paper, thus 
including the paper that was used for the draft of the Declaration of 
Independence.

"Homespun cloth was almost always spun by people all over the world, 
from fibers grown in the "family hemp patch." In America, this 
tradition lasted from the Pilgrims (1620s) until hemp's prohibition 
in the 1930s," Herer writes.

Herer goes on to list the numerous uses of hemp, including the making 
of varnishes and paints, lighting oil, as fuel and as food, which is 
the way I have been introduced to hemp in recent months. The 
nutritional value of hemp is amazing, or, as Fava points out, "I have 
read that people can live on hemp alone, and they have done that in Russia."

Rich in protein, hemp is also filled with good fats and vitamins. 
Hemp seed provides both of the essential fatty acids (EFAs) needed in 
the human diet -- GLA, linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid -- as well 
as a complete and balanced complement of all essential amino acids.

I learned from Fava that the hemp I eat is actually imported, and 
that has been the complaint of companies throughout the U.S. The 
nutritious hemp seeds and protein powder could cost much less if we 
were talking local crops.

Twenty-five states have considered hemp bills or resolutions. 
Currently, the state that has had bigger news on this is California 
because of the California Industrial Hemp Farming Act, which passed 
the final Senate vote last month and awaits Governor Schwarzenegger's 
signature.

According to the Web site VoteHemp, the new law would give farmers 
the ability to legally supply U.S. manufacturers with hemp seed, oil 
and fiber and would not weaken anti-drug laws. The bill permits 
cultivation of only ultra-low-THC industrial hemp grown as an 
agricultural field crop or in a research setting. Backyard or 
horticultural cultivation is prohibited.

In Massachusetts, however, advocates have campaigned to legalize the 
use of cannabis sativa with two different bills that are not about 
the industrial cultivation: one to support medical marijuana and 
another to decriminalize the use of it. Not much happened last year 
but advocates are hopeful for a new beginning soon.

The need for medical marijuana is major because it helps many people 
cope with pain and nausea. And that point of view is actually backed 
by medical doctors, such as Dr. Joan Bello, who wrote the book The 
Benefits of Marijuana.

It was indeed surprising to read in this book that "marijuana has no 
known level of toxicity" and one would have to eat "five pounds at 
one time" to have a lethal reaction.

"Everything in moderation," says Fava. "We need to get back to the 
truth about cannabis sativa. It was used as medicine until 1937. We 
need to put money on education and treatments."

Fava's devotion to the cause has caused him to memorize information 
he wants to share with everyone.

"There's a RAND report that says rehabilitation programs are seven 
times more cost-effective than criminalization, 11 times more 
effective than border interdiction and 23 times more cost-effective 
than source country control, like eradicating the crops in Colombia," 
he said. The United States still makes 700,000 arrests each year 
because of marijuana use, he said.

Of course I've had the same doubts as everyone else. Is it safe? Are 
we teaching our children well?

"The benefits far outweigh the precautions that need to be taken," 
says Fava. "God gave us this most versatile plant and now a few 
fallible human beings want to take it away."

I think we would be helping our children if we support the measures 
to make this plant legal. They would learn the facts and how the 
plant can actually be cultivated to support sustainable development. 
Hemp as fuel? You bet. Check Hempcar.org.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine