Pubdate: Sun, 06 Nov 2011
Source: Gainesville Sun, The (FL)
Copyright: 2011 The Gainesville Sun
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/yMmn4Ifw
Website: http://www.gainesville.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/163
Author: Cindy Swirko
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm (Hemp)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

HEMP FEST RETURNS; SUPPORTERS ENCOURAGED ABOUT PROSPECTS OF 
LEGALIZING MARIJUANA

The Event Returns After an 11-Year Absence, and a Few Hundred Show Up to Watch.

The revival of Gainesville's Hemp Fest - a celebration of the many 
uses of the hemp plant - may have attracted a smaller crowd Saturday 
than in the past, but organizers believe they are closer than ever to 
their goal of at least limited legalization of marijuana.

Hemp Fest was held at the Bo Diddley Community Plaza in downtown 
Gainesville on Saturday after an 11-year absence, drawing a modest 
crowd for music, speeches and booths of vendors and organizations.

Since the last Hemp Fest, several states have legalized the medical 
use of marijuana, and supporters will try again in the 2012 Florida 
legislative session to get passage of a bill allowing that here, said 
David McKinney of the Florida Cannabis Action Network.

"We have some political connections and we've reached the 50 percent 
mark of national approval of legalization," McKinney said. "The real 
strong push is not just the idea of legalization but the idea that 
there are people who need this as medicine."

"We are hampering research and at the same time denying people what 
we know to be good medicine," McKinney continued. "We've got support 
from the Democratic Women's Club of Florida and we have support from 
some folks in the Florida Legislature for medical marijuana, who have 
introduced a bill. I think it's going to be a huge election issue."

Hemp Fest was once an annual event that drew crowds of about 1,000 
and once featured a "doobie toss" of marijuana cigarettes into the crowd.

Saturday's relaunch drew a few hundred people throughout the 
afternoon. Some brought living room furniture, while others pitched a 
big teepee. Many wore leis of fake hemp leaves.

None of the vendors had much in the way of hemp jewelry, clothing or 
other products, but Terry Enriques and Mike Cardinal had the spirit 
with plenty of tie-dyed T-shirts and reggae-colored dreadlock 
stocking caps and bags.

"I'm trying to make some money. It's hard times now," Enriques said.

Added Cardinal, "Hemp should be brought back because it would bring 
back a lot of farmers. It has a lot of uses and it could get a lot of 
farmers off the dole."

Hemp was brought to the U.S. for cultivation into fiber by the 
pilgrims and production grew as the country did, according to Oregon 
State University.

In 1937, the U.S. government passed the Marijuana Tax Act, which 
placed it under control of U.S. Treasury Department regulations. 
Production of hemp gradually faded in the U.S. after that.

Mike Geison, one of the organizers of the original Hemp Fest, said he 
believes marijuana will eventually be legalized.

"Of course I'm delighted we have Hemp Fest again and I'm delighted to 
be here," Geison said. "I know who our allies are. I think we can 
achieve our goals in a short time."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom