FESTIVAL OFFERS AN ARRAY OF USES FOR HEMP PLANT

What the fourth annual Industrial Hemp Expo in Santa Cruz is not about:
Marijuana, medicinal or otherwise.

What it is about: Clothes, furniture, candles, candies, lip balm, diesel
fuel, building insulation, art, carpets, bags and packs, hemp-flavored
chocolates and edible seeds, construction materials -- even boats and
skateboards.

All blended with politics, passion, environmentalism and -- hemp-hemp
hurray! -- puns.

The Expo, which continues today, took over the Civic Auditorium, the city
council chambers (for panels on legislation, marketing and other subjects
related to the "reintroduction" of a plant effectively banned in the United
States in 1937) and the street in between.

Bob Lamonica, who produces the event, thought the most significant aspect
of this year's expo was "the mere fact that it has survived," even though
attendance has declined slightly since the first expo. "This year," he
said, "we'll probably draw 2,000-plus."

Assemblywoman Virginia Strom-Martin was the keynote speaker Saturday,
talking over the shoppers and browsers in the main hall of the Civic about
the need to put pressure on politicians. "I think a lot of people here are
true believers or they wouldn't be here," she said. But legislators need
educating.

Strom-Martin, D-Santa Rosa, is the sponsor of a bill to legalize the
growing of industrial hemp in California. She gives it about a 60-40 chance
of reaching the Assembly floor when it comes up for a vote in the
Agriculture Committee on May 23.

Hemp, aka Cannabis sativa, grows in closely planted rows of woody, 9-foot
stalks. The stalks provide fiber and building materials; the seeds contain
an oil that can be used in anything from food to fuel. Industrial hemp
contains almost no THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, which comes
from the leaves and blossoms of a different strain of Cannabis sativa,
planted far apart and harvested young.

History, specialty

Hemp backers like to point out that the U.S.S. Constitution -- the War of
1812 frigate known as Old Ironsides -- carried sails and rigging of hemp;
that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper;
that George Washington farmed hemp; and that Betsy Ross' flag was probably
made with hemp fabric.

But today it's a niche market. The clothes are sold mostly in specialty
shops. Hemp edibles, made from the seeds of the plant and the oil pressed
from them, are only about a $10 million market right now, said John Roulac,
whose Sebastopol-based company, Nutiva, sells the nutty-tasting seeds in
cans like peanuts.

Then there's Alternative Undies (motto: "Making a Difference From the
Bottom Up"), a small San Rafael company showing everything from boxers that
the owner says will last 10 years to skimpy thongs in hemp/silk blends.

Ecological approach

The ecology angle was important at the expo. One booth, Hempy's, featured
fleece hats made from recycled soda-bottle plastic, and belts made from
automobile tires, as well as hemp-fiber clothing. Many business cards made
note of the fact that they were made of hemp paper.

Carrin Olsen, a Utah woman who is moving her business to Santa Cruz, was
selling hemp soaps, candles and massage oils. On a personal level, she has
eyes for a Volkswagen with a diesel engine, so she can cook up her own fuel
from hemp oil, methanol and lye. Hemp tofu? Yum, said Olsen.

Janis Knight, who drove over from Saratoga with her friends, said, "I'm
just amazed at all the products."

And Lamonica added: "There are a lot of dope-fests, but there's only one
Santa Cruz Industrial Hemp Expo."