MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION ON THE BALLOT?

Jack Herer Leads Santa Barbara Group's Attempt to Get Marijuana
Legalization on the November Ballot

A group has formed in Santa Barbara to put an initiative on the
November ballot that would legalize cannabis for industrial and
nutritional products, medicinal preparations, and for recreational
and euphoric use. The group announced the California Cannabis Hemp
and Health Initiative Campaign on Friday at a press conference on the
steps of Santa Barbara City Hall. The initiative would also include
clearing all criminal records for people involved in non-violent
cannabis, hemp and marijuana offenses.

The group, headed by Jack Herer - called by Dr. David Bearman the man
responsible for the rejuvenation of the U.S. hemp industry - argues
that not only does cannabis serve as a medicine to many sick, but
that cannabis is the only way to reverse the greenhouse effect and
can be used as paper, fiber, and food as well. The U.S. government,
they say, is hiding these facts.

"I can know about cotton, flack and nylon," said Herer at the press
conference, "but there's not a word of hemp in the schools." Herer,
who ran for president of the United States twice as a member of the
Grassroots party, said that for 5,000 to 6,000 years 60 to 80 percent
of the world's production of fuel and clothing was made from hemp.
The group is hoping that the dialogue will begin to introduce the
idea that a hemp cultivation program can eliminate greenhouse gasses
while replenishing the atmosphere and replacing fossil fuels with
hemp bio-fuels.

The press conference unknowingly coincided with an announcement on
Friday by the American College of Physicians that endorsed cannabis
as medicine. The college, which is the second largest physician group
in the United States and includes 124,000 members, also advised the
government to stop hindering research on the drug and to repeal its
prohibition.

For the Santa Barbara-based efforts to get the legalization
initiative on the California ballot, valid signatures from roughly
434,000 people are needed. The group is also looking to bring the
discussion to Congress this summer via the Government Oversight
Domestic Policy Subcommittee, which is chaired by former presidential
candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-OH, a supporter of marijuana
decriminalization.

Hemp cultivation is illegal in the United States, but because of
California's Proposition 215, state law allows marijuana use for
medicinal purposes. However, federal law supersedes state law, which
has caused problems for many dispensaries in California. No
dispensaries have been busted by federal agents in Santa Barbara, but
many owners received threatening letters from the federal government,
and some closed their shops. Still, the number of shops in Santa
Barbara and Goleta hovers around one dozen.

"We have a failed drug policy," said Bearman on Friday. "We need to
change the policy for the sake of the economy, for the sake of
health, for the sake of people, and for the sake of peace." Bearman,
who is a candidate for the open 3rd District Board of Supervisor seat
in Santa Barbara County, said it is "obscene" that laws prevent
people from getting medication that can help them, and that the
present day drug laws "eviscerate the Constitution."

A discussion and debate on the ballot initiative will take place on
Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. at the Santa Barbara Public Library's
Faulkner Gallery.