PRO-MARIJUANA GROUP PROMOTES LEGALIZATION OF HEMP

A pro-marijuana and hemp lobbying organization wants to team up with
Maine's agricultural community to promote the legalization of hemp. Don
Christen, founder of Maine Vocals, said industrial hemp could provide the
state's farmers with a valuable cash crop that can be used to make fabric,
paper, rope and multitude of other products.

''It can bring $800 to $2,000 an acre,'' Christen said, noting that farm
bureaus in 17 states now support industrial hemp farming.

''But let's make this clear: This is not pot. It is as simple as that,'' he
said.

Christen said the active ingredient in marijuana that causes smokers to get
high, THC, is found in such low levels in hemp that it would have no appeal
as a drug.

Christen says two other states, Hawaii and North Dakota, have legalized
hemp, and he is hoping to ally his group with the Maine State Grange and
other agricultural organizations to promote the crop in Maine.

In Minnesota, items made from hemp can be sold. A law passed this year also
allows the Minnesota governor to apply for federal permits for
demonstration plots of industrial hemp.

The Clinton administration and the Drug Enforcement Agency oppose
legalization. They say hemp plants look so similar to marijuana that
allowing farmers to grow them would hinder efforts to curb drugs.

Hemp was grown legally in the United States until the 1930s, when it was
administered out of business with a tax act. It is now legally grown in 32
other countries, including Canada, which ships tons of hemp to U.S.
manufacturers.

According to Bud Sholts, chairman of the North American Industrial Hemp
Council Inc., U.S. manufacturers bought 85 percent of the Canadian hemp
crop last year. Annual hemp sales in this country, said Sholts, exceeded
$225 million for products such as granola bars, beer, shampoo, clothing and
cooking oil.

''This could be a huge moneymaker for Maine,'' said Christen. ''If we can
get the farmers behind us on this thing, it could even be the papermaking
alternative the state has been looking for.''