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.