WAY CLEARED FOR HEMP AID

CASSOPOLIS -- People planning on attending Hemp Aid '99 will have a
good trip after all.

An attorney on Thursday confirmed the dismissal of a Cass County
lawsuit that had sought to put a halt to a pair of hemp-related
activities this year at the Rainbow Farm and Camp Ground in Vandalia.

"The (dismissal) order is going out today (Thursday)," said Stephen
Hessen, an attorney for the Kalamazoo law firm of Kreis, Enderle,
Callander and Hudgins.

The firm represented the county in its request for an injunction that
would have canceled both Hemp Aid '99 over Memorial Day weekend and a
similar Labor Day weekend activity called Roach Roast '99.

A county ordinance requires permits for outdoor gatherings of more
than 500 people. However, events sponsored or conducted by
not-for-profit organizations are exempt from the ordinance.

Because Hemp Aid and Roach Roast activities at the farm are sponsored
by the Columbus Institute of Contemporary Journalism, an Ohio-based
tax-exempt group, the question became whether it's a legitimate
not-for-profit organization.

Hessen said that when county officials checked on the organization's
status 45 days ago, it was not in good standing with the Ohio
secretary of state. But he said the situation changed after the
lawsuit was filed last week.

"After we filed, the organization and Mr. Crosslin (Tom Crosslin,
owner of Rainbow Farm and Camp Ground) got back in good standing ...
They maintained there was a procedural mix-up by the state of Ohio,''
he said.

Doug Leinbach, campground manager, claimed the problem over the
institute's status arose because someone at the secretary of state's
office in Columbus, Ohio, apparently removed documents from the
institute's file on June 3, 1997. Coincidentally or not, he said that
was just three days after the institute sponsored Rainbow Farm's first
Hemp Aid event.

Robert Fitrakis, executive director of the institute, said he didn't
know whether the records were removed by mistake or design. But he
said the issue is moot, as it took him "all of five minutes'' to
produce copies verifying the organization's up-to-date tax-exempt status.

"If we hadn't kept copies, the festival wouldn't have happened because
of a technicality or glitch,'' he said.

Fitrakis said he believes the opposition of Cass County officials is
politically based. Both Rainbow Farm and the institute promote the
legalization of industrial hemp.

Officials at Rainbow Farm have gone even further, calling for
legalization of marijuana, hemp's best-known by-product.

Leinbach said he had no doubt the lawsuit would be dismissed. The same
thing happened two years ago, he said, when a similar lawsuit filed by
the county was dropped.

"We proved it was a legitimate deal. We're very happy about it, for
sure,'' he said.

Had Hemp Aid and Roach Roast been canceled, he said it would have put
Rainbow Farm and Camp Ground out of business. He said proceeds from
the events will help offset some $200,000 in improvements recently
made to the Pemberton Road property.

The four-day, three-night Hemp Aid '99 activity, which begins May 28,
will feature an admission charge of $40 to see such entertainers as
Tommy Chong. Last year, the event drew more than 3,000 people.

Leinbach said the irony is that because of the publicity brought about
by the lawsuit, Hemp Aid '99 may end up with a larger than usual crowd.

"If we see 100,000 rather than 3,000, whose fault is it?" he said.