VOTERS SUPPORT HEMP, POLL SAYS

Hilo, Hawai'i - Six in 10 Hawai'i voters support medical uses of
marijuana and the growing of hemp, marijuana's non-intoxicating
cousin, for fiber and food products, said a poll commissioned by a
pro-marijuana group.

The $10,000 poll of 400 Hawai'i voters was paid for by Americans for
Medical Rights, a Sacramento, Calif. group seeking the legalization of
medical marijuana.

Americans for Medical Rights commissioned the poll at the request of
Hilo resident Roger Christie, co-founder of the Hawai'i Hemp Council
and a long-time advocate for the legalization of marijuana.

Big Island View

The public debate on legalizing hemp and marijuana has been ongoing
for the past five years on the Big Island, which is still looking for
crops to plant in its vacated sugar cane fields. State Reps. David
Tarnas (D-Kona) and Cynthia Thielen (R-Kailua, Oahu) support a hemp
industry.

When poll respondents were asked if they "support or oppose the use of
marijuana for medical purposes," 38 percent said they strongly support
it and 25 percent said they somewhat support it. Twenty-one percent
were strongly opposed, 7 percent somewhat oppose it and 10 percent did
not know.

Poll Sought

Christie said he sought to have the poll done after Republican
gubernatorial candidate Linda Lingle said, according to Christie, that
she might reconsider her opposition to legalized uses of marijuana if
she could be convinced the public supports it.

Lingle and her campaign manager, Bob Awana, could not be reached for
comment yesterday.

Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates of Sacramento conducted the
poll. The firm conducted telephone interviews of Hawai'i voters
between September 30th and October 4th. The poll has a margin of
error of plus or minus 5 percent.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady