EXPO VENDORS TOUT PRODUCTS, POLITICS

Iya Berry waited an hour Friday to be the first customer at the Hemp Scream
stand.

Berry, who traveled from Hawaii to attend a few hemp festivals on the
mainland, wanted the biggest serving of the chocolate frozen dessert, a
nondairy product made from hemp seed milk and hemp seed oil, plus a hemp
seed cookie. She didn't blink at the $5 price tag.

"I had it last year, and it was so good," Berry said before closing her
eyes and savoring the first bite.

The vendor, Agua Das of Boulder, Colo., was one of more than 150 who
gathered in Harrisburg on Friday for Whee2!, the second annual Hemp Expo.
The for-profit event, which continues today and Sunday, is organized by
High Times magazine.

Many vendors were selling products made of hemp - food, clothes, even teddy
bears (the Environmentally Aware Bear, on sale for $10) and bean bag chairs
(the Green Bag, with a removable, washable hemp cover, yours for $100 to
$150).

At the Hemp Train stand, Oana Bolton of Denver had information on the
feasibility of hemp houses - said to be naturally bug-repellent and
fire-retardant - as well as an all-hemp car that would run on a hemp
oil-based fuel. Other vendors were hoping to appeal to your average earthy
audience with flowing dresses, jewelry, tie-dyed Jerry Garcia banners and
more. And a small but active number of people were at the expo with a
political stance, to spread information about the medical use of marijuana
and efforts to legalize hemp crops in the United States.

Geri Kult, with the Hemp Club of Southern Oregon, sat at a booth with a
loudspeaker, broadcasting messages such as, "Thank you for pot smoking."

Kult, who has been involved in the hemp movement for more than 25 years,
said her goal was to educate people about the medical marijuana measure on
Oregon ballots this year, and to make sure people are registered to vote.

Even vendors without a clear political issue were advocating the
legalization of hemp and/or cannabis on some level. Das, the Hemp Scream
vendor, said his products don't contain any THC, the ingredient in cannabis
that makes people high.

But, he said, they're low-fat and full of protein and vitamins. He
predicted that people will eventually embrace hemp.

"Thirty years ago, farmers were laughing about soybeans, but today it's the
best-selling crop in America," Das said. "And right now hemp's a joke, but
30 years from now, you just watch."

Thousands of people from across the country are expected to attend the Hemp
Expo, making it one of the largest hemp festivals in the United States.

Stephen Gaskin, an advocate for the legalization of marijuana and hemp,
said it's important to have such events to show what nice people hemp
advocates are.

"We are some of the 35 million people who only break one law," he said.
"And that's pretty scary because it's twice as many people as voted for
Ross Perot."

Among those who came for the festivities was Barbara Lefkowitz, whose
trailer was covered with stickers, some put on by her and others added by
strangers at festivals like this one.

Lefkowitz, who is HIV-positive, said she uses marijuana to quell the nausea
that comes from taking protease inhibitors, which in turn help reduce her
chances of developing AIDS symptoms.

Anne, from Long Beach, Calif., and Louise, from Atlanta, were unexpected
visitors to the Hemp Expo, having been taken there by Anne's granddaughter
on the way to visit family in Newport.

The self-proclaimed "LOLs," or "Little Old Ladies," were too shy to give
their full names but did say they were having a good time talking with the
various vendors.

"It reminds me of when my children were growing up," Anne said.

"I'm learning a lot," Louise said, adding that she and Anne had started
joking about how much the two ladies stuck out in the crowd.

"They're making cookies with hemp over there, and there giving away free
samples," Louise said. "I was saying that we need to get us some cookies
and get a buzz on."

Whee2! Hemp Expo

When: 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. today and Sunday

Where: High Five Music in Harrisburg; take Interstate 5 north to Exit 209
and follow signs

Cost: $10 daily admission, $40 for a weekend camping pass, $5 daily to park