BILLBOARD AD DISTURBS 6th-GRADERS

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) - Kids 1, Hemp 0.

About 20 Ericsson School sixth-graders were shocked to see a billboard
featuring what looked like a huge marijuana leaf go up outside their school.

So they decided to write a letter to urge the advertising company to
relocate the ad for a hemp-based shampoo.

``We know that your job is to sell advertising space,'' the students wrote
in their letter to Lamar Advertising on Tuesday. ``We do not expect you to
censor your client's ads, but we object to the placement of this ad so close
to our school.''

By the time classes began Wednesday morning, the offending ad was gone.

``I am extremely proud of them. The kids were disturbed by it, and they did
something about it,'' Principal Patricia Nelson said.

While industrial hemp can be used to make a variety of products - including
paper, clothing, construction materials and rope - it is a member of the
cannabis family, which includes marijuana. The two kinds of plant are often
difficult to tell apart.

``Had we known that there was a hemp leaf on the board, we would never have
placed it near a school,'' said Chris Iversen, Lamar Advertising's general
manager.