CALIFORNIA PETITION DRIVE BEGINS TO MAKE HEMP USE LEGAL

A proposal to legalize the growing of hemp for industrial purposes is the
38th initiative certified to collect voter signatures for a place on
California's 1998 general election ballot

The petition drive, which started Friday, must collect verified signatures
of 433,269 registered voters by May 18.

The proposal by Sam H. Clauder II of Garden Grove would legalize the
growing, harvesting, storage and use of hemp for use as a building material
or in the production of cloth, paper, fuels and various building materials
and industrial chemicals.

It contends that California's current ban on hemp, a member of the same
plant family as marijuana, prohibits the state from participating in a
thriving global market for industrial hemp.

It raises the number of initiatives in circulation for the November ballot
to 38. Five initiatives are expected to be certified for the June ballot.