HEMPSEED.COM USES FREE EMAIL AS PUBLICITY TOOL

SAN FRANCISCO (Wired) — You've probably heard of hemp paper, clothing, and
duffel bags, but what about hemp email?

With an agenda to plant hempseed in cyberspace, Hempseed.com, the
"definitive hemp resource'' online, is offering enthusiasts and freeloaders
alike free email accounts that read yourname(at)hempseed.com.

"By giving away free email addresses, we're making a political statement,''
says vice president/webmaster David Unger. "Every time mail is sent, it
sparks an awareness of hemp and elicits a reaction, whether it's negative
or positive.''

Since announcing the service at the Hemp Industries Association conference
in October 1996, Hempseed.com has given away nearly 25,000 free POP
accounts and continues to rack up 150 to 200 new users a day.

David Unger, a 28yearold vice president, started Hempseed.com with
president Gary Kahn out of a joint interest in seeing hemp legalized as a
cash crop.

Long heralded by ecocapitalists as a pesticideresistant, renewable
alternative to the wood pulp used for paper products, hemp production was
banned after World War II when the illicit use of its seedy relative,
cannabis hemp, or marijuana, entered the public consciousness.

Though controls on marijuana use were challenged last year when California
voters legalized medical marijuana, Hempseed.com follows the cue of the
hemp industry, which has been scrupulous in its efforts to keep the two
issues separate.

"We take a neutral stance on the recreational use of marijuana, and don't
promote or advocate it on our site,'' says Unger. "Marijuana clouds the
issue.''

With that focus of industry over intoxication in mind, the company settled
into Silicon Alley nerve center 55 Broad Street, which sits right across
from the New York Stock Exchange. Seeing their locale as a plum opportunity
for some strategic guerrilla marketing, Unger and Kahn plan to pass out
hemp flyers to traders right in front of the statue of George Washington.
"He grew hemp, and so did Thomas Jefferson,'' Unger points out.

Besides offering free email accounts, Hempseed.com hosts a searchable
database of hemp companies and catalogs, and offers onsite retail order
processing.

"Our original concept was to provide an extranet for the hemp industry,''
says Unger, "so that the general consumer could come in search of
information about hemp products.''

But no matter how earnestly hempsters deny the connection, detractors point
out that the legalization campaign relies heavily on the street cred appeal
of marijuana.

"We want to keep it as separate as possible, but it's obvious that college
kids support the movement for that reason,'' Unger admits. "You strike a
chord with them by speaking to them about what they identify with most.

"You use controversy as a hook to draw attention. Then, when you've got
them, you say, 'but look, it can also be used for food, for shelter, to
replace tree crops look how it's going to help society.' Hemp is a
toehold. It opens the door to other areas of environmental sustainabilty,
and it's something that everyone can identify with.''

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