HOME-GROWN $$$

Here's a thought to make you wonder what kind of radical nut job
Larry Gabriel is: What about legalizing marijuana in Michigan and
making hemp a part of our agricultural and industrial economy?

I'm not talking about creeping up on the idea in increments. I'm
talking full-blown twisting up a doobie and publicly puffing your day
away without recrimination. Buying and selling marijuana for
recreational purposes is already a huge part of our underground
economy, or black market if you please.

"The state is losing billions of dollars due to marijuana being
illegal," says the Rev. Steven Thompson, president of the Michigan
chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana
Laws. "It would be a big boost to our economy. Federal statistics
about two years back showed that the cannabis plant is the No. 1 cash
crop here in the state of Michigan and it's illegally grown."

When something illegal is your No. 1 cash crop, and you are in an
economic freefall, it seems to me the crop needs to get some official
attention from the state. That's what's going on out West. California
State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has proposed legislation to legalize
marijuana in California. His proposal acknowledges the fact that,
although illegal, marijuana is California's biggest cash crop. We're
talking about $14 billion a year. And that doesn't even take into
account what's imported from outside of the United States.

Let's get out front here in Michigan. We don't want to come late to
the party after half the nation has legalized the weed when there is
nothing but the equivalent of stems and seeds left in the marijuana bonanza.

There are so many ways marijuana and its hempen counterpart can
bolster a faltering economy. For starters, it can be grown here,
which would bolster our agriculture industry. It can be regulated and
taxed, and the money paid for it will ripple through the economy.
We'll save money in the criminal justice system, from initial arrests
and court costs to prison and parole costs.

And hemp has so many uses it could almost be considered a wonder
plant. The wide-open fields found all about the city have already
spawned a growing urban farming movement. If hemp were added to the
mix, it could spawn all kinds of economic activity, from textiles to car parts.

Canada legalized hemp-growing in 1998, and 60 percent of what
Canadian farmers grow is imported to the United States - not to
mention the illegal cannabis grown there that comes here. We could
grow it ourselves.

There could be a hemp-based textile industry here. Clothing of all
kinds is made from hemp. There are products such as jewelry, shoes,
paper, rope and, from the seeds, body and cooking oils. As we develop
a cellulose-based ethanol industry, hemp has more cellulose content
than most plants - and it grows really fast

There are even 100 percent biodegradable plastics made from hemp. If
you play Frisbee golf you may have been tossing the hemp around.
Ford, GM, Chrysler, Saturn, BMW, Honda and Mercedes use hemp
composite door panels, trunks, head liners and other parts in their
vehicles. An Australian company uses a hemp plastic resin to make
musical instruments and furniture. It's not new; Henry Ford long ago
demonstrated that car doors and fenders made with hemp and sisal
cellulose plastic were strong, dependable car parts.

Hemp is even used in brewing one of our favorite beverages. The
Frederick Brewing Company in Maryland produces Hempen Ale, brown ale
made with hemp seeds that, according to the label, give it a "creamy
head" and "mellow herbal flavors and aromas." Hmmm ... maybe the
Stroh Brewery could do something with that.

Talk about a cash crop. It's hard to argue against hemp even if you
have problems with people deriving pleasure from smoking marijuana.
The grade of cannabis that is grown for hemp production is pretty
useless for the purpose for getting high. The low level of THC (the
psychoactive ingredient that induces the high) in the plant makes
that nearly impossible. But its nonrecreational possibilities seem
nearly endless.

Maybe it's just a pipe dream, but I can see the green hemp fields of
Detroit waving in the breeze, the sun shining down as people work the
fields. I see textile manufacturing. I see oils squeezed from the
seeds. I see industrial plastics. All of it comes from a ubiquitous
weed that practically grows itself.

"It can be grown anywhere," says Thompson. "It should be grown in Michigan."

We once imagined a shiny, space age future with astronomically tall
buildings, flying cars, domestic robots and vacations to the moon. We
could change our thinking and dream of a smaller, sustainable city
with agriculture and small industries fueling a culture of community
and closeness.

Since we're already growing it here, we may as well get more out of
it than an illegal buzz.

Michigan's medical marijuana law has already produced a healthy
result, although no distribution system has been created. In Dec.
2007, Keith Campbell, of Unionville in Tuscola County, was charged
with possession, manufacturing and possession of marijuana with
intent to deliver and, because he had a gun, two felony firearms
counts. Campbell's doctor had recommended he try marijuana for a
medical condition. After the new law went into effect on Dec. 4,
Campbell's attorney, Matthew Able, filed a motion to dismiss the
charges and the judge did so.

I'm sure there will be much legal wrangling over how the law is
applied, and you may not want to go through the headache, but if you
have a doctor's recommendation, it's legal to grow a bit of the herb
for your personal use. Just in case you need his help, Abel's office
is in downtown Detroit above the Anchor Bar.

It's a shame that the uproar over the future of Cobo Center has
degraded into an "us vs. them" argument. I thought we had grown up
past that. Most of the bravado, posturing and rhetoric coming from
Detroit City Council members have little to do with details of the
deal arranged by Mayor Ken Cockrel. Again we have the specter of a
fight between council and the mayor, division between Detroit and
surrounding areas, and race as an ordering principle of how and why
we do things. Barbara-Rose Collins' rambling diatribe last Thursday,
capped off by a rendering of the old hymn "Onward Christian
Soldiers," was embarrassing.

I've never found that particular song, with its metaphors of military
might and war, to be particularly uplifting. And I have no idea what
it has to do with the Cobo situation.

It does show that blacker-than-thou is still a strong part of Detroit
politics. I suspect that, in addition to any legitimate problems with
the deal, there are political influences stemming from the upcoming
mayoral races stirring the pot - and that goes from the mayor's
office, through council, and on down to Freeman Hendrix, who came in
third and out of the race in the Feb. 24 primary. Hendrix, who has
been very vocally opposing the deal, may well have his hat in the
ring for the August primary.

Whatever it is, our elected officials and others need to keep their
arguments focused on the issues and not the egos.