HEMP FEST RETURNS; SUPPORTERS ENCOURAGED ABOUT PROSPECTS OF
LEGALIZING MARIJUANA

The Event Returns After an 11-Year Absence, and a Few Hundred Show Up to Watch.

The revival of Gainesville's Hemp Fest - a celebration of the many
uses of the hemp plant - may have attracted a smaller crowd Saturday
than in the past, but organizers believe they are closer than ever to
their goal of at least limited legalization of marijuana.

Hemp Fest was held at the Bo Diddley Community Plaza in downtown
Gainesville on Saturday after an 11-year absence, drawing a modest
crowd for music, speeches and booths of vendors and organizations.

Since the last Hemp Fest, several states have legalized the medical
use of marijuana, and supporters will try again in the 2012 Florida
legislative session to get passage of a bill allowing that here, said
David McKinney of the Florida Cannabis Action Network.

"We have some political connections and we've reached the 50 percent
mark of national approval of legalization," McKinney said. "The real
strong push is not just the idea of legalization but the idea that
there are people who need this as medicine."

"We are hampering research and at the same time denying people what
we know to be good medicine," McKinney continued. "We've got support
from the Democratic Women's Club of Florida and we have support from
some folks in the Florida Legislature for medical marijuana, who have
introduced a bill. I think it's going to be a huge election issue."

Hemp Fest was once an annual event that drew crowds of about 1,000
and once featured a "doobie toss" of marijuana cigarettes into the crowd.

Saturday's relaunch drew a few hundred people throughout the
afternoon. Some brought living room furniture, while others pitched a
big teepee. Many wore leis of fake hemp leaves.

None of the vendors had much in the way of hemp jewelry, clothing or
other products, but Terry Enriques and Mike Cardinal had the spirit
with plenty of tie-dyed T-shirts and reggae-colored dreadlock
stocking caps and bags.

"I'm trying to make some money. It's hard times now," Enriques said.

Added Cardinal, "Hemp should be brought back because it would bring
back a lot of farmers. It has a lot of uses and it could get a lot of
farmers off the dole."

Hemp was brought to the U.S. for cultivation into fiber by the
pilgrims and production grew as the country did, according to Oregon
State University.

In 1937, the U.S. government passed the Marijuana Tax Act, which
placed it under control of U.S. Treasury Department regulations.
Production of hemp gradually faded in the U.S. after that.

Mike Geison, one of the organizers of the original Hemp Fest, said he
believes marijuana will eventually be legalized.

"Of course I'm delighted we have Hemp Fest again and I'm delighted to
be here," Geison said. "I know who our allies are. I think we can
achieve our goals in a short time."