ANNUAL HEMPFEST SLATED FOR THIS WEEKEND TO FEATURE VARIETY OF MUSICAL ACTS

Looking to support hemp, listen to live music and eat hemp food all for
free? Then check out Hempfest this weekend.

The University of Rhode Island's chapter of Students for Sensible Drug
Policy is holding their fifth annual Hempfest this Saturday on the URI Quad
from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Open and free to the public, Hempfest will feature
several musical acts, area vendors and food retailers.

SSDP president-elect Kate Phillips expects a larger turnout than last
year's Hempfest. "We expect between 3,000 to 4,000 people," she said. "Last
year about 3,000 turned up."

Five musical acts are slated to perform at Hempfest. Funk Nugget, Fungus
Amungus, Dead Cat Bounce, Raisinhill and The Slip will entertain throughout
the day, Phillips said.

Meanwhile, speakers will discuss the importance of hemp, and hemp food,
shirts and other products will be distributed and sold, Phillips said.

Hempfest is being held to raise awareness about hemp issues, SSDP treasurer
Chris Tschirley said.

Besides producing paper, hemp can be used to produce anything from shoes,
bags and shirts, and it can replace crude oil almost entirely, Tschirley said.

"Hemp is more sustainable and cleaner...it can be used for so many
different purposes," he said. "For every 4.1 acres of trees that would
produce paper, one acre of hemp can do the same."

Hemp is also an efficient plant, Tschirely said. "It's a replenishable
plant that can be harvested twice a year and doesn't require pesticides,"
he said. "It can help farmers a lot."

Unfortunately, growing hemp is illegal in the United States, Tschirley
said. "Back in the 1930s, when marijuana was made illegal, hemp was
classified as a drug because of its relation to marijuana. "But there's so
little THC in hemp that it's impossible to get high," he said.

Although hemp is illegal to grow in the United States, it is grown out of
the United States and imported here, Tschirely said. "Hemp was actually
re-legalized in the 1940s again because of the war, but in the 1950s it was
made illegal once again," he said.

Tschirely doesn't think it will be illegal to grow hemp for long. "I don't
think that [Congress] has the grounds [to keep it illegal] for long," he said.