LOCAL GROUP SAYS HEMP HAS USE

Students for a More Sensible Drug Policy provided evidence Thursday
that hemp is not given justice as an economically and medicinally
smart crop by the U.S. government.

The group's president, Adam DeVaney, Traverse City graduate student,
presented the video, "Hemp for Victory," -- a film produced by the
government in 1942 to advocate hemp growth as a show of patriotic
support for the war effort -- to more than 20 students in Anspach Hall
Room 150.

The government's "War on Drugs" and "Partnership for a Drug Free
America" campaigns are ineffective, ignorant and funded by
corporations with interests that would be infringed by the
legalization of marijuana, DeVaney said.

Congress, in an attempt to eliminate recreational uses of the plant --
the flowers and leaves of which contain the drug -- also has made
illegal a useful product, he said.

"Hemp is not marijuana. It would help our economy if government wasn't
so close-minded and punishing us," said Ryan Beane, Sterling Heights
senior.

The short film outlines the plant's usefulness and the procedures
necessary to grow hemp as a crop used to make ropes, parachutes and
fabric for clothing and shoes.

It is a practical crop that grows even in adverse conditions and does
not deplete the soil, DeVaney said.

"You can grow it even in the worst years," he said.

If 6 percent of U.S. soil was set aside for hemp growth each year, all
United State's energy needs could be met, DeVaney said. The substance
called cellulose hurd, found in cannabis stalks, could act as a
substitute for petroleum.

"Any products made from petroleum could be made from hemp," DeVaney
said.

DeVaney, dressed in a 100-percent-hemp shirt, presented various
examples of these products to the students present -- including foods
and cosmetic supplies.

Marijuana also would prove a medical use, he said.

"It could be the difference between surviving and not surviving
chemotherapy, but the government propoganded (sic) this myth that it
is toxic," DeVaney said.

The same government that makes this crop illegal makes alcohol,
tobacco and pharmaceutical drugs legal, he said.

No one in the United States died from marijuana-related ailments last
year, but 150,000 people died of alcohol related illnesses, and
350,000 to 400,000 people died of tobacco related illnesses, he said.

Another 11,000 deaths last year can be attributed to coffee and
aspirin, and 35,000 to 90,000 deaths can be attributed to
pharmaceutical drugs, DeVaney said.

"We have seen the imbalance between illegal and legal drugs, and we
must question why," he said.

DeVaney's arguments had an impact on Rochester freshman Katie
Kargol.

"The statistics are really eye-opening," she said. "I think more
people should come. They need to know about this."

Students for a More Sensible Drug Policy meet every other Thursday in
Charles V. Park Library Room 321. Similar programs will take place
throughout the remainder of the semester.