- [5] ALT.HEMP (1:375/48) ------------------------------------------- ALT.HEMP - Msg : #3135 [201] + 3193 From : Paul Stanford 1:2613/335 Thu 05 Jan 95 11:16 To : All Subj : TV Vote to sell Pot legally! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Paul Stanford <[t--r--o] at [igc.apc.org]> From: Paul Stanford Pay for Schools by Regulating Cannabis had a news conference in Portland, Oregon on 1/1/95 which was covered by all the local TV stations. The PSRC announced the kick-off of its siganture gathering campaign to place an initiative on the Oregon ballot that would regulate cannabis sales through Oregon's liquor stores. The proposal, The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act of 1997, would allow pharmacies to give cannabis to patients with doctor's prescription, would allow individuals to grow their own without a license, would license commercial cannabis growers to grow exclusively for sale through state liquor stores, and allow unlicensed cultivation of low-THC hemp fiber and seed crops. The profits from the sale of cannabis through liquor stores would go to finance education (96%) and drug treatment programs (4%). One station did a call-in survey and asked the question, "Should marijuana be sold through the liquor stores to fund education?" The TV station was KATU-TV of Portland and the poll was on Jan. 1. KATU is our ABC affiliate and the largest station in the state. WE WON! The vote was 55% for our plan to regulate and tax marijuana to fund education. We have until July 1996 to gather the signatures of 70,000 registered Oregon voters, to make the November 5, 1996 ballot. When we win our election, cannabis will be legal in Oregon on 1/1/97. Pay for Schools by Regulating Cannabis is an Oregon PAC. You may call us at (503) 229-0428. Our address is: PSRC P.O.Box 86741 Portland, OR 97286 We need donations of cash, services, and items we can auction or sell. Novelty items can bring in a suprising amount of money at our auctions, and we have auctions at all of our fundraising events. With your help we will win! If your in Oregon, we would appreciate your help in gathering signatures. Please contact us. Even our petitions are printed on hemp paper and they say that they are printed on hemp paper across the botton of each of the 4 pages. Following is the text to one of our brochures, which shows the emphasis we are putting on job creation, lower taxes for the population-at-large, and ecologically-sound economic growth. Here's the text: Pay for Schools by Regulating Cannabis Cannabis hemp, also known as marijuana, makes paper, such as THIS PAPER YOU ARE HOLDING IN YOUR HAND! No, you can't smoke it. It also makes canvas. In fact, the word canvas comes from the word cannabis! Hemp, the Old English word for what we call marijuana, can be made into 50,000 products, from cloth, paper, oil and food to plastics, fuel and medicine. Oregon's state seal already has hemp on it! The wagon & ship on our state seal have hemp cloth, oil and rope on them. Our new initiative, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act of 1997 will raise at least $500 million a year for state schools and colleges by selling cannabis through the state liquor stores! Don't let them raise your taxes! We will pay your tax increases! Pay for Schools by Regulating Cannabis Sponsors of the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act of 1997 We will: *Raise $500 million a year for our schools by selling cannabis through liquor stores With the property tax limitation phasing in, we will fund schools and colleges without raising your taxes or cutting other state services. In fact, it will free state resources to fund other important projects and essential services. *Allow our police to concentrate on violent criminals and thieves. *Regulate and tax Oregon's largest industry, which is currently untaxed. *Allow hemp, which produces more fiber, protein and oil than any other plant on the planet, to be used for all industrial purposes. *Create thousands of new, high paying ecologically sound jobs throughout Oregon. *Allow physicians to prescribe cannabis, "the safest therapeutically active substance," for illnesses, from glaucoma to cancer & AIDS. *Fund drug treatment programs and education. *Allow adults over 21 to buy cannabis through liquor stores or grow their own. This wipes out the black-market and stops crime. Help us Re-legalize Hemp! Call us at: (503) 229-0428 Pay for Schools by Regulating Cannabis Your support makes a difference! Together we can *Create thousands of new jobs in Oregon. *Solve the violent crime problem. *Fund our schools, state and local govt.. *Give our farmers a valuable new crop. *Let doctors prescribe a useful medicine. *Give timber workers a job-saving resource. *Fund drug treatment programs & education. With your help we can do it! Register to Vote. Collect signatures. Volunteer & organize. Contribute. Please write or call us for more information. Our mailing address is: P.S.R.C. P.O. Box 86741 Portland, OR 97286 Our phone number is: (503) 229-0428 Our office address is: 333 S.W. Park Ave., #304 Portland, OR We have regional coordinators you can call: Eugene Medford/Ashland (503) 345-4855 (503) 482-6914 Printed on Hemp paper What is cannabis hemp? A plant that has been cultivated by people for more than 10,000 years. The first cloth and the first paper were made from hemp. It grows in every climate and grows more quickly than any other plant outside the tropics. What are the benefits of cannabis hemp? It produces more fiber, protein and oil than any other plant on our planet. It can be used to make 50,000 different products. The stem produces fiber for paper, textiles, cordage and building materials. According to US Dept. of Agriculture Bulletin 404, a waste product from making textiles from hemp produces more than 4 times more paper than trees. The hemp seed produces an oil that is the healthiest edible oil. The oil can be used for everything that petroleum can be used for. The diesel engine was invented to run on hemp seed oil. The plant can be grown without the use of pesticides or fertilizers. The deep tap root draws up sub-soil nutrients that are used by other crops in rotation. The plant fixes carbon from the atmosphere in its leaves,which returns to the soil while processing the fiber. The flowers produce a medicine which treats glaucoma and helps relieve symptoms of multiple sclorosis, AIDS and cancer patients undergoing chemotheraphy. In fact, 80% of cancer doctors (onocologists) say they would prescribe cannabis if they could. Let's let them. The Drug Enforcement Administrations's own administrative law judge ruled that, "cannabis is the safest therapeutically active substance known." Hemp products, in every case, are better than any alternative for the environment and our health . What is the history of cannabis hemp? Hemp was among the first plants purposely cultivated by humans over 10,000 years ago. It was used to make the first twine, rope and fabric. Paper was invented from it more than 2000 years ago in China. Hemp was the main fiber for paper until the 1860's. Most of the world's lamps were lit with hemp-seed oil until the 19th century. Because hemp products were labor intensive, hemp declined as new processes were invented for petroleum products and tree-based paper. With the introduction of new machinery (the decorticator) at the turn of this century, hemp production became much less expensive. The price of hemp fiber dropped to a penny on the dollar, much the way cotton prices had dropped with the invention of the cotton gin. When the companies that manufacture petroleum products, paper with trees and other affected industries realized that hemp products were going to compete with them, they moved to eliminate the competition. Hemp is farmed and is naturally decentralized; the petrochemical and tree-based paper industries are naturally centralized, because of the huge amounts of money needed to enter. They created a misinformation campaign and renamed hemp. They called it marijuana, playing on racial tensions and the Hispanic origins of that term. They said that a "deadly new drug called marijuana" drove people to kill their family and friends. We call that misinformation campaign "Reefer Madness," from a movie of that period depicting this hoax. A decade after hemp was prohibited, they changed their story and said "marijuana" made people lazy. Quite a change! By that time, however, hemp was illegal and their industries were safe from competition from hemp. What is the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act? An initiative that the state of Oregon will vote on November 5, 1996. A group of concerned citizens were aware of hemp's environmental benefits, the harm done by prohibition and the lies that were used to criminalize hemp. The proposal will regulate cannabis sales through liquor stores, raise funds for schools and colleges, set up a drug education program and fund drug treatment programs. How will the OCTA benefit Oregon? It will create thousands of ecologically sound jobs throughout Oregon. Our state's paper and timber workers are losing their jobs because of the depletion of old-growth forests. Many of the new jobs created by the re-legalization of hemp will be in these very industries, since hemp fiber makes the best paper and building materials. That amounts to thousands of jobs, but it will create thousands more. Oregon will lead the way in innovative new products. Hemp seed food, oil, plastics and fuel. Our farmers will have a valuable new crop and will be able to supply pharmacies in 36 other states that allow cannabis for medicine but have no current, legal supply. As cannabis becomes legal in other states, we will have ready made future markets. Tourism will boom as people visit to try our new products. It will solve many of the problems associated with violent crime. It will allow our police to concentrate on real criminals that hurt people and steal things. It will free prison space to jail violent criminals and thieves. No more black-market! Oregon students will have well financed schools and programs. Colleges will receive funding and tuition fees can be lowered. A comprehensive drug education program will be funded and implemented that will inform our children of the real dangers of substance abuse. Drug abusers will have well funded treatment programs where they can seek help and not be turned away, as they are 95% of the time now. Why is it time to re-legalize cannabis hemp? The UK began allowing hemp fiber cultivation in 1993. Canada allowed the first hemp farming in 40 years in 1994. The European community even subsidizes hemp farming with over $300 per acre. If we don't do it now , we will be left behind. This is printed on Hemp paper. Re-legalize Hemp! --- * Origin: COBRUS - Usenet-to-Fidonet Distribution System (1:2613/335.0)