Newsgroups: alt.hemp,alt.drugs,talk.politics.drugs
From: [c--h--p] at [Cygnus.COM] (Colorado HIP)
Subject: The Colorado Hemp Initiative Project
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 1994 22:10:14 GMT


    COLORADO HEMP INITIATIVE PROJECT (CO-HIP)

      Re-legalizing Hemp and Cannabis in         
       Colorado for food, fuel, fiber, 
          paper, medicine, and fun.

         The Colorado Hemp Initiative Project
was formed to petition to put the Cannabis
and Hemp Re-Legalization Amendment on the
state ballot. The amendment will re-legalize
cannabis and hemp for all uses in Colorado.
         We circulated petitions in both 1992
and 1994.  State law allows only 6 months to
collect the required 50,000 valid signatures
of registered Colorado voters.  We did not
collect enough valid signatures to get the
amendment on the ballot in either of our
attempts.
         Our lack of success was due mainly
to a severe shortage of money and of
committed volunteers.  There has never been
an all-volunteer initiative drive that has
made it on the ballot in Colorado, and now we
have some idea of why -- it's hard!!!

Future Projects of the Hemp Initiative

1)  Start raising at least $50,000 to run the
1996 petitioning drive.

2)  Help people start local hemp groups in
towns throughout the state.  This will give
us the statewide organization we need to get
on the ballot.

3)  Lobby our legislators in the 1995
session.  We have a state senator who is
going to introduce an industrial hemp bill in
the legislature.  This is our chance to
educate our elected representatives.  We were
thinking of sponsoring a field trip once a
month to the capitol in Denver to teach
people how to lobby their legislators.

4)  Lobby and educate Department of
Agriculture officials to get sn inclusion of
industrial hemp in the upcoming 1995 Farm
Bill.

5)  Continue weekly educational meetings
(Hemp Awareness 101) in Boulder every
Tuesday.

     We have other ideas and are open to new
ones.  Let us know what you think.

              What You Can Do

1)   Register to vote.

2)  Educate yourself on the uses of hemp and
the issues surrounding hemp re-legalization.

3)  Educate your friends, family, and
acquaintances about hemp and re-legalization
issues.
4)  Write to your senators and congressmen
about hemp and re-legalization issues.

Representative ____________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Switchboard: (202) 224-3121

Senator ___________
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Switchboard: (202) 224-3121

President Bill Clinton
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
(202) 456-1111
email: [p--i--t] at [whitehouse.gov]

5)  Keep in touch with the Hemp Initiative. 
Come to our meetings and rallies.  Volunteer
time or skills to work on projects.  Show
your support!!!  (If not you, who??  If not
now, when??)  WE CAN'T DO THIS ALONE!!!!!

6)  Start your own local hemp group.  We can
set you up with everything you need to get
started.  Give us a call!!

7)  Send us a donation.  Thirty cents can buy
a postage stamp and one dollar can buy 20
copies.  Every little bit helps us keep
people informed and educated.


        THE MANY USES OF HEMP
      (Thanks to Ben Masel for the basis for
the following facts.)

                Paper

     One acre of hemp could produce as much
paper as four acres of trees, according to
studies done by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA).  Because of its higher
cellulose content, hemp requires less
chemical processing, and thus has lower costs
and less pollution.
                                              
     In the first century, the Chinese
invented the art of long-lasting hemp
paper-making.  Until 1883, from 75-90% of all
paper in the world was made from hemp.  Most
paper was made from discarded hemp sails and
ropes.  These scraps were re-cycled into
paper.  (Hence the term rag paper.)

     The USDA has promoted kenaf, a
traditional African fiber plant, as a paper
alternative.  According to Pat LeMahieu, a
former agronomy researcher, hemp has higher
quality fiber, more potential uses, the
ability to withstand cold better, and
possibly higher yields than kenaf.  "If it
weren't for the cannabinoids (psychoactive
ingredients) in hemp, we wouldn't even be
talking about kenaf,"  said LeMahieu.  Hemp
is also far more drought resistant than
kenaf. 

                  Fiber
     
     Until 1840, hemp was the largest fiber
crop in the U.S.  Historically, hemp supplied
fabrics from the finest linens to the sails
for seagoing ships.  (Canvas is the Old Dutch
word for cannabis.) 
     Cotton, with only 1/3 the fiber yield,
is the most chemical-intensive crop in
production.  Hemp chokes out competing weeds
and has few insect pests, so hemp farmers
have little need for pesticides or
herbicides. 
     While hemp likes a rich soil, most of
the nutrients migrate to the leaves and
eventually flowers, which are returned to the
soil when growing hemp for stalk.  So with
appropriate rotation, fertilizers are
unnecessary.  Hemp's long taproot brings
minerals from deep soil layers, leaving them
accessible to the following crop.
     Unlike cotton, hemp can be grown
throughout the U.S., and its lower cost makes
it competitive with synthetic fibers.  Fabric
used to be the most recycled item in
commerce. Now it is the least because no one
has discovered a way to separate the cotton
from the polyester.
                                              
                  Fuel

     Combustion of hemp releases into the
atmosphere only as much carbon dioxide as was
removed in photosynthesis, with no net
contribution to the Greenhouse Effect, like
any biomass (plant-derived) fuel.  Hemp's low
sulfur content contributes little to acid
rain.  Research has shown that one acre of
hemp could produce up to 1,300 gallons of
bio-fuel.  Recent advances in biomass
gasification technologies also suggest hemp
could replace coal in our electric power
stations.
                                              
                  Food
                                              
     Cultivation of hemp seed for food and
livestock feed dates as far back as the
ancient Sumerians.  While it is second to
soybeans in total protein content, hemp seed
has a more complete balance of amino acids. 
     More importantly, hemp seed oil is the
top plant source for linoleic and linolenic
acids, the essential fatty acids for which
fish oil is touted to lower blood cholesterol
and strengthen the immune system.  Pressing
the oil from hemp seed makes these nutrients
available at a tiny fraction of the cost of
fish oil. 

               Medicine

     Cannabis (the psychoactive flowers and
resins of the hemp plant) is a valued
medicine for treating symptoms of such
diverse conditions as multiple sclerosis,
anorexia, glaucoma, anxiety, pain, AIDS,
muscle spasms, epilepsy, stress, and the
nausea associated with chemotherapy.

              Economics

     A renewed hemp industry would boost
Colorado's economy.  It would create new jobs
in the textile, agriculture, paper, & energy
industries.  It could create a new source of
tax revenue.  It would help shift the
economy's focus away from non-renewable
resources toward a more sustainable future.



          PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT
           TO CO-HIP TODAY!!!

    ***** 4 Ways to Contribute *****

1)  I am enclosing a contribution of:
$10                     $20                   
$35        
$50                     $100                  
Other $        

2)  I would like to make a monthly pledge to
help the Colorado Hemp Initiative Project:
$         every month

3)  I would like to volunteer my time. 
Please contact me:           

4)  I have other services I would like to
donate: (please specify)                      
                      

 The Colorado Hemp Initiative Project
      needs volunteers and money
to make hemp re-legalization a reality!!

Please pledge your assistance today!!

Name:                                         
              
Address:                                      
              
City:                        State:         
Zip:            
* Phone: (essential)                          
             

Please make checks payable to:
The Colorado Hemp Initiative Project.
(Contributions to CO-HIP are not
tax-deductible.)

Send to:
The Colorado Hemp Initiative Project
P.O. Box 729
Nederland, CO 80466



Paid for by 
The Colorado Hemp Initiative Project
Paul Danish, Initiative Co-Sponsor

IMPORTANT CONTACTS
HOTLINE
24-hour Hotline for Hemp Events and
Information:
(303) 784-5632


ELECTRONIC MAIL
[c--h--p] at [darkstar.cygnus.com]

MEETINGS

Boulder:  Tues., 6:30 pm, Hellems 241, CU
Campus, Boulder
(Call hotline to confirm each meeting)


Get involved!!
     Only through the committed effort of
everyone who supports hemp re-legalization
will this happen. Don't wait for us to do it
- you are us!! (Despite the support we have
in this state, we failed to make ballot
status in 1992 and 1994 due to lack of
committed volunteers.  We can't let that
happen again!)

Keep in touch!!
     Call the hotlines frequently and come to
events.

EDUCATE!
ORGANIZE!!!
ACT!!


"Prohibition ... goes beyond the
bounds of reason in that it attempts
to control a man's appetite by
legislation and makes a crime out
of things that are not crimes. A
prohibition law strikes a blow at the
very principles upon which our
government was founded."
-- Abraham Lincoln, December 1840

--
Colorado Hemp Initiative Project
P.O. Box 729
Nederland, CO 80466
(303) 784-5632