🚀 go-pugleaf

          H E M P    F O R    V I C T O R Y    I N    1 9 9 6 !
          -----------------------------------------------------

    LEGALIZE MARIJUANA!    LEGALIZE MARIJUANA!    LEGALIZE MARIJUANA!
    -------------------    -------------------    -------------------

    ATTENTION ALL HEMPSTERS, ENVIRONMENTALISTS, LIBERTARIANS, AND ALIENS!

    Due to the 30-year-long failed war on marijuana (which costs taxpayers
    billions annually), the relative harmlessness of marijuana, the proven
    medical usefulness of marijuana, and the enormous economic and
    environmental benefits of hemp-derived products, it is now time to begin
    a GRASS roots movement in California to legalize hemp.  (FOR INTERESTING
    FACTS ABOUT THE USEFULNESS OF HEMP, PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION BELOW!)

    In order to get The California HEMP Initiative on the 1996 California
    ballot, we need to collect approximately 400,000 signatures of
    REGISTERED voters.  These signatures must be collected from May 1995
    to Oct. 1995.  Your help is needed.  If you would like to work for
    a HEMP victory in '96 by collecting signatures, please contact:

         H.E.M.P.  (Help End Marijuana Prohibition)
         5632 Van Nuys Blvd.
         Suite 310
         Van Nuys  CA  91401
         Phone: (310) 392-1806

    Please leave your name, address, and phone number and let us know you
    are interested in collecting signatures for The California Hemp
    Initiative.  You will contacted when the time comes to circulate the
    petition.

           ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF HEMP (MARIJUANA)
           ------------------------------------------

    * Hemp's potential for paper production is enormous.  According to
      the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, over the same time period, 10,000
      acres of hemp can produce as much paper as 40,000 acres of trees!

    * The quality of paper made from hemp is much higher than paper made
      from trees.  Hemp paper is much more difficult to tear, it does not
      turn brittle or yellow with age.  And unlike tree-based paper, hemp-
      based paper can easily last for hundreds of years.

    * Paper production from hemp would eliminate the need to chop down
      millions of trees!  Huge tracts of forests could be saved!

    * Unlike trees, which must grow for years until they can be harvested,
      hemp can be harvested within months after planting!  Unlike trees,
      hemp can be grown almost anywhere.  Growing hemp on farmland would
      leave more forests standing, which would also help reduce erosion
      of top soil that often flows into, and pollutes, rivers.

    * Marijuana (hemp) has many proven medical uses.

    * Fewer caustic and toxic chemicals are used to make paper from
      hemp than are used to make paper from trees--LESS POLLUTION!

    * Unlike cotton, the water requirements of hemp are moderate.  Cotton
      requires enormous quantities of water.  Hemp can take the place of
      cotton by producing fiberous products like clothing.

    * Hemp plants have a peculiar quality in that they naturally repel
      surrounding weed growth.  Hemp has NO insect enemies!  No insect
      enemies and no weed problems means hemp needs NO herbicides and
      NO pesticides!
      
    * Approximately 50% of the pesticides used in the world are used on
      cotton!  Substituting hemp for cotton could drastically reduce
      pesticide usage!

    * Hemp grows like a weed because it is a weed.  Growing hemp requires
      very little effort and very few resources.

    * Hemp can be used to make fiberous products such as paper, rope,
      canvas, linen, and thread.  Hemp fiber is 10 times stronger than
      cotton and can be used to make all types of clothing.  There are
      many stores in the U.S. that specialize in selling hemp-derived
      products such as clothing and paper.  Demand for these products,
      not even in existence a few years ago, is growing rapidly.

    * Hemp seeds are a source of nutritious high-protien oil which can
      be used for human and animal consumption--it is NOT intoxicating.
      Extracting protein from hemp is much less expensive than extracting
      it from soybeans.  Hemp protein can be processed and flavored any
      way soybean protein can.  Hemp oil can also be used to make paint,
      varnish, lubricating oils, and even cheese!  Hemp oil is also sold
      by hemp specialty stores.

    * Hemp for rope, lubricating oil, shoe material, and other goods
      was in such high demand during World War II that the U.S.
      government temporarily legalized hemp so U.S. farmers could grow
      it for the war effort!  Hemp helped us win World War II!

    * Hemp was legal in the U.S. and harvested for use in commercial
      products until 1937.  Hemp was NOT outlawed because it was a harmful
      drug!  Hemp was outlawed in the U.S because it was a competitive
      threat to newly developed synthetic textiles that were patented, and
      therefore highly profitable.  The corporations that developed these
      new synthetics begin a smear campaign against hemp claiming that
      marijuana was a major drug problem in the U.S. and that marijuana was
      a very dangerous drug.  Congress went along and outlawed hemp.

    * Hemp is legally grown for commercial use in Europe, China, and Russia.
      If the U.S. does not legalize hemp, a significant economic and
      environmental opportunity will be lost by the U.S.

    * Hemp grown for commercial use has such a low THC content (the
      intoxicating ingredient in marijuan) that it useless as an
      intoxicant.

    * Cultivating and manufacturing hemp-derived products in the U.S.
      would be an enormous economic and environmental benefit.  Instead
      of wasting billions of dollars every year fighting the unwinable
      war on marijuana and filling our prisons with harmless pot dealers,
      we could be generating billions of dollars in new economic activity,
      creating thousands of new jobs, and helping the environment.


                THE DANGERS OF MARIJUANA
                ------------------------

    In the entire history of the world, there has never been a single
    death attributed to marijuana consumption.  In one year, the
    following number of deaths occur in the U.S. as a result of drug
    consumption.  (Numbers come from U.S. government and The National
    Institute on Drug Abuse--they are approximate.)

    DRUG                                                | ANNUAL DEATHS
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Tobacco                                             | 400,000
    Alcohol                                             | 150,000
    Asprin                                              | 500 to 1,000
    Caffeine (form ulcers and heart problems)           | 1,000 to 10,000
    Prescription drugs (deliberate/accidental overdose) | 20,000
    Illegal drugs (but NOT marijuana)                   | 4,000
    Marijuana                                           | 0 (ZERO!)

    The California HEMP initiative would place strict limits on the
    sale of hemp for consumption.  Marijuana could not purchased by
    anyone under the age of 21.  Driving under its influence would also
    be illegal, as it is now.  The laws regulating marijuana use would
    be very similar to those for alcoholic beverages.  If this proposition
    were to pass, the state of California would be required challenge
    federal marijuana laws in court.

    Again, contact...

         H.E.M.P.  (Help End Marijuana Prohibition)
         5632 Van Nuys Blvd.
         Suite 310
         Van Nuys  CA  91401
         Phone: (310) 392-1806

    Please distribute this message to as many people as possible!  May
    the movement grow and spread like a weed!
    
                  --HEMP FOR VICTORY IN '96!