Pubdate: Sun, 18 Aug 2001 Source: Arlington Journal, The (VA) Copyright: 2001 The Journal Newspapers Page: Front Page Contact: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1550 Website: http://www.jrnl.com/cfdocs/new/arl/ Author: Karen Bousquet, Journal Staff Writer Cited: Reams Reeferendum http://www.reeferendum.com Patients Out of Time http://www.medicalcannabis.com LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATE TARGETS DRUG LAWS Reams Conducts 'Reeferendum' Campaign For Lieutenant Governor Candidate Holds High Hopes For Hemp Gary Reams' "grass" roots push to reform marijuana laws isn't about winning the lieutenant governor's race Nov. 6: He knows he won't. But running a one-issue campaign is the only way voters will get the chance to protest what he calls "egregious and inhumane" laws that hogtie doctors and punish recreational users, he said. "There's a growing constituency that isn't being listened to," the Libertarian said Thursday. "Marijuana laws have gone too far." Reams, 45, moved to Lorton a few years ago after living in Prince William County for 17 years. He characterizes his unusual campaign as a "reeferendum" designed to give Virginians something its citizens don't have under state law: the power to place a referendum on the ballot. His ultimate goal is to effect reform of marijuana laws, he says, not to propose specific legislation at the state or federal level. Politicians typically ignore the issue or refuse to take a stand, Reams said, because "they're afraid of losing votes." Marijuana, considered a schedule 1 drug under federal law, has been used to treat symptoms of glaucoma and nausea associated with chemotherapy. In more recent years, it has been used by AIDS patients to stimulate appetite. Al Byrne, co-founder of Howardsville-based Patients Out of Time said the group's exclusive purpose is to promote the use of cannabis as medicine. Support for the use of medicinal marijuana is strong, Byrne said. He cited a a 2000 Virginia Tech "Quality of Life" survey undertaken annually for the Legislative Review, in which 78 percent of respondents favored such use. "[Patients] are using it," he said. "I get calls all day long. I get e-mails all day long from people who are using cannabis, and all of them are using it illegally." The Virginia Farm Bureau, a nongovernmental voluntary agency, also endorses the legal growth of low-grade industrial hemp as a cash crop. "It's regarded in many parts of the world as an agricultural crop and it was in this country years ago," said Spencer Neale, senior assistant director of the Farm Bureau's commodity department. Hemp, derived from the cannabis sativa plant, is used for rope, plastics, building products and paper products, Neale said. The oil that can be drawn from the seed is used in shampoo and makeup products. "The true form of industrial hemp is definitely an agricultural crop. We support research to look at its viability as a cash crop," Neale said, but he added that resistance from the federal level to such measures is strong. Virginia legislators, however, side with the Farm Bureau. In its most recent session, the General Assembly passed a bill requesting the Department of Agriculture, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia State Police to develop guidelines for the growth and production of industrial hemp. Reams says the cost of keeping marijuana illegal has never been measured, but he estimated a conservative figure of about $200 million a year in Virginia - which doesn't include lost revenues from the cultivation of hemp and other ventures. "Nonusers are carrying the burden of prohibition," Reams said. "There are 700,000 arrests [nationwide] annually. [Those resources] could have been used to fight real crime." Reams, who said he has smoked marijuana but no longer does, said he's always "felt strongly" about legalizing marijuana and now sees a growing groundswell of support for such change. "This is an opportunity for voters to really make a difference," Reams said. "It's going to carry forward, and I'm going to carry that message forward also."