Pubdate: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 Source: Central Michigan Life (MI Edu) Address: Central Michigan Life, 8 Anspach Hall, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 Phone: (989) 774-LIFE (5433) Fax: (989) 774-7805 Website: http://www.cm-life.com/ Contact: Danielle Quisenberry 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.