Pubdate: Fri, 29 Apr 2005
Source: Sun News (Myrtle Beach, SC)
Copyright: 2005 Sun Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/sunnews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/987
Author: Fred Bellomo
Note: apparent 150 word limit on LTEs
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm (Hemp)

GRADE B MOVIE GAVE HEMP A BUM RAP

Re "Reefer Madness," the movie that helped the people who wanted to
rid the earth of natural materials:

This was their proof that hemp was so dangerous; we forget that
"marijuana" was made up to scare people away from its real name.

Hemp was used for everything including lamp oil, clothes, sails and
rope. The sails of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria were made of hemp.
It is used in the Holy Bible and in currency. People believed this
Grade B movie to condemn the fabric that was the best, because it
doesn't shrink or rot from mold or stretch out of shape like cotton.

We could not have won the Revolution without hemp. Where did you think
we got our uniforms, Wal-Mart? It was in our flag. The Declaration of
Independence was written on hemp; all of our forefathers grew hemp.

I challenge you to prove me wrong.

Fred Bellomo

Surfside Beach
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin