It’s more than just a good smoke for adults:

A new Hemp Museum opened its doors at 2017 N. Pacific Ave. in Santa Cruz to let people know that, far from being a “devil weed,” as Drug War propagandists like to brand it, cannabis hemp is a useful farm crop and something of a planetary savior.

In its industrial and horticultural forms, the plant doesn’t make enough THC to make anyone high or work as medical marijuana.

Nonetheless, many believe that hemp is essential to healing the planet by providing a food, fuel and fiber crop that can be used to restore the environment and reduce the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides.

Responding to the failure of Gov. Schwarzenegger to sign AB 1147, an industrial hemp bill that was passed by the legislature last year, the California Hemp Initiative language that made it halfway to the ballot on volunteer power alone in 1994 is again about to be circulated in slightly revised form as the Cannabis Hemp and Health Initiative.

Michael Jolsen of the Youth Federation in Santa Cruz told Oaksterdam News that the petition drive is set to begin in December 2007, with a goal of collecting signatures from a million registered voters over the course of 150 days in order to qualify for the November 2008 ballot.

The initiative takes a holistic approach to cannabis reform, addressing industrial hemp, medical marijuana and adult access to cannabis for personal use. It would allow farmers to grow hemp like any other agricultural crop, allow pharmacies to carry medical marijuana along with the existing dispensaries, and allow adults to garden and possess a personal supply of cannabis. It also calls on the legislature to license commercial production and sales and attach an excise tax of no more than $10 per ounce (tobacco has a tax of less than $1 per pack).

The language originated in 1990 in Los Angeles by Jack Herer’s group, Help End Marijuana Prohibition, with Chris Conrad and the American Hemp Council. During the early 1990s, hundreds of thousands of signatures were secured without ever qualifying for the ballot. Those efforts were co-opted into the Prop 215 medical marijuana campaign.

With medical marijuana already in place in state law, the Republican governor having vetoed the 2006 state industrial hemp bill, and cities around the state having called for adult cannabis sales to be taxed and regulated at the state level, Jolsen and Herer agreed to make another run at the ballot.

The move is controversial because the effort lacks significant funding and does not have any polling to show the extent of its support within the state.

However, past signature campaigns have been essential to educating voters and the public about cannabis reform, and Prop 215 did not secure financial backing until after a grassroots effort had demonstrated its potential. For those reasons, volunteers are critical to its success.

For more information, contact theYouth Federation at 831-425-3313, PO Box 1406 Santa Cruz CA 95060 or visit online at youthfederation.com