National Religious Freedom Day

To initiate celebration of National Religious Freedom Day ( January 16th, 2009) the California Cannabis Ministry has posted a ten minute video documentary trailer on You Tube, entitled "Return to Reason." The ten minute film was made by international Cannabis scholar Paul von Hartmann, a biodynamic agriculturist and resident of Mount Shasta.

The video features the European hemp industry and research, demonstrating sustainable agricultural solutions through wise use of an abundant, unique and essential, beneficial rotational crop. I trust that people will view the video and pass it along for discussion before the community meeting scheduled for 7:30 pm at the Stage Door, Thursday, January 15th.

The general public, medical patients, professionals and caregivers, civic leaders, educators and students, spiritual leaders, law enforcement and environmental community of Siskiyou County are specifically invited to participate in the process of implementing responsible, effective drug policy. Discussion of Cannabis agriculture is the first step toward an abundance and variety of healthful, good-paying jobs, serve as a model for compassionate, responsible drug policy based in science and reason, and rejuvenate regional economics while reclaiming critical, fundamental human rights.

Freedom to farm IS freedom of religion, protected by "substantive due process" that recognizes the legal power of historical precedent. Once the incomparable stature of Cannabis history, agriculture, industry and nutrition are fully appreciated, there can be no truly legal grounds for impeding immediate reintroduction of Cannabis agriculture to the free market.

To do otherwise disregards both State and Federal Constitutions, by violating our "First Freedom." At the same time Cannabis prohibition has created a vicious black market, a corrupt, expensive, predatory bureaucracy, global food insecurity, epidemic malnutrition and a "forbidden fruit" that's more attractive to justifiably angry, curious & rebellious youth.

A Compassionate Cultural Center in Mount Shasta will fulfill the requirements of Proposition 215 and AB 420 by providing a well-regulated organic medical Cannabis dispensary, nutritional counseling, and wellness center, based on the model of the British Columbia Compassion Club Society (BCCCS) in Vancouver
http://www.thecompassionclub.org/

By this spring it is hoped that communication with elected officials in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. will secure our self-evident rights. It is critical that we make the best use of the limited time we have left to recover from the present environmental, economic, and social imbalances imposed by prolonged, essential resource scarcity, leading eventually to unstoppable synergistic collapse.

Obama transition Team's "Open for Questions"

Below are eight questions I've just submitted to the Obama transition Team's "Open for Questions" website, under the name "projectpeace."

If you agree that the Obama administration needs to weigh the benefits of Cannabis agriculture vs. the counter-productive effects of marijuana prohibition, then please visit the "Open for Questions" site

http://change.gov/page/content/openforquestions20081229/

and cast your vote for our freedom to farm.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Paul

===========================

- Economy

"Since inducing scarcity of a "strategic resource" weakens America's economy and threatens our food security, how can our government claim rightful, legal jurisdiction over god-given resources that are both unique and essential, as is Cannabis?"



- Science & Technology

"Research in Cannabis therapeutics, industry & ecology is being done in all of the developed countries, except in the U.S. Will the Obama administration continue to suppress knowledge of the true value of hemp, or lead the world in scientific inquiry?"



- Health Care


"Since hemp seed nutrition is the most cost effective way to prevent and successfully treat many illnesses, why wouldn't the government take an active role in educating people about the importance of eating hemp seed protein and hemp seed oil? Please!"





- Foreign Policy

"If abundant, essential food and fuel resources can be farmed sustainably, organically, all over the world, using hemp, then isn't Cannabis agriculture the most peaceful, responsible, affordable, globally available strategy for effecting world peace?"





- Additional Issues

"The California Cannabis Ministry is an individual expression of religious freedom, recognizing that freedom to farm is a sacred, fundamental human right. Will Obama honor substantive due process, that protects our most ancient right to farm Cannabis?"




- National Security

"Executive Order 12919 identifies hemp as a strategic resource available by essential civilian demand. What's the protocol for essential civilian demand, for the world's most ancient, nutritious, useful, potentially abundant, agricultural resource?"




- Education


"When kids find out that our government is lying about the true value of hemp by waging a counter-productive drug war, then doesn't that damage the credibility of law, impede the motivation to trust & learn, and fundamentally subvert social evolution?"





- Energy & Environment

"No other crop produces as many "monoterpenes" (VOCs) as hemp, while sequestering carbon and remineralizing the soil. Why won't our government consider reintroducing organic hemp agriculture to help mitigate climate change, and stop "global broiling?""

Dear President Obama,

An honest, science-based assessment of the "drug war" has revealed, for decades, that prohibition is counter-productive to its own stated objectives. The Conference of Mayor's resolution of June 2007 stops short of endorsing Cannabis agriculture, but the reason is there to follow the example being set in France, Germany, Canada and most other developed countries who have embraced the wisdom of ancient, beneficial Cannabis agriculture.

To continue prohibition of the world's most useful agricultural resource in the face of the challenges and threats that are before us, is absolute madness. To pretend otherwise is worse than mere foolishness. It is criminally negligent to under-value Cannabis, a Federally recognized "strategic food resource," during the present era of epidemic malnutrition and global food insecurity.

Cannabis is the ONLY crop that produces a seed containing three essential fatty acids, all of the essential amino acids, and is the world's best available source of organic vegetable protein. In addition, Cannabis is the ONLY crop that can sustainably produce bio-fuels and food from the same harvest. Rotational planting of hemp improves the soil, detoxifies contaminated soils and discourages pest infestation. Many safe and uniquely therapeutic agents are produced by the Cannabis plant, making it an effective home remedy with preventative as well as curative properties. Atmospheric aerosols called "monoterpenes," produced in abundance by Cannabis, may be critical to protecting the Earth from increasing UV-B radiation. Carbon sequestration and carbon storage potential of hemp exceeds that of any other crop.

My vision for the United States is for our god-given, self-evident freedom to farm to be recognized as an integral component of our "First Freedom," the freedom of religion.

ON TWENTY-FIVE ACRES OF DECENT FARMLAND, I CAN GROW ENOUGH CANNABIS HEMP IN ROTATION WITH OTHER ORGANIC CROPS TO PROVIDE ALL THE FOOD, FUEL, AND FIBER THAT MY FAMILY NEEDS TO THRIVE. AT THE SAME TIME, A POSITIVE SPIRITUAL ORIENTATION TO CANNABIS WILL RESULT IN RESPECT FOR THE PLANT, A RENEWED FAITH IN AMERICAN JUSTICE AND REGARD FOR THE LAW.

I CHALLENGE THE RIGHTFUL JURISDICTION OF ANY COURT OVER NATURAL RESOURCES THAT ARE BOTH UNIQUE AND ESSENTIAL. I FURTHER INSIST THAT THE SO-CALLED "DRUG WAR" BE STOPPED IMMEDIATELY, BECAUSE IT IS KNOWN TO ENRICH A VICIOUS AND VIOLENT BLACK MARKET, WHILE EXPOSING AMERICA TO TERRORIST ATTACK THROUGH AN UNACCOUNTABLE, UNTRACEABLE DRUG MARKET.

I call upon the United States government and the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization to transcend the tragic misvaluation of Cannabis seed nutrition, recognize the exceptionally beneficial properties of Cannabis agriculture, manufacture and trade, and end prohibition of both industrial hemp and marijuana effective immediately.

How bad do things have to get before all solutions are considered?

I envision the country I was taught to love, by my Russian-born parents; for which I accepted responsibility as a child, pledging allegiance everyday at school; taught to preserve the freedoms we inherited; led by a President with the courage and personal integrity to save this planet.

Please contact me soon, for more information.

Bush's opportunity for a parting "Christian" gesture of magnanimity and compassion

Bush's opportunity for a parting "Christian" gesture of magnanimity and compassion


If President Bush...

Were truly a great leader...

If he wanted to do all he can to protect our troops...

And defuse the hatred that's festering against all Americans because of the horrible war he started...

If he has any shred of human conscience and compassion for the immense suffering he's caused countless, innocent men, women and children in Iraq...

Then he would recognize the opportunity that has been given to him by Mr. al-Zaidi, to behave in a presidential manner, now. By insisting that Muntazer al-Zaidi be pardoned and released, and providing him with the best medical treatment available for his injuries, President Bush could demonstrate the qualities that he has used to justify America's military presence in Iraq.

Mr. al-Zaidi's expression of frustration and anguish hurt no one. We can all recognize, with gratitude, that in this case, a relatively harmless means of expression was chosen to convey the legitimate grievance of a society caught in the crossfire, rather than a lethal attack.

Having compassion for Mr.al-Zaidi, particularly at this time of the year, would demonstrate a measure of compassion for the immense harm done to his country and his people.

It is inconceivable to me that President Bush would allow this opportunity for a parting, magnanimous gesture to pass without recognizing the urgent need for initiating and demonstrating the process forgiveness.

I trust that if President Bush does nothing to help Mr.al-Zaidi, that President Obama will.

Meaningful Holidays to All,

Paul

Posted by: P.E.A.C.E. on Dec 22, 2008 12:37 PM
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/114635/shoe-throwing_journalist_faces_trial_on_dec_31/?cID=1088653#c1088653

“drug wars” have not worked -- ?

Greetings, TJ and friends ENCODian,

TJ G wrote:

"...it’s a waste of time arguing with drug warriors who will probably never ever admit that “drug wars” have not worked whatever the evidence."

It seems to me that the so-called "drug wars" HAVE "worked," to :

-- prolong the global economic addiction to fo$$il fuel$ and other expensive, unevenly distributed, expensive and otherwise unavailable forms of energy.
-- impose food insecurity and malnutrition, substituting a genetically modified source of protein (GM soy) for a more healthful, potentially abundant and globally distributed, sustainable, organic agricultural resource (Hemp, chanvre, hanf, hennep, konopya, ...)
-- create economic disparity that affords control over many by a few.
-- cripples organic agriculture by eliminating autonomy, made possible by regional agricultural biofuels production AND protein production, from the same harvest!
From the same harvest!!

This is enormous. That Cannabis produces fuel and food for humans, to the benefit of the soil, water, atmosphere, and wildlife is a critical plank in constructing the bridge out from under the misguided prohibitionist dominance we were born into. The argument really ends when simple logic establishes rightful jurisdiction. Such is the case with fp's direct and simple triumph over the unaccountable Costa. The UN's limitations of accountability establish the "border" of prohibition.

In the context of economically unobjective courts, it is less likely that the subject will be introduced in other than the court of public opinion, so if we really want prohibition to end, we must first admit that we have understated our case and not done everything we can.

I would postulate this to the world, for whom ever may care to consider that mankind's role in a properly balanced Natural Order is to grow crops that produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs), in abundance, in order to supply the atmosphere with enough "monoterpenes" to shield the planet from "global broiling" -- increasing UV-B radiation.

The combined significance of Cannabis essential nutritional productivity, fuel production capacity, environmental benefits, and global distribution convey the power of true value, which becomes more precious as conditions continue to deteriorate. In the end, there will be a paucity of time, unless people stand up now, and declare Cannabis a legitimate spiritual right protected under the "freedom of religion" in every human rights document that's ever been written.

Only absolute freedom to grow as much Cannabis of every kind for every purpose will be sufficient. Let the "drug war dinosaurs" who cannot bear to answer simple questions argue for a return to prohibition if they choose to, but out of necessity we must actively reverse the global consensus globally declaring an accurate assessment of Cannabis for all of its uses and benefits.

Recent stunning developments in the field of Cannabis medicine and history have established that the United States government is lying in order to impose Schedule I status for 'marijuana.' In addition, if the legal distinction is made between herbs and drugs, then gratitude for the harvest is sufficient to convey an end to prohibition by reason of legitimate religious protections already in force under existing laws.

The cost effectiveness of a more direct argument will pay for itself in the short term. Already, in countries where the Cannabis industry has taken root and flourished, there is an economic benefit to the community that supports the consciously lucrative, green Cannabis industry.

There is no more available, proportionate solution to the majority of the world's imbalances, than the reintroduction of the world's most useful and nutritious agricultural resource.

The "drug war" has also been successful in

-- imbedding institutionalized punishment-for-profit industries into our society to the extent that the prison&sherriff's lobby was able to defeat Proposition 5 in Califiornia last month:

See the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act
http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_5_(2008)

defeated by the $1.8 million spent by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, a lobbying group vested in the prison industrial complex.

-- stigmatize free-thinking, marginalize and disrupt the family structure of liberal-minded and agricultural communities.

-- sell more expensive products that would otherwise not be able to compete in a truly "free market"

All of these undesirable, truly illegal effects are profitable for a relative few people, who have invested part of their wealth to buy political influence, that control the courts and influences the vote.

-- imposed intentional ignorance and scarcity on people's fundamental right to survive through the freedom to farm, creating a regional abundance of balanced nutrition and sustainable energy.

How else to explain the blatant and prolonged criminal negligence of the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization (UNFAO), that refuses to facilitate agricultural production of the world's most complete, potentially abundant and globally available food, in a world where 923 million people are starving?

State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/011/i0291e/i0291e00.pdf

For what it's worth, I suspect that the prohibition of 'marijuana' will end in the rest of the world, soon after prohibition industrial hemp ends in the United States. Such a huge lie cannot stand up to the public scrutiny any longer. Prohibition has to end or we're all going to die, and people all over the world are learn why that's true.

A 180 degree shift in public values is what's needed before we can hope to sway the courts or our chemically-vested politicians. The U.S. puts so much economic pressure on other countries to wage a profit-driven, hypocritical and selective global drug war, that prohibition has to end here, if it is to end any- and everywhere.

Just because countries other than the U.S. may be able to farm industrial hemp to some degree, under the strict and watchful eye of expensive government bureaucracies, doesn't mean that Cannabis prohibition in the US isn't impacting your hemp industry.

Prohibition of Cannabis in the US is the cornerstone of the global drug war, for two reasons. First, because marijuana availability is inversely proportionate to hard drug use, i.e. the more marijuana there is, the less people are inclined toward use of hard drugs (legal or illegal). Secondly, because the volume of marijuana being produced and sold on the black market dwarfs the quantities of hard drugs being sold.

If there are people in the European drug policy reform community who see the sense in this, and can afford to direct practical support and encouragement to activists in the US, then you are cordially invited to do so at a time when there appears to be an opportunity for change.

"After receiving nearly 100,000 total votes on more than 10,000 public policy issues, the most widely voted on question for Obama is:

"Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion-dollar industry right here in the U.S.?"

from "Pot Supporters Bang on Obama's Doors for Drug Reform"
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/DrugReporter/#112401

Best wishes to all for a meaningful Holiday,

PvH


Paul J. von Hartmann
California Cannabis Ministry
http://www.californiacannabisministry.blogspot.com

Project P.E.A.C.E.
Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics
http://www.webspawner.com/users/projectpeace

Human security

"Human security is an emerging paradigm for understanding global vulnerabilities whose proponents challenge the traditional notion of national security by arguing that the proper referent for security should be the individual rather than the state. Human security holds that a people-centered view of security is necessary for national, regional and global stability."

from "Human security"
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_security

"The State of Food Insecurity in
the World 2008 represents
FAO’s ninth progress report on
world hunger since the 1996 World
Food Summit (WFS). In previous
editions, FAO has expressed deep
concern over the lack of progress in
reducing the number of hungry
people in the world, which has
remained persistently high.

"FAO’s most recent estimates put the number of
hungry people at 923 million in 2007, an increase of more
than 80 million since the 1990–92 base period."

"The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008"
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/011/i0291e/i0291e00.pdf

Premise

Cannabis seed is nutritionally unique and essential.

Conclusion

Absent a global free market in Cannabis agriculture, research, manufacture and trade,
mankind will never achieve sustainable existence on Earth.

As individuals, we possess the right to grow Cannabis for food -- if we claim it, as is our responsibility, on behalf of future generations.

Time is the limiting factor in the equation of survival. Every spring that passes is an opportunity for global healing that is gone forever.

If you have money and this makes sense to you then please make contact. There is no money on a burned-out planet.

Shift your toxic petro dollars into the economic vacuum that's giving rise to a groundswell awareness. Support the California Cannabis ministry's Compassionate Cultural Center to develop regional, organic agriculturally based economics. Green market economics could easily end the black market, if society is grown up enough to accept individual responsibility for our own well-being.

How BAD do things have to get before all compassionate solutions are considered?

For prohibition to end, the true value of Cannabis agriculture, research, manufacture & trade must become common knowledge.

===============================

Contact me for more information
about how to legally transcend
Cannabis prohibition -- right NOW.

Until the freedom to farm "every herb bearing seed" is reclaimed in the U.S. -- and Cannabis prohibition ended -- global agriculture and regional economics will be crippled by soil demineralization, ag chemicals and fuel expenses.

Our most useful and nutritious crop is being suppressed through a counter-productive prohibition. Because of 'marijuana' prohibition, industrial hemp agriculture and the knowledge of hemp's unique and essential food value has been edited from the collective consciousness. That the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization doesn't actively promote global hemp agriculture to produce vegetable protein and essential fatty acids is the crime of two Centuries.

It's time for farmers to reclaim our right to farm Cannabis for food, fuel, and much more. Article One, freedom of religion, is currently in force to protect our right to farm Cannabis. January 16th is

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DAY
http://religiousfreedomday.com/

Please celebrate.

"Many of Jefferson's ideas about government, which are the philosophic underpinnings for our country, are based on the interrelationship between the land and the people. He clearly felt that the closer people were to the land, the freer they were to lead more "natural" lives and thus experience more directly the full possession of their natural unalienable rights. And in the process they might also feel closer to their God, the source of those rights."

from Thomas Jefferson: Agronomist
http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2005_summer_fall/agronomist.htm

It is time to plant Thomas Jefferson's favorite crop once again. Every spring planting season that passes is an opportunity lost forever.

How bad do things have to get before all compassionate solutions are considered?

The test of President Obama's true character will be in his openness to "essential civilian demand" for hemp, as provided for in Executive Order 12919, and his practical support of religious freedom.

The spiritual legitimacy of individualized religion

There is no greater challenge or opportunity for compassion facing mankind than to end prohibition of the world's most nutritious and useful "herb bearing seed," Cannabis.

"God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed...and every green herb..."

Drugs don't make seeds. Herbs do. Organized religions have been politicized by a counter-productive "drug war", effecting the degree to which an individual's personal, evolving relationship with "god" is respected by law. It is the challenge of our generation to recognize the spiritual legitimacy of individualized religion, reclaim our self-evident freedom to farm hemp, and develop universal compassion for the world's oldest global culture.

31 Harms of Cannabis Prohibition

31 Harms of Cannabis Prohibition

1. Induces essential resource scarcity and inefficiency, by limiting the regional, sustainable production and dependable availability of several bio-fuels, including cellulosic hydrogen and ethanol, pyrolytic charcoal, diesel seed oil, methane gas, and compost heat.
2. Induces essential resource scarcity by limiting the production and availability of unique and essential foods, including both of the essential fatty acids, the best available source of organic vegetable protein, critically important vitamins, minerals and all of the essential amino acids.
3. Induces essential resource scarcity by limiting the production and availability of affordable, recyclable and biodegradable building materials for humans.
4. Reduces the carrying capacity of wildlife habitat by reducing the availability of essential food and cover.
5. Institutionalizes a black market economy in god-given herbs by misidentifying them as "drugs."
6. Corrupts governments, locally and globally.
7. Creates radical resource disparity, that inevitably leads to wars over energy, water and other essential natural resources.
8. Creates an economic vacuum that has addicted and corrupted our economic system to be dependent on toxic, unevenly distributed, finite resources.
9. Degrades the environment on regional and global levels. "Global Broiling" by increasing UV-B radiation is perhaps the least discussed example of "extinctionistic" effects that mankind's addiction to chemicals is already having.
10. Engenders poverty, illness and violence, where abundance, health and peace could otherwise exist.
11. Causes epidemic malnutrition.
12. Threatens everyone's health by inducing essential food scarcity, which obviates optimum human development and potential.
13. Perverts human social evolution toward synergistic collapse of environment, economics, and social structures.
14. Largely responsible for the rise of GMOs, having created protein shortages.
15. Economically and politically empowers the least conscious
16. Disrespects and interferes with science
17. Institutionalizes disrespect for Nature
18. Inhibits free individual spiritual evolution
19. Robs us of our Natural Rights, upon which our government was founded.
20. Robs other creatures, with whom we share this planet, of an unique and essential food and
shelter resource.
21. Creates conditions of acceptance for government misinformation, destroying the credibility of government.
22 Accelerates the spread of HIV/AIDS between infected mothers and nursing infants.
23. Creates a "forbidden fruit" which makes adolescent experimentation with 'marijuana' and other psychoactive substances more likely.
24. Makes the wild places into war zones, driving illegal growers further and further back into remote
wilderness areas.
25. Interferes with regeneration of damaged lands, and expansion of the global arable base.
26. Cripples organic agriculture by banning safe, potentially abundant biogenic pesticides and effective, rotational crop management.
27. Violates respect for previous generations who sacrificed so much for the freedoms we are
losing in the name of the counter-productive, hypocritical, selective and expensive "drug war."
28. Results, on average, in the pointless death of one police officer per month, who waste their lives enforcing
anti-Constitutional laws that are counter-productive to their own stated objectives.
29. Constricts the global agricultural production of atmospheric aerosols called "monoterpenes" which have been shown to reflect solar radiation away from the planet, and seed cloud formation to protect the Earth from "global broiling" by increasing UV-B radiation.
30. Inhibits the use of a safe and effective herbal therapeutic by people who are intimidated by the misinformation and violence that characterizes 'marijuana' prohibition.
31. Destroys families.

Paul J. von Hartmann
California Cannabis Ministry
http://www.californiacannabisministry.blogspot.com

Project P.E.A.C.E.
Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics
http://www.webspawner.com/users/projectpeace

Dear President Obama,

Please begin the process of ending the so-called "Drug War" by eliminating the position of "Drug Czar" from your administration. The arrogant and aggressive presumption that America needs a "Czar" of any kind is offensive, but even more so since what is truly called for now is a shift to compassion and reason.

I recommend that you immediately convene the U.S. Conference of Mayors to act upon recommendations made in the resolution they passed in June 2007. A panel of experts made up of people from several related disciplines would be a responsible, level-headed way to start.

I further recommend Ethan Nadelmann from the Drug Policy Alliance, Jack Cole from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Congressman Dennis Kucinich and Congressman Ron Paul as capable allies in the shift to a pragmatic drug policy.

Please heed the wisdom of Mr. Lincoln, stated so clearly,

"Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes crimes out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded."

Abraham Lincoln
Apr. 11, 1865 - from his last public address

How bad do things have to get before all solutions are considered?

Sincerely,

Paul J. von Hartmann
California Cannabis Ministry
Mount Shasta, California

Letter to Congressman Ron Paul

Dear Congressman Paul,

For the past sixteen years I have been a Cannabis scholar, living in countries that grow hemp. Now that I am back on native soil, I simply cannot accept that rightful jurisdiction of the government over hemp is legal. Cannabis is both unique and essential. Government has never had rightful jurisdiction over unique and essential natural resources.

Perhaps you are already aware and sufficiently concerned about "global broiling" -- the increasing UV-B radiation that is weakening immune systems, stunting growth and causing genetic mutation in amphibians, and other indicator species.

Production of atmospheric monoterpenes has the potential to be a proportionate response to bombardment by solar radiation, making Cannabis agriculture our best bet for healing the Earth. Cannabis produces 58 monoterpenes, is highly adaptable, capabl of growing abundantly in a wide variety of soils and climates.

I am writing to ask you to help me exercise "essential civilian demand" for hemp, as referred to in Executive Order 12919 (Clinton, 1994). In 1998 I sent a formal challenge to the White House entitled "The Fundamental Challenge of Our Time." The 25 page paper was adopted as the manifesto for the Cannabis College in Amsterdam, and has been translated in several languages.

"The Fundamental Challenge of Our Time"
http://fundamentalcoot.blogspot.com/

If you would care to have me testify before Congress, I can help people to understand why Cannabis has never been truly illegal, because it is critical to our survival, individually and collectively.

If mankind doesn't grow hemp, we will never achieve sustainability environmentally, economically or in terms of peaceful social evolution. We are facing synergistic collapse, and every springtime that passes is an opportunity lost forever.

Drugs don't make seeds. Herbs do. In Genesis 1:29-31 is the key to our immediate legal access to hemp. Since our "First Freedom" Article One in the Bill of Rights, protects our individual spiritual relationship with the Earth, then I believe it is my responsibility as an American citizen to reclaim the rights I inherited from my father, so that I may pass them on to my son.

Thank you for your consideration, your great works and for your progressive visioning.

Sincerely,

Paul von Hartmann
California Cannabis Ministry
Mount Shasta, California

Reversing America's Cannabis Assessment Begins in the Court of Public Opinion

In discussions with President Obama it is fundamentally important to be accurate in distinguishing between drugs and herbs. The fact is, drugs don't make seeds. Though typically over-looked, the distinction has practical and legal relevance. Celebrating our Constitutionally empowered right to "every herb bearing seed" is the shortest distance to Cannabis freedom.

It seems to me that the drug policy reform community has widely failed to argue this obvious legal distinction to its obvious conclusion, namely, the end of Cannabis prohibition and quite possibly the end of the hard drug trade as well.

For America to make the best of finally having an intelligent person as President, we must trust that he has the ability to understand "The Big Picture." In the past the drug policy reform issue has been divided into a number of conveniently (though unrealistically) defined areas. In truth, the medical, nutritional, spiritual, recreational, and industrial uses of Cannabis do not fit into distinct categories.

Many people in the drug policy reform community consistently understate our own argument by accepting artificial distinctions that do not present a well-rounded, cohesive rationale favoring total Cannabis freedom.

By failing to identify Cannabis for what it truly is: both unique and essential for food, biofuels, herbal therapeutics, biogenic pesticides, atmospheric aerosols, carbon sequestration, oxygen production, soil re-mineralization, expansion of the arable base etc. we are constricting the flow of critical information that would end prohibition.

Values that lead to sustainability must respect the Natural Order and be globally available. In the U.S. people are largely ignorant of the benefits of hemp agriculture, nutrition, economics, and ecology because it is being edited out of the community consciousness by prohibition.

Sadly, we have failed to stand up for fundamental freedoms that previous generations fought and died for. The responsibility rests with our generation to reclaim the freedoms that are critical for everyone's children's futures.

In many countries, Cannabis is being reintegrated into society, with rational tolerance. Industrial hemp is providing fuel, food, and fiber for more and more people every year. As people come to understand the enormous value of hemp as a proportionate response to climate change, Cannabis agriculture will be recognized as beyond merely "legal" -- it's essential, and urgently so.

Cannabis has been the measure of wealth and true value for the world's oldest global culture. In the U.S., people are finally coming to understand the unique and essential values of Cannabis. This is how we could end prohibition tomorrow.

An international commission to establish the value of Cannabis agriculture to society is what I believe is needed. The whole plant is unique and essential, therefore beyond the rightful jurisdiction of any court.

To have a truly free market, Canabis agricultrue must be allowed to compete. To eliminate the black market, and to effect climate mitigation, people must be allowed to grow Cannabis for any reason, in any amount that they choose.

Now that we have an intelligent human being in the Oval Office, perhaps America is ready to grow up, wake up or whatever it takes to recognize the essential value of Cannabis. Only through total freedom to farm can regional, organic agricultural abundance be realized.

I believe it is humankind's purpose within the Natural Order to effect the widespread distribution and propagation of beneficial plants. It is the surest way to stabilize "global broiling" that can only lead to synergistic collapse of environment, economics and mankind's social evolution.

George wrote

"We need serious planning at the global level based on some sort of clear vision on how to make hunger and malnutrition history within this generation. At this stage there is no global agency to facilitate this planning effort."

Absolutely correct. Many people in many countries are sharing the same clear vision of returning to an historically proven, globally distributed crop as an available, efficient, proportionate strategy for addressing hunger and climate change.

I suggest we initiate a comprehensive discussion at the highest levels of the UNFAO, regarding the potential for ending prohibitions and restrictions imposed on Cannabis agriculture, in order to facilitate global distribution of protein-rich seeds, abundant fiber and cellulose.

Best wishes,

Paul

Hemp considered?

Syad asked, in the UNFSN forum:

Regarding "...using Biochar in soils for reducing global carbon emission...the question is how to trap it and deposit safely or reuse?"

Manufacture of biodegradable building materials from fiber/cellulose crops would be one way to store large quantities of carbon.

See
http://community.freespeech.org/zelfo_hemp_plastic_10_times_stronger_than_steel

for more about Cannabis history, manufacture and trade.

I am curious to know Ruy and others, to what extent Cannabis agriculture is employed in the production of biofuels, food and other products where you are?

I believe that the answer to many of the questions asked in this forum has been hidden in the forbidden and tragically under-valued Cannabis plant. If considered for its unique and essential food value alone, next spring would see a return to intensive global Cannabis agriculture.

Beyond the urgency of soil retention, detoxification, re-mineralization and de-compaction of damaged lands, Cannabis agriculture could also realize the planet's most efficient atmospheric carbon sequestration/oxygen production potential.

In addition, Cannabis production of atmospheric monoterpenes, could effect radiative forcing and reflection of increasing UV-B radiation. Except for the suppressive influence of 'marijuana' prohibition, Cannabis agriculture is an available, proportionate response to a huge global threat. Sufficient regional "seeding" of clouds with atmospheric aerosols called "monoterpenes" (of which Cannabis produces fifty-eight) would protect the Earth's surface from "global broiling" by producing a protective cloud layer.

I suggest that consideration of Cannabis agriculture warrants much more thorough and active discussion. If hemp isn't a viable solution to many of the problems being discussed in this forum, then will someone please explain why. One good reason that's true is all it would take to change my mind about Cannabis.

I propose and challenge this community of to consider what the effects would be if absolute Cannabis freedom was allowed to exist in the world, as the Creator apparently intended (i.e. Genesis 1:29). I am convinced that a global distribution of industrial hemp seed would provide people with the fast-growing protein they need, while providing a regional source of several bio-fuels, including pyrolytic charcoal, easily made from hemp stalks.

Re: “Marijuana I.D. card hearing scheduled” Mount Shasta Herald

Mount Shasta Herald
Letters to the Editor

Re: “Marijuana I.D. card hearing scheduled” October 22, 2008

October 25, 2008

Dear Editor,

Before the perverse county “ordinance,” imposing a self-serving tax, sinks its revenue-raising tentacles into the ill and dying people of Siskiyou County, it is urgent to recognize once and for all that no government has ever had rightful jurisdiction over natural resources that are both essential and unique. A rationale, science-based assessment of Cannabis agriculture is happening all over the world, reversing public attitudes toward both industrial hemp agriculture and ‘marijuana’ cultivation.

The true costs and incredible harms being created by a failed “drug war” linger on in this tax against people who are shamelessly preyed upon by state and federal governments. Revenue raising by voracious “drug war dinosaurs” targets people who are already struggling with illnesses, ranging from cancer and chronic pain to multiple sclerosis and clinical depression. Most are on fixed incomes.

Increased fees blatantly reward unaccountable public servants; the economics of punishment churns through our natural born rights and hard-won freedoms; the global environment suffers and world economies crumble.

How bad do things have to get before all solutions are considered? Every generation is responsible for reclaiming the rights that previous generations have sacrificed so much more than most of us can comprehend. The so-called “drug war,” hypocritical and selective as it is, has imposed the economics of scarcity, a violent black market, food insecurity and epidemic malnutrition on the world.

Because of ‘marijuana’ prohibition, all Cannabis agriculture is foolishly and tragically forbidden. Where’s the “free-market” economics in that? What an insult to our ancestors, rendering their sacrifices obsolete and pointless.

All those interested in the process of “essential civilian demand,” for reclaiming our freedom to farm “every herb bearing seed” are encouraged to attend or otherwise support strong community participation in the November 18th meeting.

For peace,

Paul von Hartmann
California Cannabis Ministry
projectpeace@yahoo.com

Recognizing the Stakes

"The unfortunate situation in global drug policies is that
thinking outside the box seems to be prohibited as well." -fp

That applies to the reform movement as well. I feel that our inability to shift the hearts and minds of prohibitionists toward reason after all these years is in some considerable measure our own inability to think outside of the outside of the outside of the box.

Eliminating any vagueness about the causal effect of Cannabis prohibition in imposing food insecurity and malnutrition points out the greatest harm of prohibition. As obvious as it is to say it, marijuana prohibition must be recognized as being responsible for the illness, death and hunger of literally billions of people at every strata of global society.

The single most inarguable and egregious example of the criminality of prohibition itself is the fact that the UNFAO doesn't recognize hemp seed as food for humans. This is an outrage of incomprehensible proportions, effecting billions of people, yet hardly anyone in the drug policy reform "establishment" mentions the relationship between drug policy, the global food crisis, including epidemic malnutrition.

"The highest authorities must recognize the stakes. Their
failure to act is a sign of helplessness or complicity...We must reduce
vulnerability to drugs and crime with greater development.
And greater justice would build faith in the rule of law."

There is no greater harm of the drug war than the crippling of organic agriculture, through imposed scarcity of an unique and essential critical resource. Without Cannabis agriculture, our species will never achieve sustainability. How many in the reform movement understand that this is true, and are willing to risk sounding extremist and fanatical by speaking the whole truth? Not many. Not enough.

It's time for the drug policy reform movement to assess how right we are, and to proceed with whatever mechanism of accountability there is for recognizing hemp seed as the world's most nutritious common seed.

Aside from the misery and poverty imposed by prohibition, developmental processes and human evolution are being afflicted by a deficiency in essential nutritional resources produced by the Cannabis plant. Because of this fact and more, the true value of Cannabis removes it from the rightful jurisdiction of any government. The limit of law is in the unique and essential nature of Cannabis. Until mankind recognizes that Cannabis is beyond the rightful jurisdiction of the court, then the degeneration of environment, economics and social evolution are inevitable, to the point of predictable extinction.

Cannabis agriculture is not a crime, it is a necessity. The imbalances created by prohibition mock "the rule of law" in failing to honor the first law, our freedom to farm "every herb bearing seed...and every green herb" as commanded in Genesis and every other human religion.

To understate the moral high ground serves no one. As it is, unique and essential Cannabis is the world's most ancient, useful, nutritious, potentially abundant and globally available organic agricultural resource on Earth. It also produces more monoterpenes than any other agricultural crop, making it a proportionate tool for mitigating global warming and global broiling.

best wishes to all, with high regards to both Andre Fursts, Sr. and Jr. I trust you are all well and am mindful of you and Chanvre Info for the great sacrifice of freedom you are being forced to make in defense of the true rule of law.


Paul J. von Hartmann
California Cannabis Ministry
http://www.californiacannabisministry.blogspot.com

Project P.E.A.C.E.
Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics
http://www.webspawner.com/users/projectpeace

(831) 588-5095

Note: The word Cannabis is a Genus name, properly spelled with an uppercase "C."

"Contrary to the arguments that several participants of this forum have put forward, these earnings don’t necessarily require access to external inputs."

Absolutely true, in fact the first organized organic movement, biodynamic agriculture (in Europe: "Demeter"), practiced according to Rudolf Steiner's method, includes the principle of self-sufficiency on the farm. Certainly regional autonomy is attainable, if the right crops are grown. Protein determines carrying capacity, so choosing the best available source of vegetable protein is critical to the health and harmony of a community. Hempseed is obviously the best choice of protein and other essential nutrients, for the greatest number of regions of the world. A crop that can produce fuel and protein from the same harvest, creates regional abundance. The a benefits of regionally produced fuel includes efficiency that makes the cost/benefit of ag-based economics far superior to the disparate economics we are suffering through now.

Message from M Yusuf Ali:
___________________________
Dear Paul,

Wonderful thinking, but I request you for more information on Hemp.

As an unknown person in this world my question is: Would we get it easily (food) either by exploiting nature friendly way? or by applying artificial means? like GMO?. How much a man need? Who is destroying natural balance and bringing disaster?. I hope through this exchange of thinking we would find an escape road.

M Yusuf Ali

BARI, Gazipur

Bangladesh

=====================

Dear Mr. Ali,

Thank you sincerely for your praise, consideration and interest in hemp farming. I have found Cannabis to be an exceptionally valuable, versatile and adaptable organic agricultural resource.

Hemp is a very easy plant to work with, both in its cultivation and in its many uses. To begin with hemp seed tastes good, so it is not hard to get people to try it. Foundational to the world's oldest global culture, respect for Cannabis is inseparable from its utility. As familiarity with the exceptional characteristics of hemp grows, so does gratitude for this gift to all mankind, and the global market is responding.

I feel that to pervert Cannabis agriculture by genetic manipulation or application of chemicals is as anti-ethical as it is counter-productive. Grown organically or biodynamically (Demeter in Europe) Cannabis is a valuable tool for improving soil fertility and structure, which has been damaged and depleted by chemical agriculture. Below there is a report from the Journal of Himalayan College of Agricultural Sciences & Technology that makes a convincing case for the advantages of farming with biointensive methods.

Here are several references that convey a solid strategy for the redistribution of natural wealth, and a ray hope for our common future.

Hemp Industries Association
SCIENTIFIC STUDIES
http://www.thehia.org/studies.html

Hemp Oil Nutrutional Profile, MaryBeth Augustine, RD,CDN
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jya6kcOEMUU&feature=related

Hemp: A New Crop with New Uses for North America*
Ernest Small and David Marcus
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-284.html

Bio-intensive Farming System: Economic
Transformation Achieved by the Farmers
Green Field, 2007, volume 5, issue 1
Journal of Himalayan College of Agricultural Sciences & Technology
Pg 96
http://www.hicast.edu.np/publications/Janauray-June_2007_vol_5_issue_1.PDF

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Best wishes,

Paul von Hartmann
California Cannabis Ministry

Genetically Modified Organisms and Food Security

"Those who are optimistic about [genetically modified organisms] argue for the need to increase food production and point to the possibility of addressing the problems of marginalised farmers."

GMOs AND NGOs: BIOTECHNOLOGY, THE POLICY PROCESS, AND THE PRESENTATION OF EVIDENCE
http://km.fao.org/fsn/resources/fsn_viewresdet.html?r=406

The first question ought to be,

"Are GMOs the most effective way to increase food production and address the problems of farmers?"

As an ecologist and biodynamic agriculturist, I think not. Apparently there is reason to believe that GMOs are in fact a problem, not a solution. The uncontrollability of GMO technology alone ought to obviate it from reasonable consideration. It is important to be conscious of the effect of economic inertia, favoring development and distribution of GMOs, that has gained political influence. What has been called "conventional" [sic] agriculture (rather than being identified as chemical/GMO dependent farming) has more to do with selling expensive inputs than helping people. Chemical ag has had decades to become institutionalized, making viable, more effective alternatives and agricultural methods either unavailable or otherwise discouraged.

Over the long term, it has been proven that effective pest suppression and increased crop yields are a function of proper farming methods, not increased agronomic input.

So, if not GMOs, more pesticides & increasing application of chemical fertilizers, then what IS the best alternative for increasing production and reducing pest infestation? I submit that reintroduction of hemp, a critical "strategic" food resource removed from the agricultural mix in many parts of the world, is the most effective way to address not only problems of food security, but also addresses problems of nutrition, climate change and expansion of the arable base.

GMOs are a "loose canon on the deck" of our already battered ecosystems. Better to reconsider an historically proven, naturally evolved tool for repairing the Natural Order and creating sustainable abundance.

Ultimate Perversion

*Lead poisoning due to adulterated cannabis *

In recent months several cases of lead poisoning were observed in
Germany, mainly in the region of Leipzig. Some cases also occurred in
other places, such as Munich and Vienna, Austria. According to a
report published in the New England Journal of Medicine 29 patients
were admitted to four different hospitals in the greater Leipzig area
with classic signs and symptoms of lead intoxication, which had not
occurred in Germany in recent decades. All patients were regular
cannabis users and lead was detected in cannabis of some patients.

A criminal investigation was begun to find the causer of the lead
adulteration. Lead was obviously added to the drug by drug traffickers
to increase weight and profit. An anonymous screening program for
cannabis users was started and further 95 subjects were found, who had
blood levels of lead that required treatment. The Drug Commissioner of
the Federal Government, Sabine Baetzing, issued a warning on cannabis
that may be adulterated by lead. Several German organisations called
for the possibility for cannabis users to grow their own for personal
use to reduce the risks of cannabis use.

The article is available at:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/358/15/1641


(Source: Busse F, Omidi L, Leichtle A, Windgassen M, Kluge E, Stumvoll
M. Lead poisoning due to adulterated marijuana. N Engl J Med
2008;358(15):1641-2. - www.cannabis-med.org )


****************


This report points out the dark extremes of human greed, engendered by inflated black market prices, made inevitable by the "drug war." Social poicy that is structured to enable contamination of a healing herb with poison in order to increase profit for the black market is ultimate perversity on a societal scale.

Drug policy, food security & nutrition

The relationship between drug policy and food security/nutrition is incalculable. I recently posted the following information to the UN forum on Food Security and Nutrition in an attempt to bridge the two discussions:

To some degree, rising food prices are the result of imposed protein scarcity, attributable in large part to the so-called "drug war." 'Marijuana' prohibition has effected food security and nutrition by restricting industrial hemp cultivation, limiting availability of the world's most nutritionally complete food resource, and editing awareness of the benefits of hemp agriculture. Emphasis on GM soy for protein production creates dependence on increasingly expensive agronomic inputs, characteristic of chemical-intensive farming.

The following report gives insight into the economic benefits of bio-intensive farming.

"Bio-intensive Farming System: Economic Transformation Achieved by the Farmers."
Journal of Himalayan College of Agricultural Sciences & Technology
Green Field, 2007, volume 5, issue 1
Page 96

http://www.hicast.edu.np/publications/Janauray-June_2007_vol_5_issue_1.PDF

Now that the Executive Director of UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Mr. Antonio Maria Costa, has stated that the present drug policy is not "fit for purpose" I suggest there may be an opportunity to re-evaluate the impact of drug policy on food security and nutrition. Considering the unique and essential food value of hemp seed, the possible benefits of reintroducing hemp into the agricultural rotation cannot be understated. A return to bio-intensive farming would be much more feasible if hemp agriculture was not stigmatized by association with drug crops.


"Making drug control 'fit for purpose': Building on the UNGASS decade"* can be seen in full here:
http://www.tdpf.org.uk/drug%20control%20%27fit%20for%20purpose%27.pdf

Essential As Sacred

Cannabis agriculture has so many potential benefits that, considered as an integrated whole, the combined attributes of Cannabis make it a proximate, functional necessity for addressing climate change while establishing sustainable energy economics. Specific to both global warming and global broiling (increasing solar UV-B radiation), Cannabis is potentially the best choice for biofuels production/climate change mitigation for several reasons.

An essential rotational crop, Cannabis sequesters a ton of carbon per acre, per year, that the plant converts into a cellulose- and fiber-rich stalk. The stalk can be made into high grade building materials, cloth, paper and biodegradable plastics that serve as effective carbon sinks. The growth characteristics of Cannabis make it a useful crop for the production of oxygen, for expanding the world's arable base, soil re-mineralization, stopping soil erosion, breaking up soil compaction, and for the detoxification of contaminated soils.

Hemp also produces an abundance of "monoterpenes" which rise into the atmosphere, where they reflect solar radiation and seed cloud formation. The clouds that form around monoterpenes are brighter and last longer than other clouds, protecting the surface of the Earth from increasing UV-B radiation, while producing rain.

The fuel production potential of Cannabis includes methane, methanol, diesel seed oil, pyrolytic charcoal, and hydrogen.

"BIOMASS CONVERSION to fuel has proven economically feasible, first in laboratory tests and by continuous operation of pilot plants in field tests since 1973. When the energy crop is growing it takes in C02 from the air, so when it is burned the C02 is released, creating a balanced system."

In addition, Cannabis produces an abundance of protein-rich seed that contains three essential fatty acids, nutritionally significant amounts of all nine of the essential amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates.

The essential oils steam-distilled from hemp are being shown to have therapeutic effect for treating many illnesses including cancer, diabetes, viruses, infection, and much more. The essential oils also have pesticideal effect, which can be useful for protecting other crops and food stores.

Finally, because Cannabis adapts well to a wide variety of soil and climate conditions, hemp is potentially a globally distributed, sustainable organic feedstock, allowing for efficient, regionally-based economies.

See:

HEMP FOR FUEL
Excerpted from "Energy Farming in America," by Lynn Osburn
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/hempfuel.htm

Monoterpenes in Cancer Prevention and Therapy
Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, August, 2001 by Mark A. Brudnak
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_2001_August/ai_78177209/pg_1


============================

Individual Spiritual Obligation

Every generation inherits challenges and obligations. We are all charged with evolving into harmony with the Natural Order, and preserving the freedoms won by previous generations.

Our gratitude to previous generations and our responsibility to the people of the future has been made with mindful consideration of countless sacrifices and the enormous courage it takes to survive, while bringing children into societies at war. To impose a false "drug war" against the free organic agricultural market is worse than self-defeating. It is defeating for everyone who came before, and all who will follow us.

The world's most ancient global culture does not require nor ask for permission to exist. Cannabis has been a critical resource throughout recorded history. Certainly, the primitive, wars-for-chemicals-based governments that presume to prohibit the necessary, full spectrum of organic agriculture and regional economics it affords, become less credible as the economy, the environment, and our social structures fall apart in tragic accelerating, synergistic collapse.

Only an outlaw government would continue to impose scarcity of the world's most nutritious seed in the middle of a global food crisis.

Only an outlaw government would fail to identify Cannabis an essential agricultural resource, educate people about its uses, and encourage farming of an abundant asset to every community for every creature on this planet.

The Cannabis plant has never been truly illegal, because it is nutritionally unique and essential. Spiritual dimensions of culture have always been based in sincere gratitude for the harvest bestowed by The Creator of all life, whatever name that's been given. Presumably, in the United States, the Constitution protects our "freedom of religion" which is ultimately individually interpreted.

On a planet being broiled by increasing intensities of UV-B radiation, experiencing increasing temperatures and becoming increasingly polluted, it is critical for mankind to re-valuate Cannabis for it's practical industrial uses, and as a "strategic food resource" available by "essential civilian demand." For these reasons, the cultivation of Cannabis is a serious spiritual obligation, shared by all people who know the truth about the world's most useful and nutritious "herb bearing seed."

That there are illegal statutes still being imposed by unobjective courts is no good excuse not to farm Cannabis. Faced with synergistic collapse of environment, economics, and social structures, we have no time left to argue. Unless someone can give one good reason that's true not to grow Cannabis, then this Spring is critical to mankind's recovery from the imbalances that have been inflicted on the free agricultural market for the past seventy years.

Our spiritual obligation to survive is an individual one, making spirituality an individual right, protected by our so-called "First Freedom," Article One, freedom of religion, in the Bill of Rights. Anyone who challenges my individual right of spiritual growth and development is welcome to express their opinion regarding my extreme regard and primary valuation of Cannabis.

I can demonstrate the value of this "green herb" in many ways, until they too will agree that it is a truly sacramental species in that it allows mankind to honor the obligation we have to evolve into harmony with the natural ways of living, out of love and concern for our children and the creatures with whom we share the Earth.

I wish everyone an abundant harvest and invite your support to revaluate Cannabis for what it is truly worth.

The End of the Argument

Since time is the limiting factor in the equation of survival, people everywhere are justified in taking responsibility for the true value of hemp, without further penalty.

Dear All,

The following are my feelings about the recent release by ENCOD regarding the UNGASS in Vienna.

Please contact me to support a federally enforceable end to Cannabis prohibition this Spring, under the protection of Article One, individual freedom of religion. Every planting season missed is gone forever. Depending on environmental, economic and social catastrophes looming predictably ahead, we may not get another chance to reclaim our Constitutionally protected freedom to farm as a demonstration of love and respect for all the blessings afforded by Cannabis. If the Constitution is suspended, as it could be at any time, then it will be much harder to recover.

I trust I'm wrong about the approaching synergistic collapse and the future is brighter than it looks, but even my optimism is wearing thin. We don't have any time at all to argue further about the true, essential value of Cannabis agriculture. Abundance of resources, evenly distributed around the planet, could be effective in disempowering the black market while creating the necessary, concurrent economic surge toward balance. Partnering with Nature to heal the environment, it is much more efficient to empower regional economics based in abundant, organic agricultural feedstocks.

If there's one good reason that's true, not to "sow hemp everywhere" then someone had better state it now, because otherwise, we share an obligation to overcome the intransigence, and begin farming everywhere possible, without further discussion. To do otherwise would require that someone take responsibility for the malnutrition, illness, and starvation of literally billions of people over several generations during the last seventy years.

In addition, the atmospheric aerosols produced by hemp are our best defense against global broiling, the most proximate threat to our existence.

It is beyond moral accountability to induce essential resource scarcity on such a scale. I invite inquiry and investment in the agriculturally abundant and clean biodynamic garden and farms economy.

for peace,

Paul
California Cannabis Ministry
831 588 5095

========


Bravo,
to all who helped to produce a fine statement of reason.

If I could be at the Drug Peace March I would carry a sign that said,

"DRUGS DON'T MAKE SEEDS,
HERBS DO"

on one side and Genesis 1:29
"every herb bearing seed...and every green herb"

on the other. Spiritual dimensions of the ancient Cannabis culture potentially afford immediate legal legitimacy to individuals who claim their freedom of religion in a sincere way.

If I could be at the Press Conference I would add that because of it's exceptional nutritional value and enormous environmental benefit, Cannabis agriculture warrants in-depth, public revaluation as an unique and essential organic agricultural resource.

Prohibition of 'marijuana' as obscured the world's oldest global culture, inducing scarcity and fundamental imbalance.

--- "encod.org" wrote:

> EURODRUG - INFORMATION LIST OF THE EUROPEAN COALITION FOR JUST AND EFFECTIVE DRUG POLICIES
> Dear friends,
>
> Herewith you find the last press release for Vienna, thanks for sending
> it to all your press contacts (and please send me a translation in your
> language so I can send it to journalists in Brussels, most of the
> translation you can find in the latest bulletin..)
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Joep
>
> European NGOs march for drug peace in Vienna
>
> Dear journalist,
>
> On 7 March, from 17.00 onwards, a Drug Peace March will take place to
> the seat of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna.
>
> The march marks the start of a counterevent organised by the European
> Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD) on the occasion
> of the annual meeting of the CND that will take place from 10 to 14
> March 2008. The purpose of the CND meeting is to evaluate the results of
> a ten year strategy that was decided upon in New York in 1998, a
> strategy whose goal was “to eliminate or significantly reduce the
> illicit manufacture, marketing and trafficking of drugs”.
>
> According to the latest figures of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the
> production of illegal drugs in the past ten years has increased, with
> 100 % in the case of opium, 19 % in the case of cocaine, and 40 % in the
> case of cannabis.
>
> ENCOD, an independent platform of NGOs and individual citizens involved
> in the drug issue as consumers, health workers or researchers, maintains
> that the prohibition of drugs maximises the burden for those with little
> or no participation in the drug market, while it has no measurable
> impact on the global size of this market at all. "In fact", says ENCOD,
> "drug prohibition increases the size and negative repercussions of this
> market."
>
> In a message to the CND meeting (see
> http://www.encod.org/info/ENCOD-BULLETIN-39.html ), ENCOD wishes the
> governments’ delegates in the CND meeting "a clear head. You will have
> the opportunity to make a historical contribution to improve the living
> standards for millions of people, and at the same time attack the main
> income source of organised crime."
>
> ENCOD proposes that governments "adopt non-repressive strategies in drug
> policy that do not threaten the livelihood of peasants in developing
> countries, do not damage the health of consumers and do respect the
> rights of citizens, such as the right to grow and use natural plants for
> personal consumption. Strategies should be implemented that would create
> legal means for the production and use of hemp/cannabis, opium and coca,
> plants that have served humanity for thousands of years."
>
> The counterevent will also include a a conference with (inter)national
> experts in the Vienna University (Altes AKH). For more information
> please see http://www.encod.org/info/VIENNA-2008-TEN-YEARS-AFTER.html
>
> ENCOD invites the representatives of the media to a Press Conference
> with some organisers and speakers of the conference.
>
> Place: Cafe Landmann, Dr. Karl Lueger Ring 4, 1010 Vienna
>
> Time: Friday 7 March - 11.00 hs
>
> Contact for more information:
>
> Joep Oomen – ENCOD Coordinator
> Tel. 0699 816 12676 / + 32 (0)3 293 0886 / + 32 (0)495 122644
> E-mail: info@encod.org
>
> Otmar Pusch
> Tel: 0681 1036 0480
> E-mail: pusch.otmar@gmx.at
>
> Andreas Holy
> Tel: 0699 1622 8661
> E-mail: a.holy@found.at
>
> --
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> EUROPEAN COALITION FOR JUST AND EFFECTIVE DRUG POLICIES
>
> Lange Lozanastraat 14 – 2018 Antwerpen - Belgium
>
> Tel. + 32 (0)3 293 0886 – Mob. + 32 (0)495 122644
>
> E-mail: info@encod.org / www.encod.org
>
>

Regarding the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Fifth report of the Executive Director

Regarding the Commission on Narcotic Drugs
The world drug problem
Fifth report of the Executive Director
http://www.encod.org/info/IMG/pdf/UNREPORT2008.pdf

Pg. 29 :
"Illicit drug crop eradication and alternative development
(e) Donors, affected States and other relevant key development partners
should examine innovative ways to promote environmentally sound alternative
development programmes."

In this document, the United Nations has failed to assess, or even acknowledge, the immense harm engendered by the "drug war," which is imposing critical food insecurity and malnutrition on countries where industrial hemp is prohibited. The United Nations is apparently in denial of the looming global food crisis and refuses to recognize the world's most nutritious seed as food for humans, as it fails to account for seven decades of protein production losses and poverty imposed, by banning a critical industrial feed stock.

I interpret "innovative ways to promote environmentally sound alternative development programmes" as a mandate to cultivate industrial hemp. As long as prohibition continues to profit the bureaucracies producing these reports, over-paid bureaucrats will continue to spew drug war rhetoric and propaganda in lieu of a responsible effort to address problems attributed to drug use, that are in reality created by the "drug war" itself.

As far as I can tell, "religious" freedom is the most potent protection there is against the drug war machine. International treaties and most governments are bound by law to protect people's right of religious freedom. Whether we are protected as individuals, or it is necessary to join a "church" to be legally legitimate, seems to be the question.

Because Cannabis agriculture is the world's oldest global culture, it does not require permission to exist from recently established governments. Because of environmental, economic and social imbalances being induced by Cannabis prohibition, there is no obligation to obey laws that are transparently perverse.

With everything we know of the true value of Cannabis, if mankind doesn't initiate a massive global planting of industrial hemp this spring, then we must recognize that we are facing a much greater threat than global warming. Economic intransigence has institutionalized prohibition of the world's most useful and nutritious crop. Our most proximate and potent strategy for addressing climate change is being suppressed.

Because Cannabis produces atmospheric aerosols called "monoterpenes" that reflect solar radiation back into space and seed cloud formation, while sequestering a ton of carbon/acre/year, the cost of the so-called "drug war" in hindering climate change mitigation, has driven the cost of prohibition up, far beyond accountability.

Letter to the Attorney General of California

Dear Attorney General Brown and staff,

I would like to request a meeting with Attorney General Brown to discuss information about climate change strategies that I have discussed with him on the telephone, and sent previously to you office using the AG's on-line messaging service.

Please let me know, by telephone or e-mail, when would be the earliest convenient time for us to meet, regarding the critical role of hemp agriculture in climate mitigation strategies, addressing both global warming and global broiling.

Now that the Conference of Mayors, LEAP and many others have identified the "drug war" as a failed policy, the effects of drug policy on food security, nutrition, environmental imbalance, economics, and the social structures upon which we all depend can and must be openly considered.

Thank you very much for your time and attention to this request.

Sincerely,

Paul J. von Hartmann
California Cannabis Ministry
831 588 5095 cell

Cannabis agriculture, nutrition and global broiling

As many of you probably already know from reports in the alternative and mainstream media

i.e.
"Hot Hemp Foods on Today Show"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJePiS7A7lo

Cannabis hemp is potentially the most abundant, globally distributed, nutritious and useful organic agricultural resource on Earth.

Hemp also sequesters carbon from the atmosphere (nine tons/acre/year); regenerates depleted, compacted and contaminated soils; while producing atmospheric aerosols called "monoterpenes" that reflect solar radiation back into space and seed cloud formation. There is simply NOTHING that even comes close to hemp agriculture for its proximate effectiveness in addressing many problems at once, including and especially climate change.

See:
"Radiative forcing is the change in the balance between radiation coming into the atmosphere and radiation going out."
http://www.grida.no/climate/vital/04.htm

In a recent teleconference call, Eban mentioned that Focus the Nation is not concerned with increasing UV-B radiation. Well, that's a choice...

But people ought to consider that even more immediately dangerous than global warming is the increasing UV-B radiation ("global broiling") that is being ignored. By its nature, global broiling is much harder to measure and discern the impacts of than global warming, but that doesn't man it isn't having devastating effects. Genetic mutation, impaired immune response, and stunted growth are all happening right now as the result of global broiling.

Consider that the massive mysterious die-off of bees all over the world, neatly labeled as"Colony Collapse Disorder" may actually be a result of immune system failures in an indicator species. By the time we figure out what's killing the bees, it could be too late to do anything about it. All solutions must be considered if we are to avoid the synergistic collapse of environment, economics and social structures upon which we all depend.

Time is the limiting factor in the equation of survival.
How bad do things have to get before all solutions are considered?

The REAL Question for Davos07
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edZw3hXkGJo

I suggest that people reference the Conference of Mayors resolution of June 2007, which recognizes the drug war as having "failed" and communicate to their elected officials that the counter-productive drug policy, based in punishment, is suppressing consideration and discussion of what may be the most viable measure for addressing climate changes (both global warming and global broiling), Cannabis agriculture.

Consider for a moment that even in the midst of radical global food insecurity and epidemic malnutrition, because of 'marijuana' prohibition, the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization doesn't even recognize the world's MOST nutritious seed as food for humans.

Hemp Oil Nutrutional Profile, MaryBeth Augustine, RD,CDN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jya6kcOEMUU

This level of informational negligence is effecting discussion of climate change solutions. How sad and pointless that such a failed policy could be harming so many people in so many ways. Now that our elected officials are paying attention to climate change, it is time to point out that part of the solution is to stop creating problems.

I invite anyone who understands the potential for employing nature to heal nature, to contact me directly at projectpeace@yahoo.com or on my cell at 831 588 5095.

I particularly challenge the spiritually vital community to do the right thing by putting "drug war" rhetoric (and the phony moralism that's been associated with it) aside long enough to investigate the TRUE value of Cannabis agriculture, as a source of biofuels, oil rich protein, effective herbal therapeutics, paper, cloth, paints and varnishes, building materials, bio-degradable plastics, as feed & cover for wildlife and much more.

See:

The Emperor Wears No Clothes - Book Chapters
http://www.jackherer.com/chapters.html

and pass this information on to your elected officials.

Best wishes to all,

Funding for clinical trials needed

The California Cannabis Ministry is seeking funding for a clinical trial of hemp seed nutrition, used in combination with Cannabis essential oil.

It is proposed that there is substantial and unique benefit for prevention and treatment of cholesterol and overall systemic toxicity in blood, nervous and lymph systems. Anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-oxidizing, anti-biotic to name just a few of its therapeutic benefits, Cannabis essential oil has no psychoactive (THC) component, and is also an environmentally benign pesticide, toxic to insects.

I invite anyone who may be open to the immensity of this project to participate. Ultimately, I am intent on getting the UNFAO to
recognize and encourage the true value of hemp in food security and nutrition. There can be no single measure that could so easily occur that would have greater effect for more people and other creatures.

I am certain that there is substantial synergistic benefit, as the result of ingesting the fresh, whole Cannabis
plant, all at once. I can report first-hand on the effects, and therefore propose to conduct clinical trials using a blend
of hemp seed oil and essential oil. Tests will also be done to measure the extended shelf-life of the hemp seed oil as a result of mixing with essential oil.

It has been my experience, and that of several patients I have
introduced this combination to that holistic hemp nutrition affords substantial, multiple benefits
for a wide variety of imbalances. Because of its anti-oxidizing effect, Cannabis essential oil and
seed oil are as close to an "elixir of Life" than any other substance on Earth, besides pure
Shasta springwater.

US Conference of Mayors Calling for a “New Bottom Line” in US Drug Policy

NEW BOTTOM LINE IN REDUCING THE HARMS OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE



WHEREAS, the United States Conference of Mayors has long been concerned about substance abuse and its impacts on cities of all sizes; and



WHEREAS, this Conference recognizes that addiction is a chronic medical illness that is treatable, and drug treatment success rates exceed those of many cancer therapies; and



WHEREAS, according to the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 112,085,000 Americans aged 12 or over (46.1% of the US population aged 12 and over) have used an illicit drug at least once; and



WHEREAS, the United States has 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of the world’s prisoners, incarcerating more than 2.3 million citizens in its prisons and jails, at a rate of one in every 136 U.S. residents—the highest rate of incarceration in the world; and



WHEREAS, 55% of all federal and over 20% of all state prisoners are convicted of drug law violations, many serving mandatory minimum sentences for simple possession offenses; and



WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution at it 74th Annual Meeting opposing mandatory minimum sentencing on both the state and federal levels and urging the creation of fair and effective sentencing policies; and



WHEREAS, drug treatment is cost-effective: a study by the RAND Corporation found that every additional dollar invested in substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.46 in societal costs, a reduction that would cost 15 times as much in law enforcement expenditure to achieve; and



WHEREAS, the National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study shows substantial reductions in criminal behavior, with a 64% decrease in all arrests after treatment, making public safety a primary beneficiary of effective drug treatment programs; and



WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a “Comprehensive National Substance Abuse Strategy” at its 69th Annual Meeting, and a “Comprehensive Drug Prevention and Treatment Policy” at its 66th Annual Meeting, both of which called for treatment to be made available to any American who struggles with drug abuse; and



WHEREAS, federal, state, and local costs of the war on drugs exceed $40 billion annually, yet drugs are still widely available in every community, drug use and demand have not decreased, and most drug prices have fallen while purity levels have increased dramatically; and



WHEREAS, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), only 35% percent of the federal drug control budget is spent on education, prevention and treatment combined, with the remaining 65% devoted to law enforcement efforts; and



WHEREAS, over one-third of all HIV/AIDS cases and nearly two-thirds of all new cases of hepatitis C in the U.S. are linked to injection drug use with contaminated syringes, now the single largest factor in the spread of HIV/AIDS in the U.S.; and



WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has, on three separate occasions, adopted resolutions in support of expanded access to sterile syringes by people who inject drugs as a public health strategy to decrease the transmission of blood-borne diseases and provide links to treatment without increasing drug use; and



WHEREAS, virtually all independent analyses have found ONDCP’s drug prevention programs to be costly and ineffective: the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently found that both the National Youth Anti-Drug Media campaign and the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program have not only failed to reduce drug use, but instead might lead to unintended negative consequences; and



WHEREAS, blacks, Latinos and other minorities use drugs at rates comparable to whites, yet face disproportionate rates of arrest and incarceration for drug law violations: among persons convicted of drug felonies in state courts, 33% of convicted white defendants received a prison sentence, while 51% of black defendants received prison sentences; and



WHEREAS, women are the fastest growing prison population in theU.S., increasing by over 700% since 1977, to 98,600 at the end of 2005. Drug law violations now account for nearly one-third of incarcerated women, compared to one-fifth of men; and



WHEREAS, at year end 2005, over 7 million U.S. residents—about 3.2% of the adult population, or 1 in every 32 adults—were incarcerated or on probation or parole, of whom 28% were under correctional supervision for a drug law violation; and



WHEREAS, at its 73rd and 72nd Annual Meetings, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution to promote the successful reentry of people leaving prison or jail, through job training, transitional housing, family reunification, drug abuse and mental health treatment, and the restoration of voting rights; and



WHEREAS, the cost of local law enforcement and of providing services to formerly incarcerated residents is borne primarily by local governments; and



WHEREAS, cities across the country have experienced a rise in violent crime and must prioritize scarce law enforcement resources, yet the nation’s police arrested a record 786,545 individuals on marijuana related charges in 2005—almost 90% for simple possession alone—far exceeding the total number of arrests for all violent crimes combined; and



WHEREAS, there is no easy, “one-size-fits-all” solution to substance abuse and drug-related harms: individual cities, counties, and states face unique challenges and therefore

require local flexibility to pursue those policies that best meet their specific needs;



NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the United States Conference of Mayors believes the war on drugs has failed and calls for a New Bottom Line in U.S. drug policy, a public health approach that concentrates more fully on reducing the negative consequences associated with drug abuse, while ensuring that our policies do not exacerbate these problems or create new social problems of their own; establishes quantifiable, short- and long-term objectives for drug policy; saves taxpayer money; and holds state and federal agencies accountable; and



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that U.S. policy should not be measured solely on drug use levels or number of people imprisoned, but rather on the amount of drug-related harm reduced. At a minimum, this includes: reducing drug overdose fatalities, the spread of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis, the number of nonviolent drug law offenders behind bars, and the racial disparities created or exacerbated by the criminal justice system; and



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that short- and long-term goals should be set for reducing the problems associated with both drugs and the war on drugs; and federal, state, and local drug agencies should be judged – and funded – according to their ability to meet specific performance indicators, with targets linked to local conditions. A greater percentage of drug war funding should be spent evaluating the efficacy of various strategies for reducing drug related-harm; and



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a wide range of effective drug abuse treatment options and supporting services must be made available to all who need them, including: greater access to methadone and other maintenance therapies; specially-tailored, integrated services for families, minorities, rural communities and individuals suffering from co-occurring disorders; and effective, community-based drug treatment and other alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug law offenders, policies that reduce public spending while improving public safety; and



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Conference supports preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and other infectious diseases by eliminating the federal ban on funding of sterile syringe exchange programs and encourages the adoption of local overdose prevention strategies to reduce the harms of drug abuse; and



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the impact of drug use and drug policies is most acutely felt on the local communities, and therefore local needs and priorities of drug policy can be best identified, implemented and assessed at the local level. A successful national strategy to reduce substance abuse and related harms must invest in the health of our cities and give cities, counties, and states the flexibility they need to find the most effective way to deal with drugs, save taxpayer dollars and keep their communities safe.

To the City Mayors Society of the US

"Hunger and homelessness persists in American cities
A report by the US Conference of Mayors"
http://www.citymayors.com/features/uscity_poverty.html

Dear Mayors,

Until the word's most useful and nutritious agricultural resource is reintroduced into a truly free market, then scarcity will continue to be imposed, while the black market erodes the commons, and is thus enriched. The fundamentally destabilizing effects of the so-called "drug war" go far beyond drug policy issues, resulting in imposed essential resource scarcity, hunger and epidemic malnutrition.

Please see:

1. Hempseed as a nutritional resource
http://www.finola.com/HempseedNutrition.pdf

In addition, the industrial uses of Cannabis include organically grown biofuels, paper, cloth, plastics, and building materials. Abundance and even distribution of wealth are being under-mined by the failed, yet impacted, economics of prohibition.

Because of its potential for mitigating climate change, Cannabis agriculture is no longer optional. The potential for monoterpenes produced in abundance by Cannabis, to effect radiative forcing, is the final argument in determining the urgency of implementing Cannabis agricultural research and seed production projects.

"Understanding the impact of short-lived radiatively active species on future climate is critical and recently has become an active area of research in the reviewed literature. These types of studies encompass a realistic time frame over which available technological solutions can be employed, and focuses on those gas and aerosol species whose future atmospheric levels are also subject to mitigation to control air pollution."

Please see:

2. Review of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program's Synthesis and Assessment Product 3.2, "Climate Projections Based on Emission Scenarios for Long-lived and Short-lived Radiatively Active Gases and Aerosols" (2007) Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (BASC)

http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12035&page=5

Please contact me for more information about the benefits of ending prohibition of the world's most valuable agricultural resource.

Thank you for your consideration.

Regarding Marc Emery's plea bargain

Marc Emery's case is to law what Katrina was to disaster relief -- inarguable proof of consumate disfunction. Such injustice institutionalizes further oppression, as the foundations of civilization are eroded.

Article One in the U.S. Bill of Rights and all international treaties specifically protect everyone's "freedom of religion." Spiritual freedom is a self-evident, individual right, not conditional upon joining a "church."

If spiritual dimensions of Cannabis are considered, then everyone's right to "every herb bearing seed" is a defense that even our outlaw governments would be loath to violate.

Each spring planting season that passes without the world's most useful agricultural resource is another step closer to the synergistic collapse of environment, economics, and social structures upon which everyone depends.

Don't tell us that we can't have Cannabis and then pretend to govern toward freedom. Without the freedom to farm, we are an extinctionistic species. Worse, we are a species without the least respect and gratitude to whatever Creator made both Cannabis and Homo sapiens.

That Michelle Rainey's life was leveraged against Marc's defense is another shameful chapter in the history of the so-called "drug war."

My deepest heartfelt sympathies go out to Marc's family and friends. That my country is imposing itself on the world in this way is cause for sadness and resolve to stop the mad machine that is working against our common freedoms.

Fundamental Relationships

Cannabis agriculture and the so-called "drug war" are fundamentally relevant to all of the global imbalances faced by mankind. Causal relationships between prohibition and climate change, the price and unavailability of biofuels, wars-for-oil, the black market, food insecurity, malnutrition, and essential resource disparity, form a complex tangle of problems that may be resolved with a relatively simple, common sense solution. "Freedom to Farm" is being demanded by ENCOD (www.encod.org) in Vienna this year at the United Nations UNGASS summit to review UN drug policies. Overlap between climate change, food security and nutrition, drug policy, biofuels production, and radical economic disparity must be considered at once if mankind is to be successful in addressing climate change in a timely way.

Based on the US model, these programs have failed miserably, inducing misery and eroding society in many ways in every country at every level. Prohibition has institutionalized harms far in excess of any that drugs themselves do. Perhaps the cruelest harm is to have induced essential resource scarcity, by criminalizing the world's most nutritious and potentially abundant food resource.

It seems obvious to allow Cannabis agriculture and manufacturing to participate ina rational strategy for global atmospheric carbon sequestration (1 ton per acre per year) and monoterpene production (to deflect solar radiation and seed cloud formation), for soil regeneration, expansion of the arable base, protein and essential fatty acids production, and as a globally distributed, alternative fuels feedstock.

Unless people overcome the knee-jerk reflex that often occurs when the subject of hemp is raised, then one of the most effective strategies for mitigating climate change will continue to be dismissed without the regard that such a magnificent, beneficial agricultural resource deserves.

How bad do things have to get
before all solutions are considered?

See
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edZw3hXkGJo

for the REAL Question for Davos'07