Jack Herer

To: Mike Abbaté, Director of Portland Parks and Recreation
Attention: Assistant to the Director
April 15, 2013

Dear Mr. Abbaté,

We understand the naming or renaming of a park is complex and emotionally evocative, as assigning a name is a permanent identity for a public space, and often requires significant resources in terms of changing names on signs, maps, and literature to avoid confusion.

Our park renaming request is in reference to Kelley Point Park at the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. We understand the current naming of the park after Hall Jackson Kelley has historical reasoning, as Kelley was a vocal advocate for Oregon in the 19th century.

The Proposed Name:

Our group would like to propose the renaming of Kelley Point Park to Herer Point Park, in honor of Oregon author, activist, and icon, the late Jack Herer. We have reached the third anniversary of Herer’s passing and believe his significance to Portland culture, our Oregon community, and the international impact of his work and his best known book, which was a best seller in Germany and printed in over 20 languages, which he wrote and published here in Portland warrants this memorial within our city.

Reasoning:

Jack Herer registered tens of thousands of Oregonians to vote over the course of his lifetime and collected hundreds of thousands of signatures for a variety of state petition drives.

Seattle Hempfest history book hits the streets

By Seattle Hempfest Staff

SEATTLE – How did a humble a group of community activists build the world’s largest pot rally? Protestival: A Twenty Year Retrospective of Seattle Hempfest, tells how the Hempfest was built from the ground up with little more than a vision and the conviction necessary to take that dream to fruition. Protestival details the long, hard struggle to build the world’s largest all volunteer annual free-speech rally.

To note this year's 20th anniversary milestone, Seattle Hempfest Executive Director Vivian McPeak has written a book about the two decades that the flagship annual event of America's cannabis culture has been advancing the cause of reform. The world's largest marijuana law reform gathering, the Seattle Hempfest draws hundreds of thousands of attendees down to the Seattle waterfront each year. This year's event is Aug. 19 - 21.

Learning from the Past; Looking to the Future

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News Correspondent

In 1985, the Oregon Marijuana Initiative (OMI), with petitioners including Jack Herer, Paul Stanford, John Sajo and countless others, collected over 87,000 signatures necessary to place the issue of legalization on the ballot.

In 1986, the initiative officially became Oregon's Ballot Measure 5. The measure, which sought to legalize cannabis, united activists' from across the state. By some estimates, cannabis was Oregon's largest cash crop in 1986.

The ballot measure was ultimately rejected by Oregon voters with 279,479 "Yes" and 781,922 "No" votes, or 26.33% support.

It has been 25 years since that vote and societal attitudes have continued to change toward cannabis. The prohibitionist propaganda has faded with time and the debunking of racist mythology. We are clearer in educating ourselves and others about this valuable plant. Medicinal cannabis has become legal in Oregon and across the country. Farmers are beginning to see the value that hemp could bring to our economy as well with hemp food, fuel, clothing, paper, building materials and so much more.

Oregonians for the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act of 2012 are currently circulating petitions for Initiative 9, to make hemp and cannabis legal in Oregon.

By Bonnie King Salem-News.com/Special to Hemp News

(SALEM, Ore.) - Paul Stanford, Executive Director of the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation walked 2200 signatures in to the Oregon Secretary of State's office on January 4th, 2011, officially sponsoring OCTA 2012- the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act. It could prove to be a historic turning point for a state well known for its grass roots movements.

Next, the signatures will be verified, and as long as 1000 are from registered Oregon voters, the Office of the Secretary of State will certify a ballot title with the Attorney General, proposing a statutory initiative for the 2012 General Election.

"If all goes as expected, activists will hit the streets in March," said Stanford. "We need to turn in about 140,000 more signatures, or 90,000 registered Oregon voters' signatures, by July 2012 to qualify for the ballot in November 2012."

Now's the Time....Whether you support the Teapot Party, Tea Party or any other party, this candidate appeals to a wide variety of voters and is sure to stir up some governmental changes in Kentucky and across the United States.

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News Correspondent

Gatewood Galbraith is currently campaigning for Kentucky's 2011 gubernatorial race as an Independent, free from any party affiliations, and describes himself as free from hidden agenda. Galbraith is focusing his campaign on young voters by proposing a freeze on college tuition expenditures, a $5,000 educational voucher to high school graduates for college or technical school, and legalization of cannabis for medicinal purposes, which he estimates could save the state $500 million to $1 billion in medical costs each year. His pledge is to end the “synthetic subversion” in his state.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with the responsible use of marijuana by adults and it should be of no interest or concern to the government. They have no business knowing whether we smoke or why we smoke." Keith Stroup, NORMLCON 2010

Compiled by Hemp News

1. Global: U.S.-Mexico Drug Summit Fails to Acknowledge Obvious Solution to Violent Drug Cartels

Ending Marijuana Prohibition Would Deal Crucial Blow to Mexican Drug Cartels, Drastically Reduce Border Violence.

Salem-News.com

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Today, high-ranking officials from the United States and Mexico concluded a three-day conference meant to outline ways the two nations could reduce the illicit drug trade-associated violence that continues to plague the U.S.-Mexican border.

Tribute to Jack Herer

By Gatewood Galbraith

Jack Herer is a social and philosophical tsunami, the ripples from whose splash will forever grace the shores of human consciousness in every freedom loving nation.

He is a grand champion of “We the People” and a natural cycle in our battle with the synthetic subversion which threatens the very concepts of the sovereignty of each human individual.

Jack's tireless efforts to eliminate the facts about cannabis have furnished freedom fighters everywhere with the tools of knowledge with which to resist the fascism of the corporate state as it seeks to subject everyone to its economic bottom line.

Jack recognized that cannabis is a gateway to existentialism, which enlightens our existence and is the basis of our freedom of choice. He also recognized the miraculous healing powers of this herb and many sick and dying people have found comfort in its use after reading his wonderful manifesto "The Emperor Wears No Clothes". I am one of them.

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News Staff

The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF) is proud to be the main sponsor of the Seattle Hempfest because our mission is to educate the general community about the benefits of the cannabis plant to our society. Hempfest 2010 will be held on August 21st and 22nd, and takes place every year at Myrtle Edwards Park expanding in recent years to include the adjacent parks. Hempfest offers five stages of entertainment, a Hemposium question and answer forum, and hundreds of vendor booths, sure to please a myriad of musical, informational, and entrepreneurial tastes.

The time to act in support of hemp is now, so please reach out and create awareness in your community. The Berlin Wall fell quickly, and together we can end this unjust war on the cannabis plant in the same manner, but we need to unite in solidarity. Vivian McPeak, the event's director declares, "No political or human rights movement in America has made it this far without eventually winning. It's just a matter of time."

Things about hemp that were not taught to Jack in school, he tried to teach others. He was a steward of the plant and devoted his life to the support of cannabis as he believed it was the greatest gift the world has ever known.

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News Staff

Hemp for Victory was a 1942 documentary produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to encourage farmers to grow outlawed industrial hemp for the war effort as a way to stabilize America during World War II.

As the War on Drugs proceeded onward, the United States Department of Agriculture Library and the Library of Congress stated no such movie was made by the USDA or any branch of the U.S. government. His creditability threatened, Jack Herer made it his mission to uncover the truth about Hemp for Victory. He knew it was a USDA creation and not simply folklore.

Center stage is exactly where Jack Herer belonged. A talented, “bombastic” man, Jack’s energy was contagious and his legacy is alive and well.

By Bonnie King Salem-News.com/Special to Hemp News

(SALEM, Ore.) - Jack Herer was born June 18th, 1939, in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York. In 1940 his family moved to Buffalo, where he was raised, the son of a collection agency manager. A “normal American nerd”, he grew into a respectable young man, joining the military, getting married and starting a family.

And then, at age thirty, he completely changed direction, becoming one of the very first American Cannabis activists, and inevitably the most world renowned leader for hemp education.

Jack didn’t start out as the “kind of guy” who smoked pot. He was a Goldwater Republican, in the sign maintenance business. In 1969, recently divorced, he was introduced to cannabis by a girlfriend. He wasn’t much interested in it before then, and after briefly trying it a couple of times he was fairly sure it didn’t “work on him”. Jack was therefore naive to the euphoric or medicinal properties of the herb. When he decided to really give it a try, he said he had the most incredible sex of his life.

That inspired him to learn more. What he learned, he shared.

"Hemp will be the future of all mankind, or there won't be a future." Jack Herer

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News Staff

Friends and family have confirmed that Jack Herer, known throughout the world as ‘The Hemperor,’ passed away on Thursday, April 15, 2010 in Eugene, Oregon. Herer was 70 years old, and a dear friend to CRRH and THCF, he will be greatly missed.

"No other single person has done more to educate people all across the world about industrial hemp and marijuana as Jack Herer. His book is translated into a dozen different languages, it's a bestseller in Germany. His legacy will continue to inspire and encourage for generations to come. I honor his memory." Paul Stanford, CRRH/THCF

"He was one of my personal heroes." Madeline Martinez, Oregon NORML

"The one and only Jack Herer will be missed forever." Bonnie King, Salem-News

"Hemp will be the future of all mankind, or there won't be a future." Jack Herer

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News Staff
Video By Reimond Kerezsi, LK & Oregon NORML

The featured video is an eclectic compilation of passionate speakers from the August 2009 Seattle Hempfest. It includes interesting perspectives from "The Emperor of Hemp" Jack Herer, Allen St. Pierre, Keith Stroup, Paul Stanford, George Rohrbacher, Anndrea Hermann and Seattle Hempfest's own Vivian McPeak. It is sure to give you inspiration.

"It doesn't matter if you are a Democrat or Republican, we are going to legalize marijuana no matter what happens in ten years, because when 60% of the American public wants something, they're going to get it." Allen St. Pierre

"Contact your legislators tell them to end marijuana prohibition. It's time to tax and regulate it. The more letters they get like that, the sooner the day will arrive." Paul Stanford

By Jay, Willie Nelson PRI

The backroom deals, disinformation and political slight-of-hand that ushered in the era of cannabis hemp marijuana criminalization has been fully revealed as a fraud perpetrated upon the United States population. The falsehoods stand bare and truly show that The Emperor Wears No Clothes.

The Emperor Wears No Clothes, backed by H.E.M.P. (America), Hanf Haus (Germany), Sensi Seeds/Hash Marijuana Museum (Netherlands), and T.H.C., the Texas Hemp Campaign (America), offers $100,000 to anyone who can disprove the claims made within. To quote the back cover:

If all fossil fuels and their derivatives, as well as trees for paper and construction were banned in order to save the planet, reverse the Greenhouse Effect and stop deforestation; then there is only one known annually renewable natural resource that is capable of providing the overall majority of the world’s paper and textiles; meet all of the world’s transportation, industrial and home energy needs, while simultaneously reducing pollution, rebuilding the soil, and cleaning the atmosphere all at the same time… and that substance is — the same one that did it all before — Cannabis Hemp… Marijuana!

I am also heartened by the knowledge that maybe there are about a thousand MJ Dispensaries in California and the Governator tacitly approves them.

Dr. Phil Leveque Salem-News.com

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - The ancient history of cannabis/marijuana is even more interesting than its present use as a modern medical miracle.

To make sure that knowledgeable readers don’t accuse me of plagiarism I will confess it at the outset. I am stealing from a best friend Todafumi Mikuriya, his real name. I believe I am one of the last persons to talk to him before his tragic death and his work and influence were tragically lost.

I am stealing from Marijuana Medical Papers 1839 – 1972. This is the best medically historical book on the subject and an everlasting monument to him. Jack Herer’s book The Emperor Wears No Clothes is a close second but different in scope. Jack’s books are and have been revised and reprinted many times. Tod’s book is/was a one-time bombshell.

Starting with O’Shaughnessy’s book in 1839, Tod wrote about the outstanding marijuana research papers, twelve of them, up to 1900 when marijuana was some what replaced by synthetic drugs. Cannabis/marijuana was so complex nobody could do much with it for standardization and prescriptions.

The strange thing about those “crude” preparations is that they were found effective for many diseases that we are finding out about now, 150 years later.

THCF and Several NORML Chapters Join In

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By Paul Stanford and Michael Bachara, Hemp News Staff