Nestled
in a Hockley Valley ecology retreat near Toronto,
the Hemp Industries Association held their seventh
annual convention among the maple and aspen trees.
This year's gathering saw 35-55 attendees which
allowed for intimate meetings and planning sessions.
After Friday night's dinner,
members were formally welcomed by RCMP Corp. Col.
Jacques Dopray (Larry Duprey) appearing in a solid
black double breasted suit, as opposed to the
RCMP uniform we saw last year, who informed us
that as a result of his promotion to a desk job,
part of his new duties was to check and observe
the THC content in hemp foods being served. He
did his job admirably.
Results of the Election for Board
of Directors and Executives were announced as
follows: Cindy Biggers, President, Eric Lineback,
Treasurer, and Don Wirtshafter were re-elected.
Mark Tucci of Custom Blends/ Hempzels was welcomed
back after a 2-year hiatus, and John Dvorak of
Boston Hemp Co-op/Hempology.org
was introduced as a new board member. Continuing
Directors Larry Duprey, Vice President, Mari Kane,
Steve Levine, Carolyn Moran, and Candi Penn, Secretary,
were also in attendance.
On Saturday, seminars got under
way starting with the Treasurer's Report, in which
Eric Lineback reported that, although membership
dues are down this year, the association is in
a stable financial position. The HIA has continued
to cut costs by using the Internet and web site
more. Our new Supporting Membership category and
several generous contributions have helped out.
Still, the association operates on a very small
and tight budget, so the more volunteers we can
find to help out with things, the better. A more
detailed Treasurer's report will be included in
our 2000 Annual Report, coming out at the end
of January, 2001. Any members with questions should
contact Candi or Eric directly.
Speaking for the Communications
Committee, Eric Steenstra and Eric Lineback summarized
much of the work and accomplishments of the past
year, including the resurrection of the Hempstores.com
web site and program (Anyone can now add a store
to be validated), the development of a Searchable
Leads section and enhancements to the Member Search
function at HempIndustries.org
(thehia.org) and the work being done to prepare
for an overall site redesign. Web site traffic
has steadily risen, and we now see an average
of almost 600 unique visitors per day. Not as
many members are using the Members Only section
and services as we would hope, so get in there
and check it out! If you've forgotten the password,
call Candi at the head office. And, of course,
volunteers are needed to help out.
The Retail Council headed by
Cindy Biggers & Steve Levine announced the near
completion of a 22,000 count order of biodegradable
bags contracted by a number of HIA businesses.
These bags have a sponsor list on one side and
HIA logo and information on the other side, which
also reads "My Other Bag Is Made of Hemp. This
bag is made of 100% biodegradable materials."
It was also announced that there are plans in
the works for a 2001 HIA Hemp Calendar and Coffee
Mugs to be sold by the HIA along with the organization's
tee shirts and hats.
Carolyn Moran of the International
Council reported on the formation of a Non-Governmental
Organization (NGO). The purpose of the Hemp/Non-wood
Fiber/Pulp NGO is to bring to the public forum
issues surrounding the growing use of hemp, non-wood
fibers and subsequent value-added products insofar
as they relate to the development of sustainable
ecosystems, communities and economies. Carolyn
Moran (Living Tree Paper) also explained how Hemp
Paper is entering corporate level distribution.
Several large companies are ordering and the future
looks good.
Before lunch, Mari Kane gave
a lecture on Media Training using a handbook written
by Executive Communications of San Rafael, CA
(Execucomm@aol.com).
Using those materials, members were challenged
to be video taped giving their 15 second hemp
sound bites and "answers to difficult questions"
by Kane who provided individualized coaching.
Kane advises all interviewees to "bridge" away
from marijuana-related questions by steering the
conversation back to the agricultural issues"
of industrial hemp. The tape of interviewees was
shown after lunch on Sunday to an amused and appreciative
audience.
On the lawn Saturday afternoon,
Lloyd Hart of Vote Hemp described the response
of the hemp survey sent to federal political candidates
around the nation. The first response came from
none other than Ralph Nader who answered in the
affirmative. Results have been published on the
on-line Voter
Guide at the Vote Hemp Web site. Hart said
he felt very good about the chances of creating
a significant impact on this election year and
Vote Hemp may well cause a swing vote in about
12 races. A hemp caucus is forming in Congress
of four Congressman and many candidates from across
the parties are taking a pro-hemp position. Hart
expressed confidence that Nader could be elected
with or without the debates. Let's hope!
The New Hampshire Hemp Council
was represented at the HIA Convention by four
attendees and a report was given about the status
of their U.S. Supreme Court case. The lawsuit
was filed June 27 and the court has yet to decide
whether to accept it. The Supreme Court hears
a fraction of cases filed - about 100 out of more
than 7,000 filed in a year. The appeal asks the
court to decide whether federal laws against marijuana
actually forbid the production of hemp. The lawsuit
argues that hemp has never really been illegal,
and the DEA has been overstepping its bounds by
treating it as such. Gordon R. Blakeney, Jr. is
counsel for the NEW HAMPSHIRE HEMP COUNCIL, INC.
and DEREK OWEN, VS. DONNIE R. MARSHALL, ACTING
ADMINISTRATOR, UNITED STATES DRUG ENFORCEMENT
ADMINISTRATION. Your support is needed. Legal
fees must be paid. The NHHC has T-shirts available
for sale, and contributions are appreciated. Contact:
NHHC at hemporium@cheshire.net
or 603-357-2396.
John Howell gave a report on
the National Conference of State Legislators,
where the Hemp Panel, led by Rep. Cynthia Theilen,
was asked to schedule an additional presentation
because so many legislators were interested. Watch
for more hemp legislation this coming year!
The current Canadian border issue
sizzled at the top of the agenda. David Bronner
of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps and David Frankel
of Fourth Wave Legal Services explained how many
U.S. companies have had products turned away from
the Canadian border. There is a regulation that
products must be tested for THC, and although
Canadian companies are not asked to do it, Health
Canada has chosen to enforce it for American imports.
The irony is that these products contain certified
hemp oil from Canada! Researcher and hemp expert,
Professor Gordon Scheifele of the University of
Ontario gave a keynote address that included a
talk on Management of delta-9 THC levels in industrial
hemp grown for fiber and grain prepared for presentation
at the Nova Institute's 3rd International Bioresource
Hemp conference in Germany, September 16-18. His
slide presentation was great.
Five Year Pins were awarded to
members who have stayed in business for five years:
Backstage Studio, Living Tree Paper Co., Monadnock
Hemporium, Spirit Stream Trading Co., The Friendly
Stranger, who were all in attendance. Non-attending
awardees were: BnB Kelly Enterprises, Euro-American
Marketing, Hemp Shak 2, Hemp Works, Inc., Hempola,
Hemptech Inc., It's All Good Companies, Left Field,
Mad River Clothing Company, Natural Hemphasis,
Pickering International LLC, RASS U.S.A., Taco
Loco, The Emperor's Clothes, The Hempest and What's
Hempenin' Baby?
This year's HIA Achievement Awards
were handed to two members whose contribution
to the HIA and to the hemp industry has been monumental:
Don Wirtshafter of Ohio Hempery and Candi Penn,
HIA Secretary. We thank them for their dedicated
service! Denny Finneran of Crucial was the big
winner (are you surprised?) of the raffle prizes,
which included a stylish black vest from Backstage
Studio in PA, who were also sponsors of the HIA
Convention. We thank our members who contributed
prizes: Santa Barbara Hemp Company, The Hemp Club,
HempNut, Inc., Hemp Commerce and Farming Report
, Spirit Stream Trading Co., The Merry Hempsters,
Hempzels, Acoustic Traditions, Canolio Cosmetiques,
New Hampshire Hemp Council, Boston Hemp Co-op,
Mari Kane, Ohio Hempery, Ruth Shamai, BioHemp,
Inc. and Naturally Wild.
On Sunday, speaker Arthur Hanks
of HempReport.com,
gave an overview of Canadian progress and problems
in the realms of product development, processing,
marketing and government support. Tim Niedermann,
a flax and hemp fiber consultant told us how flax
cultivation and processing is somewhat adaptable
for hemp fiber. The costs must come down to make
it viable. Decortication problems, labor intensity
and lack of infrastructure are familiar warnings.
However, he said oil is a more favorable crop
and hurds for animal bedding is working.
After a few volleyball games
and hours of networking, hempologist John Dvorak
presented an after-dinner talk on interesting
footnotes in hemp history. The evening concluded
with musical entertainment by Terry Tufts, Wayne
Dyer and Russell Scott. Our thanks go out to our
hosts for two years, the Ecology Retreat Center,
the geniality of which we will miss next year
when the convention moves to either Hawaii or
South Dakota. Continuing our tradition of serving
nothing but gourmet hemp foods at HIA conventions,
this year's menu contained our first taste of
"hemp-fed" chickens, duck and eggs. Also on the
menu were hemp beer, hemp salad dressings, hemp
bread, hemp bagels, hemp brownies, hemp ice cream,
hemp pasta and hemp butter. Hulled hemp was used
in most dishes and hemp oil was on every table.
HIA merchandise was available
to attendees. Photos of the 1999 and 2000 Convention
groups are still available from the HIA for $10.00.
HIA hats and HIA logo shirts in Men's and Women's
styles are available for $25. That's U.S. currency.
Also, HIA Hang Tags are available for four cents
each.
Congratulations to Convention
Coordinator Larry Duprey (Chanvre en Ville) and
his assistants, James Enkin (Spirit Stream), Kathleen
O'Hara (Hip on Hemp), Tariq Malik (Spirit Stream),
Ruth Shamai (The Natural Order/Ruth's Hemp Foods)
and Candi Penn (Registrar) for putting on a great
event. Until next year, aloha!
Respectfully submitted by
Mari Kane, Candi Penn, Larry Duprey, Steve Levine
and Eric Lineback.
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