[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 17812-17813]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



         VERMONT HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT CONGRESSIONAL TOWN MEETING

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 24, 2001

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, today I recognize the outstanding work done 
by participants in my Student Congressional Town Meeting held this 
summer. These participants were part of a group of high school students 
from around Vermont who testified about the concerns they have as 
teenagers, and about what they would like to see government do 
regarding these concerns.

  On Behalf of Hillary Knapp and Christine Harvey--Regarding Healthy 
              Choices During the Teens Years, May 7, 2001

       Hillary Knapp. In January, Otter Teen Network helped 
     organize and run a peer leadership project, with the help of 
     Green Mountain Prevention Project.
       Christine Harvey. Otter Teen is a student-initiated and run 
     organization that invites teens to work together to create a 
     safe environment and positive school community at Otter 
     Valley. And OTM encourages young students to develop 
     leadership skills, have fun, and be high on life, not 
     alcohol, tobacco or other dangerous drugs. One of OTM's goals 
     is to empower individuals to respect themselves and others, 
     and not give in to negative peer pressure. There are no 
     membership requirements. All student and faculty are already 
     members. As a member, you can become involved as much or as 
     little as you desire.
       Hillary Knapp. Peer Leadership Project is where certain 
     kids from the school go and have leadership training for one 
     weekend. And Green Mountain Prevention projects provided a 
     facilitator, Workshop-presenter and team-building games. 
     Through the PLP, we generated interest among the middle 
     school students to get involved with planning and carrying 
     out of our Power of Choice Day.
       Christine Harvey. Our Power of Choice Day was a day where 
     we had workshops for students to go to instead of regular 
     classes, and the workshops were on healthy choices and the 
     power you have to make your own choices.
       Hillary Knapp. Students came to our Power of Choice Day 
     thinking that it was going to be really boring and they were 
     just going to sit there. And as they went to the workshops 
     and did all the Activities we had, they found that it was 
     interesting and they liked the day. The preliminary results 
     of the survey for the day showed that the vast majority of 
     the students enjoyed the day and found it somewhat to be 
     useful in their everyday life.
       Christine Harvey. We have a packet on all the stuff that we 
     did during the day, and some pictures.

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 On Behalf of Josh Smolkin--Regarding Legalizing Cannabis, May 7, 2001

       Josh Smolkin. My name is Joshua Smolkin. Thank you for 
     letting me speak here. Cannabis legalization has been 
     increasingly popular. This push is misunderstood by those who 
     discredit and close their ears to the cause. This push has 
     not come from people who merely wish to walk down the street 
     and smoke a joint without getting apprehended. It comes from 
     intelligent individuals who wish to make as much use of a 
     significant resource as humanly possible. Cannabis is the 
     only plant that has resilient enough growing habits, frugal 
     value, and the versatility to provide all the basic 
     necessities of life while helping to save our ecosystem and 
     supply all the energy we would ever need. I feel it is in our 
     best interest to legalize cannibus. Hemp is a form of the 
     cannabis plant that does not contain enough 
     tetrahydracanibinol, or THC, the psychoactive chemical found 
     in cannabis, to get an individual high. It would astonish me 
     as to why we have been confronted with so many problems 
     whenever there is an attempt to use it industrially. That is, 
     it would astonish me if I did not know that it is because 
     hemp poses a huge threat to the timber and oil companies, 
     both of which exert huge influence within the United States. 
     Hemp can be effectively made into all sorts of energy 
     products that are practically sulfur-free and cleaner burning 
     than currently used national resources such as crude oil, its 
     by-products, and coal. It can be easily made into a biomass 
     form of charcoal and gasoline. While when burnt, it will 
     release carbon dioxide, while it is growing, it uses up CO2, 
     creating more of a balance. I am convinced cannabis is one of 
     our prime allies in the fight against the greenhouse effect 
     and pollution. This possibility is definitely not given 
     enough credence. I guess it is a horrible thing to explore 
     likely ways to save our ecosystem. The truth is, our oil 
     supplies are not going to last that much longer. Why destroy 
     our world for the hundred some-odd years it will take for our 
     oil to be depleted, at which point we will just have to run 
     to a savior such as hemp our of necessity? Pulped hemp is a 
     prime candidate for paper production. The cannabis plant has 
     four times as much paper-usable pulp per acre as trees do. 
     Furthermore, it grows back in about four months. Hemp fibers 
     are very long, and grow in the organically binding glue found 
     in plant cells, allowing for environmentally safe chlorine-
     free bleaching. These fibers can be made into various 
     household items and clothing, far superior to cotton in 
     durability, insulation, UV protection, and is easy to mass-
     produce. Hemp produces fibers which are 15 feet long and is 
     health-conducive to the soil, while cotton produces fibers 1 
     to 2 centimeters long and destroys the soil. All products 
     made are biodegradable. In a composite form, it is twice as 
     strong as wood, and can replace timber in most all its forms. 
     Hemp seeds are highly nutritious, even more so than soy. They 
     are roughly 25 percent protein, 30 percent carbohydrates, and 
     contain a whole list of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty 
     acids, and contain rare lineolic that is good for the immune 
     system. Hemp seed oil is good for lowering cholesterol levels 
     and strengthening the cardiovascular system. Besides hemp, 
     there are various strains of budding cannabis containing 
     higher levels of THC. Even these are relatively harmless 
     compared to other substances which are legal. There has never 
     been a death caused solely from marijuana. This was confirmed 
     by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Meanwhile, alcohol 
     and tobacco have a combined death rate of over 500,000 
     annually, give or take a few thousand. It is hard to count 
     with that many deaths. Even caffeine and aspirin cause upward 
     of a thousand deaths of more a year, individually. In 1972, 
     commissioned by President Nixon, the National Committee on 
     Marijuana and Drug Abuse concluded that ``marijuana's 
     relative potential for harm to the vast majority of 
     individuals and its actual impact on society does not justify 
     a social policy to seek out and punish those who use it.'' I 
     think that the accepted belief is that Marijuana is on a 
     similar level with alcohol. Of course, there are those who 
     would say it is far worse, and others who say it is less 
     harmless. The fact is, if an individual of legal age can go 
     home and drink a few beers and watch TV, why can't a person 
     go home after work, smoke some marijuana, and watch TV? Is 
     just so happens that, during the cultural development of our 
     country, some substances became more socially acceptable than 
     others. I think the main position taken by anti-marijuana 
     legalization advocates is that it is a gateway drug. This 
     assumption, made by those who would see cannabis hung, is 
     false. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported on the so-
     called ``gate-way theory.'' The report says that, ``although 
     marijuana use often precedes the use of harder drugs, there 
     is not conclusive evidence that marijuana acts as a `gateway' 
     drug that actually causes people to make this progression.'' 
     If marijuana is a gateway drug, then alcohol or tobacco or 
     Tylenol PM would be a gateway drug. The medicinal uses of 
     cannabis and hemp are only now being understood and applied, 
     in spite of the fact that it has been used medically for 
     thousands of years. The flowers of marijuana, smoked or 
     eaten, are used to treat many ailments. Marijuana treats 
     nausea for cancer and AIDS and patients going through 
     chemotherapy. For glaucoma sufferers, marijuana relieves the 
     pressure in their eyes. It is a great pain-reducers, 
     effective against migraine head-aches and postmenstrual 
     cramps. In asthma patients, marijuana smoke dilates the 
     bronchial passages, opening the airways. There are many more 
     known and unknown uses for medical marijuana. No matter how 
     much credit we give ourselves, money is the strongest factor 
     behind a lot of our actions. Upwards of $9 billion or more 
     tax dollars was spent on antimarijuana in individual past 
     years. It was estimated that $1 billion in tax revenues could 
     be collected, not to mention income from legal sellers, 
     producers and distributors. If cannabis were legalized that 
     would be over $20 billion we could put towards education. 
     It's clear we're not getting all we should out of our current 
     money spent on this issue. Prohibition is a failure. Millions 
     of Americans smoke marijuana despite

[[Page 17813]]

     laws outlawing its use. Law enforcement arrests a marijuana 
     smoker every 54 seconds in America, at a tremendous cost to 
     society. Over 10 million Americans have been arrested on 
     marijuana charges since the National Commission on Marijuana 
     and Drug Abuse issued its recommendations to Congress in 1972 
     to decriminalize the plant. Non-violent marijuana offenders 
     often serve longer sentences than rapists or murderers, and 
     there are currently 60,000 in jail. This means that peaceful 
     middle-class people are thrown in cells with rapists and 
     murderers. Civil forfeiture laws allows the police to seize 
     the money and property of suspected marijuana offenders; 
     charges need not even be filed. Vigorous enforcement of the 
     laws forces hardened criminals to take over marijuana 
     trafficking. This causes violence and increased predatory 
     crime. Marijuana prohibition creates a mixed drug market, 
     which puts marijuana customers in contact with hard-drug 
     dealers. Regulating marijuana would separate marijuana from 
     cocaine, heroine and other hard drugs. Because marijuana is 
     typically used in private, trampling the Bill of Rights is a 
     routine part of marijuana-law enforcement--for example, the 
     use of drug dogs, urine tests, phone taps, government 
     informants, curbside garbage searches, military helicopters, 
     and infrared heat detectors. There are simply so many facts 
     which support cannabis legality that I could speak of them to 
     you all day today. Hopefully, these facts and my opinions 
     that I have presented are helpful and informative. I urge you 
     to support this cause, given the opportunity. The industrial, 
     medicinal, nutritional, and moral benefits of cannabis 
     legalization are too much to ignore.

     

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