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Questioning Race: IT'S ROPE, NOT DOPE The Industrial Hemp Bill has been introduced to the Oregon legislature every two years since 1997, but it's never reached the floor for a vote. Now it's back, with a good chance of getting a fair hearing. Senate Bill 294 would allow hemp farming in Oregon and create a licensing, permitting and inspection program for growers and handlers. Hemp was farmed extensively in the U.S. for centuries (the Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper), but in the early 1970s, the DEA classified hemp as a drug under the Controlled Substances Act, making it illegal to grow but legal to import. Today, 31 other nations grow industrial hemp, but the U.S. remains the world's largest hemp consumer. In 2002, North Americans purchased approximately $150 million in retail hemp products. Carolyn Moran, founder of Eugene's Living Tree Paper, testified at the Oregon Senate Environment and Land Use Committee's April 6 hearing on the bill. She uses hemp fibers for her non-wood paper products, and the legalization of industrial hemp production would lower her costs. "Let's get with the program," she said, referring to the other nations already growing hemp legally. "Why not? We have nothing to lose." Oregon Sen. Floyd Prozanski, who introduced the bill, says that industrial hemp production could boost the state's agricultural economy. "Why is it that we can import raw industrial hemp, but we can't allow our farmers to choose to grow it as an economic crop?" he asks. "The government shouldn't be able to tell us what is and isn't an agricultural product. The reality is, it's rope, not dope." Hemp is grown from a different variety of Cannabis than marijuana, and it has negligible psychoactive properties. Hemp has smaller flowers, thicker stalks and a much lower THC content than marijuana, and it contains a compound that blocks the marijuana high. It can be used in the production of paper, body care products, food, building materials and vehicle fuel. If the Industrial Hemp Bill passes, Oregon could become the first state since the 1970s to allow hemp cultivation for profit. Other states, however, have passed legislation to allow hemp cultivation for scientific studies. Since 1995, 14 states have passed legislation supporting hemp production and possession, and Oregon is one of four states considering an industrial hemp production bill this year . Because industrial hemp production is still illegal on a federal level, the bill treads in murky legal waters. Prozanski says that the state could take one of two actions upon passing the bill: require farmers who wish to grow industrial hemp to apply for permits through the DEA, who could refuse to grant them; or keep all permitting within the state and wait to see what the feds will do. For more information on the movement to legalize industrial hemp, see www.votehemp.com — Kera Abraham
EARTH DAY BASH AT LCC A multitude of free events leading up to Earth Day April 22 are planned on campus at LCC from April 18-21. The week-long celebration is a first for LCC and is sponsored by the Associated Students of LCC, the Sustainability Group of LCC, and OSPIRG. Workshops, speakers and films will focus on forest and water conservation, composting, transportation sustainability, peace and sustainability, and industrial pollution. Monday highlights include an 11 am workshop on protecting old growth forests in the McKenzie Watershed, followed by a noon presentation by Bill Sullivan on "Wreckreating or Recreating?" in the McKenzie forests. Tuesday highlights include sessions on the annual LCC Waste Audit, composting, peace and sustainability, water conservation and rainwater harvesting. Wednesday events include a workshop on "Light & Health," a lunch talk on "Reducing Car Dependency" with EW staffer Jef Stout; and a discussion of biodiesel fuels. Thursday begins with a reading by professor Ronald Takaki, followed by a workshop on "defining sustainability." Films to be shown during the week include PickAxe, Exporting Harm, End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream and Blue Vinyl. A list of locations, live music performances and other events can be found at www.lanecc.eduor call 463-5365.
WESAK FOR THE WELL-TO-DO Where do you go to celebrate Wesak? A few small groups in the Eugene area are likely to hold Wesak meditations at the first full moon in the sun sign Aries, also considered the birthday of Buddha. But the largest celebration in the region will be held April 22-24 in Mt. Shasta in northern California, drawing a large crowd of mostly higher-income New Age metaphysical truth-seekers. Cost is $300 and does not include accommodations. Polls have shown that each attendee spends more than $250 on housing, food and transportation, pumping about $7 million in the local economy over the past 10 years, according to event organizers at Mount Shasta Magazine. Speakers at the 11th annual gathering will include Steven Halpern, Barry Carter, Michael Tamura, Ronna Herman, Mike Wright, Norma Milanovich, Dr. Joe Dispenza, Philip Madeley, Randy Masters, Joanna Cherry, Michael Peter Langevin, Amorah Quan Yin, Claire Heartsong, Barbara Bullard, Kathy Zavada, Grace Somers and Erik Berglund. More information on the speakers, musicians and registration can be found at www.wesak.usor by calling (530) 926-5500.
Just Pull the Plug I, _____________ , being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means. Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of peckerwood politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it. If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to sit up and ask for a cold beer, it should be presumed that I won't ever get better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my spouse, children and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes and call it a day. Under no circumstances shall the members of the Legislature enact a special law to keep me on life-support machinery. It is my wish that these boneheads mind their own damn business, and pay attention instead to the health, education and future of the millions of Americans who aren't in a permanent coma. Under no circumstances shall any politicians butt into this case. I don't care how many fundamentalist votes they're trying to scrounge for their run for the presidency in 2008; it is my wish that they play politics with someone else's life and leave me alone to die in peace. I couldn't care less if a hundred religious zealots send e-mails to legislators in which they pretend to care about me. I don't know these people, and I certainly haven't authorized them to preach and crusade on my behalf. They should mind their own business, too. If any of my family goes against my wishes and turns my case into a political cause, I hereby promise to come back from the grave and make his or her existence a living hell. — Unknown
Dreams
of America Wael Wahbeh, a 30-year-old Palestinian Muslim with Israeli citizenship, first came to the U.S. in 1991 to attend college in North Carolina. He met and married an American woman, and his daughter was born in 1994. Wahbeh and his first wife divorced in 1995, and he returned to the West Bank for several years. He came back to the U.S. in 1998 and attended LCC while staying with family friends, UO professors Shaul Cohen and Diane Baxter. Several years later he re-married, won custody of his daughter and moved to Portland. When his second marriage failed, Wahbeh, frustrated with continued delays on his Green Card approval and wanting to give his daughter more connection to her roots, decided to move back to Jerusalem. He spoke with EW in late January and left the country in March. What's on your mind? I'll tell it from the beginning. I'm a Palestinian born in Kuwait. After my dad died, they confiscated everything because he is not Kuwaiti. When I was 8 years old we went to Jerusalem — just me, three sisters and my mom. When I was 13, the uprising started. It took so many years of my life, all the way through high school, and I wanted to escape. Then Diane [Baxter] came to Jerusalem and stayed in our house while doing a study on Palestinian women. Her being Jewish and American opened my eyes to a lot of things, and I liked the possibility of people living together peacefully in one country. The dream of America — she really sold it to me. Were things tough for you in Jerusalem during the uprising? At age 17, I was arrested because they thought I threw a bottle at a Jewish bus. I had just been standing outside a shoe store, looking at shoes for basketball training. The Israeli soldiers used the magazines of their M-16s to beat me, and then they dragged me down the street. Within two hours of being arrested, at least 40 soldiers exchanged turns beating me up in a military camp. Eventually the doctor patched me up and sent me to the police station. Then they started the interrogation. I didn't confess anything, because I really knew better, and after 59 days they had to release me. Did your treatment in Israel make you want to believe that this country was better? Yeah. I hoped all Americans would be like Diane, but they're not. I like the people much more than I like the government, but my bond is really to the land, because I don't believe in politics. The Northwest — especially Oregon and particularly Eugene — is the only place that ever felt like home. People are willing to listen and try to understand, and they're very respectful, mainly. What's the root cause of the Middle East turmoil? Unfairness. When you're a superpower, there's a lot of responsibility that falls on your shoulders. When America decides to be biased toward Israel, it affects the Palestinian life and economy so dramatically. It can be a small decision on this end, but the impact is big on our life. Like we're insignificant. Have people viewed you as insignificant in America? I had a few incidents. At one party at a fraternity in Eugene, someone asked me where I was from and I said Israel. And he said, "I support you so much. We should throw all those Arabs in the ocean." I just walked out. Another guy felt so bad he came outside in a French maid dress, chasing me down the street, but I still didn't go back. So there are people who care and those who don't. Do you think racism is the exception, or does it reflect something deeper in our culture? There is something way deeper in the culture. It's like a taboo. A lot of people say, "Racism isn't cool," but when it comes down to actually looking at someone as a person and not as a race or color or religion, that's the experience people lack. A lot of people feel like they have to act differently because I'm from the Middle East. They start saying stupid stuff, like they know somebody who's dark, or they work with someone who's black, or they rode in a taxi where the guy had a turban on his head. Even when people don't put their stereotypes on the table, you can sense it? Yeah. When people don't know how to act around someone from another nationality, there are two choices: They can either ignore them because they don't want to say the wrong thing, or they can try to be careful and just be themselves. People hear my name and they're too skeptical about asking the next question. I hate that. Just say it, whatever it is, and then give me a chance to speak for myself. Are there racial divisions among Palestinians in Israel? In the Arabic society, the division is based on family name, status and where you're from. The rift between Christians and Muslims is really faded. There are old ties, and those are hard to break. More than a thousand years ago, when the Muslims came to Jerusalem, they took a vow to protect the Christians in the city. The keys to the church where Jesus was crucified have been with a Muslim family until now. Even when there are problems between Christians and Muslims in Palestine, they get solved really fast because there is a strong belief on both ends that they have to be on the same side. Why do you think there is a perceived division between Christians and Muslims in this country? The purpose is to have a war. I don't think religion has much to do with it. There were times when the church led wars, but I don't think this is a war led by church. This is a war led by greedy bastards. The church might be supporting them, but it's really not Muslims against Christians, and it never was. You told me earlier that you've lost faith in this country. Can you explain that? I was in Israel from October to November of 2004. Everybody asked me about the election and I said, "There is no way that Bush can win." I was really shocked and disappointed that he won, and I realized that Eugene is not reality. Eugene is just la-la land, where people actually give a shit. It's not like the rest of the country, where people are just selfish. What's a solution to racism in this country? Most of the racism I came across is from the Christian, wealthy, conservative people, especially when it comes to their support toward Israel, which is also reflected in the American policy. Maybe churches have to talk about racism and be more accepting of other religions. They teach a lot about love, but somehow it doesn't translate into action in real life. The couple times that I went with my wife to her church, they had this projector slide show and the Israeli flag came on a couple times. I don't want to see that. Not in church, not when I'm thinking about God. Will your daughter remain an American citizen? Oh yeah. She'll come back for college. We're not abandoning the country for good; I just want her to grow up in Israel for the next eight years. After that, when she comes back to America, she'll be much stronger.
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