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[This release is courtesy of Iker Val at the Ganjazz Art Club in San Sebastian, Spain.] Sunday 22 July Greetings to everyone, from Iker, president of the Ganjazz Art Club in San Sebastián. I was arrested on Friday 20 July and released yesterday, Saturday 21 July. I am very happy with all the support received from all over the country and especially from our land Euskadi. During these 30 hours that I have been free I do not do anything else than reaffirming my thoughts that came to me in the 30 hours that I was arrested: EVERYTHING WILL BE ALLRIGHT. I believe firmly in the work that our association has carried out in the past years and I believe in the strength of my arguments in the declarations to the police and the prosecutor, they are the fruit of many years defending an alternative to the policies that are applied to cannabis, a realistic alternative that we are promoting firmly, to respect some legal parameters and social criteria for normalisation and social integration of the cannabis consumer, in this so-called democratic society and its hypothetical state of law. The entire collective plantation of Ganjazz was destroyed on Friday afternoon, in the course of a desastrous intervention in the seat of the association. The work of many years selecting plants and collecting genetical information has been destroyed, all the stored flowers that were used to develop our programme of activities was erradicated. And even so, we are satisfied, because where they hoped to find some drug dealers, with thousands of euros, with all kinds of substances, kilos and kilos, arms, prostitutes etc. etc., they have found to their own surprise a simple association, that implements its humble activities in accordance with its capacities and necessities. We know that good work is being done if there is absolute coherence between theory and practice and this has been the case of Ganjazz. From now on, a new process starts for Ganjazz, in which we will have to regularise our activities. We believe that every negative event has its advantages, all this innecessary intervention in the daily life of our association has only made our conviction stronger, it has made us stronger. This experience will help us to transmit with more strength and courage the proposal to regulate the collective and individual cultivation for personal consumption. At the same time we know that society is ill in many different ways and that the reaction to all these systematical attacks on our lifestyle will change as long as we maintain this effort to organise us and reivindicate our rights as cannabis users through activities that improve OUR QUALITY OF LIFE. So our message is: Let's go forward and support all these initiatives that create a gap in the wall and increase our capacity of developing means to use our rights that we have as consumers within the law, yesterday in Euskadi we were three associations, today there are more than ten and this will increase in the near future. In various corners of the state similar projects are surging and developing really well. Greetings to all those who have been concerened with my personal situation, to all people who participated in the manifestation, to all people in the Cannabiscafe, to the RCN, to associations and growshops who have expressed their support, I have felt very supported by many people and this reaffirms me in all my ways of acting against the prohibition of cannabis. Thanks to everybody, I will continue to inform you through various media about the legal case and its resolution. On the moment our activities have not ended, nor has the club been closed, so we will be up and running shortly again. STRENGHT AND CHEERS. Iker Val. President Ganjazz Art Club http://www.encod.org/info/@[email protected]

For Immediate Release: July 24, 2007 Contact: Tony Newman at (646) 335-5384 NY Poised to Become First State to Require Addiction Treatment Programs to be Smoke-free, Aimed at Helping Clients Quit Smoking Treatment Advocates See New Rule as a Mixed Bag: Applaud Effort to Help Smokers Quit; Warn of Possible New Barriers to Treatment Created by Smoke-free Centers New York Alcohol and Substance Abuse Service officials announced today a new rule that will require treatment centers to help their patients to quit smoking. The plan, which is slated to take effect next year, will require treatment centers to help patients quit smoking by offering nicotine replacement therapy, including nicotine gum and patches, to all smokers. For those lacking health insurance, the nicotine replacement therapy will be free of charge. The treatment centers also will be required to be smoke-free. Smokers will be prohibited from smoking at the centers. Officials estimate the new law will impact 110,000 patients on any given day. Approximately 92 percent of those in alcohol and other drug treatment programs are cigarette smokers, according to official estimates. Treatment advocates have mixed feelings about the new rule. They are applauding the effort to help people quit smoking, but warn that the smoking ban may deter some smokers who are hoping to quit other addictions. “Smoking leads to more premature deaths than all illicit drugs combined and it is a positive development to offer nicotine replacement therapy to all who want it,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “But prohibiting smoking at the treatment centers may discourage people who want and need treatment to other drugs, but are not willing or able to stop smoking.” Many people struggling with addiction may have problems with multiple drugs, both legal and illegal. Advocates caution against barriers that will discourage people from seeking out help. “Not everyone can or wants to abstain from all drugs all at once,” said Tony Newman, media director at the Drug Policy Alliance. “Do we really want to set up barriers for someone who wants to quit heroin, but may not be ready to quit cigarettes? We need open doors that encourage people to get help for their problems, whether it be for illegal or legal drugs, and not rules that drive people away from life-saving programs.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 CONTACT: Adam Eidinger at 202-744-2671, [email protected] or Tom Murphy at 207-542-4998, [email protected] Television Coverage of Industrial Hemp Confused by Puns and Drug References “You Can’t Get High Talking About Hemp” WASHINGTON, DC – Vote Hemp, the nation’s leading industrial hemp advocacy organization, recognizes that the American news media strives to provide accurate information to their readers and viewers. In recent years there have been an increasing number of news reports about hemp farming legislation and the activities of industrial hemp advocates at the local and federal level. On average, the facts presented on industrial hemp are accurate; however, silly pot humor still manages to creep into some of the coverage. Confusion between non-drug, industrial hemp varieties and psychoactive, drug varieties of Cannabis is fueled by these easy pot shots, ultimately aiding the myth that hemp and marijuana are the same. The DEA’s justification for threatening prosecution against anyone who grows the non-drug industrial hemp is that there is no distinction under federal law. Just saying that hemp is not marijuana is not enough to save a story. The media should take extra effort to provide straight, fact-based news coverage of industrial hemp legislation, lawsuits and grassroots campaigns that seek to bring the U.S. in line with the rest of the industrialized world that already grows hemp. “We at Vote Hemp are tired of seeing TV news personalities giggle and act stoned when talking about industrial hemp,” says Eric Steenstra, co-founder of VoteHemp.com. “You can’t get high eating or talking about hemp, so don’t act stoned,” he adds in reference to giggling by hosts on NBC’s TODAY Show earlier this year. “It’s time to get past the giggle-factor. Legitimate news organizations have an obligation to treat industrial hemp as the serious issue it is and to not confuse it with drugs.” “We constantly have to correct misstatements about the relationship between industrial hemp and marijuana,” says Alexis Baden-Mayer, director of Government Affairs for Vote Hemp. “The most recent offence was in Mike Luery's July 11 report on San Francisco’s NBC Channel 11 which was laced with bad puns tainting any hope of serious coverage.” Luery begins by saying that Cannabis can be used by farmers to make not only industrial hemp, but also marijuana. This is the equivalent of saying, “Canis lupus can be used by breeders to create not only chihuahuas, but also wolves." Luery just isn't making sense. Industrial hemp and marijuana are genetically distinct varieties, or sub-species, of the genus Cannabis. They each have been bred over thousands of years for very different characteristics. Like dogs and wolves, two kinds of Canis lupus, different sub-species of Cannabis can interbreed, but you would not mistake one for the other. More information is available online at: http://www.votehemp.com/media. Chemically and genetically, marijuana and industrial hemp are opposites: marijuana has a lot of THC and very little CBD, both cannabinoids, while industrial hemp has a lot of CBD and almost no THC. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is the psychoactive component that gives marijuana users a high, while CBD (cannabidiol) effectively blocks THC's psychoactive punch. This means that if you try smoking industrial hemp, all you'll get is a bad headache. Luery relishes using his favorite puns from the marijuana joke book to color the debate. For example, opponents’ arguments "went up in smoke," and Chuck DeVore is the bill's "self-proclaimed joint author." The amazing thing is that — despite this kind of reporting — most California voters are aware of the truth about industrial hemp and don’t buy into the drug storyline. In fact, Vote Hemp's recent Zogby poll showed that 71% of Californians support changing state law to allow hemp farming. See the news clip at: http://video.nbc11.com/player/?id=127962. “The story that should be told is that in the past six months new hemp products like Hemp Milk have been a huge success,” says Steenstra. “California companies lead the nation in manufacturing hemp products such as soap and snack bars. Meanwhile, legislation in the California legislature to allow industrial hemp farming is likely to succeed, and North Dakota farmers with state-issued hemp farming licenses have recently filed a landmark lawsuit against the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).” In June, two North Dakota farmers filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota in an effort to end the DEA’s obstruction of commercial hemp farming in the United States. If successful, the legal action would result in licensed hemp farmers receiving assurances that no federal agency could hold them criminally liable under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Vote Hemp’s grassroots supporters are funding the legal action. A copy of the complaint is available online at: http://www.votehemp.com/legal. Last year, just over 48,000 acres of hemp were grown in Canada, primarily in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, provinces that border North Dakota. Hemp farmers in Canada averaged $250 CDN per acre in profit in 2006, according to the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA), an association of businesses, farmers and researchers. Hemp currently has a better profit outlook than any other crop in Canada. Hemp is a good rotational crop, with the ability to reduce weeds in future cereal crops. Very few chemicals, if any, are required to grow the crop which is considered a good alternative to those with harmful environmental impacts such as cotton, tobacco and soy. In the largest hemp-producing country, China, which grows 2 million acres annually, hemp hurds are processed into lightweight boards, and hemp fibers, already used in the paper and automotive industries, are finding new uses as reinforcement in plastics for products such as window frames and floor coverings. (In fact, some of these innovative products will be used on a large scale at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, according to news reports.) In Sweden, companies including IKEA, Volvo and Saab have shown interest in hemp fibers and hurds for use in vehicle interiors and furniture. In the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, considerable investments are being made by governments and private businesses to utilize hemp fiber in composites that are used to manufacture auto parts for BMW, Chrysler, Ford and Mercedes. In Canada, Germany and Japan, businesses are investigating reinforcing Polylactide (PLA) plastic with hemp fibers in order to widen the technology’s field of applications. # # # Vote Hemp is a national, single-issue, non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and a free market for low-THC industrial hemp and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to once again grow the crop. More information about hemp legislation and the crop's many uses may be found at www.VoteHemp.com or www.HempIndustries.org. BETA SP or DVD Video News Releases featuring footage of hemp farming in other countries are available upon request by contacting Adam Eidinger at 202-744-2671.