By Ted Smith
After 17 years of studying, writing, procrastinating, fighting for my life, and organizing meetings, it is hard to believe I am close to publishing the Hempology 101 textbook. But if all goes well it should be available soon after this issue goes to print. Far from being the end of a project, in many ways it is just the beginning.
This will not be the first printing; it will actually be the fourth edition. The first three editions were not only printed on hemp but were also bound together by hemp string. It was easy to sell the 100 copies of each edition I made. But some chapters of the book still needed a lot of work, so I put it off for years while running the CBC of C and other Hempology 101 activities.
Before I started the CBC of C, I had grand plans of touring the country with my newly published book. I was going to go all the way to Newfoundland in my van in the summer of 1996 to spread the good word about the herb across the country. Luckily I started the club instead, because I likely would have ended up with no money in a broken-down van somewhere in Northern Ontario.
Over the years most of my work has been on Vancouver Island and in Vancouver, with a couple of short trips to clubs in Ontario. However, with the publishing of the textbook, that will change. Though I am not doing a coast-to-coast tour like I envisioned, I do plan upon travelling across the country this year to share my dream of a cannabis-enriched society.
In July, my first trip will be back to my homeland of Ontario. I will host a game show of “Reach for the Pot” at city hall in Kitchner, then again in London, and finally in Toronto.
The next big trip in Aug. will go straight into the heart of the Conservative Party. I have never spent much time in Alberta, but that part of the country needs to be tuned in more than anywhere else. While I do not expect to have much of an immediate impact, once again I will be laying roots for Hempology 101 to grow.
Finally, in Nov. I plan upon going to the East Coast, not all of the way to Newfoundland, but to Halifax. It is my hope that we can start a Hempology 101 club at Dalhousie in time to organize a cannabis convention there. From there, Gayle and I, (of course she is coming on all of these trips), will go to Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, where a Hempology 101 club is already getting off the ground. Then we will venture off to Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. By coincidence the decision in the bakery trial will be handed down around the same time the textbook is going to be available in stores. The timing could not be better. The crown is likely going to appeal and the case could take years before getting to the Supreme Court of Canada. By coming out around the same time as I launch the textbook, this decision will improve our ability to educate the public about the benefits of eating or topically applying cannabis products.
One of the other major themes of this book tour will be hemp. While Canada has a legal hemp program, there are still many problems with the system. Canadians grow more hemp seed than any other country, but we are just scratching the surface of all its possibilities. It is still my dream that one day these books will be printed on hemp grown by my family near Stratford, Ont.
The best part of touring the country will be playing “Reach for the Pot” in places I have never been, with people I have just met. “Reach for the Pot” is an excellent, entertaining way to educate people about cannabis and its culture. It is something we have played here in Victoria for years, and you can find old videos of our annual tournament and other special games on our Youtube channel.
Hempology 101 has the potential to bring people together to heal, learn, laugh, and work for a better future. This year will see us accomplish more than ever as we tour the country to meet like-minded people looking to help turn our society around. With Bill C-10 getting rammed down our throats, there could
