Activists Present
USVI Senators with a Lemon Meringue Pie in support of Bill No. 29-0350
August 15, 2012 - ST. CROIX - Celebrities and activists associated with volunteer group
Hemp Can Save The Planet presented USVI Senators with a locally made gourmet
Lemon Meringue Pie on behalf of USVI Culinary Ambassador, Chef Theo Gumbs,
filmmaker Melissa Balin; the late, great civil rights activist, Jack Herer, and
countless celebrity activist Hemp Can Save The Planet volunteers, in support of
Bill No. 29-0350 - An Act to conduct a referendum on the issue of promoting the
production, processing, manufacture and distribution of Industrial Hemp in the
Virgin Islands. Senator Terrance "Positive" Nelson, the first and only Rastafarian senator in the
Virgin Islands, is bringing the bill forward. Senator Shawn-Michael Malone of
St. Thomas has signed on as the bill’s co-sponsor.
The pie was accompanied with a note that read:
This gift is a delicious token symbolizing the following
food for thought:
The lemons used to make this gourmet Lemon Meringue Pie are
not indigenous to the Virgin Islands and must be imported. While the Mainland is the #1 Importer
of Industrial Hemp (which much like a lemon, does NOT have psychotropic
effects), the United States is currently the only Industrialized Nation that
Prohibits the growing of Industrial Hemp, due to antiquated laws based on
studies that have since been scientifically debunked. As one of the remaining “Non-Self Governing Territories” on
the United Nations’ list, we enthusiastically encourage the United States
Virgin Islands to explore the economic and agricultural solutions presented by
what was already being referred to as a “Billion-Dollar Crop” back in 1936,
with the USVI Territory having already experienced almost 20 years of legal
Cannabis Hemp use without incident, after Denmark’s sale to America in 1917,
until Prohibition was implemented under false pretenses in 1937.
The lemon meringue pie was also accompanied with the
verbiage of the resolution being presented to the United Nations declaring the
End of the Prohibition of Cannabis Hemp, through an online petition on Change.Org. Filmmaker Melissa
Balin says, "I don't think it is a common or advisable policy for
government officials to accept food stuffs from constituents, but when the gift
is coming from a two-time Iron Chef Winner, who is the Culinary Ambassador for
the entire USVI, those are exceptionally delectable circumstances worthy of
consideration. Still, whether the
Senators actually eat the pie, or not, we hope it will bring a global awareness
to the core issues surrounding Industrial Hemp as a sustainable resource."
National Lemon Meringue Pie Day is celebrated in the United
States on August 15th. To find out
more about the many uses of Industrial Hemp, please visit
http://www.VoteHemp.org
