ROUND TWO

Points Five and Six of the SR-CPEP went smoothly, Point Seven brought a little more conflict.

"It's political suicide." Mark said, "The minute somebody reads that they're going to think, 'A bunch of potheads trying to get weed legalized'."

Richard and Ben disagreed, maintaining that hemp had tremendous potential as an energy resource.

"I agree with Mark." Said the young Hindu. "I'm from India, and in my country there is a much different mindset than in this country. Here there is a hysteria over the Drug War, and I believe that including anything about hemp will be counterproductive."

"I'm not a chemist or a botanist, but from what I've read hemp is the ... or one of the ... most cellulose intensive substances on the planet. Cellulose is the magic ingredient in energy production, and anything you can make from coal and oil can be made from hemp." Thomas argued. "Assuming that's true, it seems that should be our main consideration. If hemp is a valuable source of energy, I don't think we should be deterred from promoting it because of the hysterical fears of an ignorant majority."

"I agree." The young woman said. "But I still think Mark has a valid point about the negative effects on our public image. Could we possibly come up with a different word?"

After a few minutes of brainstorming the group decided that any other word would probably be even worse for their public image than 'hemp'."

"How about, 'Cellulose intensive vegetation'?" Thomas suggested.

A step toward harmony, perhaps, but still a long way yet to go.