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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Spain: Fernanda de la Figuera spokeswoman for arseca
Gema Martínez Sur in English
Thursday 04 Oct 2007 “When I die, I want my ashes planted with marihuana seeds” How is the harvest going this year? Ohhh! Very well, although we’ve had some insects that have killed off three or four plants. They die suddenly, and there’s nothing we can do about it. The insects are white. I’ve never had them before, but we’re investigating. My plants are usually very healthy. You’re thankful for that… Very thankful. Look, here you can see wild marihuana plants. They grow anywhere, even in places you could never imagine. They’re quite beautiful, don’t you think? Marihuana is a gift from the Lord. I was told that many years ago by Rockberto, from Tabletom. What a coincidence! That’s exactly what I always say. Marihuana is a gift from the heavens. It’s a sacred plant. Instead of being a controlled substance, it should be made available to everybody for use at all times, as both a medicine and a source pf pleasure for society as a whole. It has become another consumer item, and it should be treated as such. After all, you can go to the bank to get money and then go out and buy a car, if you like. You founded the Ramón Santos Association for the Study of Cannabis (Arseca) in 1996. Was this to defend marihuana consumption or just to turn yourself into a woman warrior, an activist for a cause? Well, these days there are many more people who think like me, who defend the idea of freedom to consume marihuana. Many are people I would never have imagined. I recognise that I’m a kind of female warrior, but I’ve always been like that. It’s nothing special to me. It’s just that this is the role I’ve been given in life. And above all, I’ve had the good fortune to have had the support of that great lawyer, Pedro Apalategui, in 1995, when the Guardia Civil cut down my plants and had me charged in court. It was then that we were able to show that although the cultivation of marihuana might be illegal, it was not illegal to have it for one’s own personal use. This is, and has to be, a private matter that does not concern the state. And you convinced a judge of that... I convinced a judge that I was not a drug trafficker, that I had lived for years in the same town, where everybody knew me very well as a public relations officer and property agent. Everybody in the town knew I grew marihuana, and that I used it for myself only, that I never sold it. Have you been bothered by the law since then? No, I’ve earned a certain respect since then. The Guardia Civil have come to visit me, but not to tear up my marihuana plants. In forty years of growing marihuana, many things have happened to you. Everything has happened to me, good, bad and interesting. I’ve had the best of times and the worst of times. As a child I suffered from rheumatism, and was condemned to being rheumatic for the rest of my life. I also have various other illnesses, and the drugs I was taking were making me feel very bad. I prefer natural drugs to synthetic ones. It must have been particularly difficult in times gone by… It was. In the seventies, to have a child and be a single mother was to fight all the way. But now, with democracy, things have changed radically. We have rights now. But that was the way things turned out for me, the time I was given, and here I am now. I always say that I’m crazy, and I believe in another life. In the past, I was a marihuana seed in ancient Egypt, or a marihuana plant itself. You really believe in another life after this? I do. And my children know that I want to be cremated when I die, and have my ashes mixed with soil and buried with marihuana seeds. Why do you smoke it? I have many reasons for smoking marihuana, but the main one is for my health. Marihuana is a medicine, and it is my point of expansion, of pleasure, of happiness and of knowledge. You will never know the amount of knowledge I have gained through smoking marihuana. It has been my school of life. I can only give thanks to the heavens that I found marihuana in my life. You smoke to laugh too... Yes, and that’s the best reason of all. Do you smoke to forget? I have some experience of that. At times yes, at times no. In 1982, my partner died in a traffic accident, and I was depressed for five years afterwards. My little girl had been born, and that was a great help. I went to a doctor and he gave me pills to take. I just couldn’t take them all. I have a lot of experience with drugs of all kinds, and many of them have been pharmacy drugs. Lets talk about Valium and other tranquillizers… Yes, of course. I was taking all kinds of synthetic opiates. Then I decided I didn’t want any more opiates and wouldn’t touch heroine at all. Rather than forgetting, marihuana helps smooth my life, soften the pain a little. And is marihuana good for sex? Yes, especially for people who are inhibited. It relaxes and increases the sensations, leaving them more relaxed. Many of us women tend to be a little reserved sexually, and we need something to loosen us up. Our brains have been washed so well in the past that we don’t know how to be free, and one has to be free for good sex. Have you tried all drugs? No. Many, but not all. To experiment, or to have fun? Listen, let’s not try to put names on everything. That upsets me. I’ve drunk a lot of alcohol as a young person, and smoked a lot of cigarettes too. But I’ve left all that behind me. I’ve had many friends addicted to heroin, and I’ve had no problems with this myself. Did you ever think you’d get to the age of 64 so healthy? I never believed I’d reach this age looking and feeling the way I am. I’ve had a lot of luck in life, and I’m very thankful for that. I’ve had a great time in my younger days, but my old age has been good to me too. I’ve achieved what I’ve always wanted in life. http://www.surinenglish.com/noticias.php?Noticia=11451
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