Jack Herer Benefit Event Tonight at Village Ballroom in Portland

(PORTAND, Ore.) - The public is invited to a benefit event scheduled this Friday, December 4th at 8:00 p.m. at the Village Ballroom for hemp icon and author, Jack Herer.

The Village Ballroom is at 700 N.E. Dekum Street, which is located above the Oregon Cannabis Cafe, Oregon NORML's new medical marijuana patent resource center that has received a firestorm of publicity since opening last month.

The benefit is organized by The Hemp & Cannabis Foundation (THCF), and cosponsored by Oregon NORML and Texas-based Waco NORML. The groups are joining together to raise money for Jack Herer, who suffered a heart attack after delivering a passionate speech on stage at the Portland Hempstalk Festival this past September 2009.

Jack had been traveling around the world for decades, promoting industrial hemp and his seminal book on the subject, The Emperor Wears No Clothes.

The first edition of Jack's book was written in Portland in 1985. Jack has a business in Portland and lived here for several years. Jack Herer was also the subject of a video biography, The Emperor of Hemp, that played on PBS and HBO.

The benefit features music from two bands, Pass Margo and Tim Pate and Friends, who are donating their time to show support for Jack.

It is sure to be a memorable evening and a great chance for the community to give back to the founder of the hemp movement, known worldwide as "The Emperor of Hemp". Jack's passion for the movement toward legalization of hemp and cannabis has inspired millions around the world to realize what potential lies in the cannabis plant.

"I don't want to wait 20 or 50 years for something to be done about petrochemical pollution," Jack Herer said. He worked for years on initiative petition campaigns to legalize marijuana. Despite his current health issues, he remains strong and positive for the future of hemp.

Jack is now recovering in Eugene, Oregon, and making positive strides daily. He is a fighter and will surely overcome this obstacle to see the hemp plant restored to its rightful place in society.

There is a fund for Jack's recovery set up at US Bank to help the Herer family financially during this challenging time. If you can't attend this Friday's benefit event, you may go to any US Bank and advise the teller you are depositing into the JACK HERER DONATION FUND.

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M in Oregon December 4, 2009 1:08 am (Pacific time)

I was wondering, since I won't be able to make it to the benefit, if the US Bank donation fund is still under the control of Jeannie Herer, or if it is now in the hands of Joy Graves. I know that there is significant controversy surrounding this situation, and I am not sure whether I believe in the document granting Joy and Chuck Jacobs legal power of attourney over Jack. It looks like he was signing an autograph, rather than a legal document. I mean Sharpie marker, and "Hemp Forever!" on a legal document? I, for one would feel more comfortable donating if I knew control of these funds remain in the hands of Jeannie and Jack's kids, and not Joy and Chuck, as the veracity of this document is quesionable. Also, her filing for legal separation from Jeannie listing a date that was back when Jack was healthy and communicating, and could have done it himself seems fishy to the utmost. I have not seen salem-news address any of these issues, and would like to.

Oliver Steinberg December 3, 2009 6:06 pm (Pacific time)

Take up---or toke up---the torch which Jack has carried in the vanguard of the cannabis cause. Jack Herer deserves his status as a legend and a hero. He has proved that one person can single-handedly teach and inspire a million others. It was Jack who tore the veil off of hemp---Jack by his own personal determination banished the burqa of historical and cultural suppression in which hemp had been shrouded by Anslinger and Hearst's "reefer madness" lies. Jack has never backed down and never backtracked. He has always been a true believer in the truth: "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." You or I may not be made of the same dynamic, courageous, passionate, and heroic dimensions as Jack Herer, but we can all do something. The hope for Jack's recovery hinges on his being able to afford the care he needs---and it also depends on everyone who reads this picking up the banner and advancing into the front lines of the fight to free cannabis, and free ourselves.

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