04/10/2007 00:00:00
Spain: Fernanda de la Figuera spokeswoman for arseca
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“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
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=12886
Author:
Sur in English via UKCIA
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