John “Sparky” Birrenbach
Born (1961-05-17) May 17, 1961
Minnesota, United States
Occupation(s)Business and marketing consultant
Political partyLegal Marijuana Now
Other political
affiliations		Independence Party
Independent Grassroots

John “Sparky” Birrenbach (born May 17, 1961) is an American businessman, marketing consultant, writer, filmmaker, and marijuana rights activist.[1][2]

Birrenbach, who founded the Institute for Hemp,[3][4] was named High Times magazine's 1993 Freedom Fighter of the Year. He was the Independent Grassroots Party's nominee for US President in 1996.[2]

Life and activism

Birrenbach, former owner of the Saint Paul business Executive Tea and Coffee, told a reporter that he was arrested for marijuana possession in the 1980s.[5]

Birrenbach, a former United States Navy Corpsman who served from 1979-1985 and was honorably discharged in September, 1983, founded the Institute for Hemp in 1987, a nonprofit industrial hemp research organization.[6]

In 1990, Birrenbach applied for a permit to harvest wild hemp in Minnesota, and was denied.[7] And, in 1991, Birrenbach applied to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture for a permit to grow hemp.[5][8][9]

A father of two, Birrenbach has written for High Times and The Denver Post.[10]

Political career

Birrenbach participated in a hemp festival held in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1992.[11]

In 1996, Birrenbach, known to supporters as "Hemp John," ran for President of the United States as a nominee of the Independent Grassroots Party, on a ticket with George McMahon for Vice President.[12]

Birrenbach was a candidate in the 2000 Minnesota House of Representatives election for the Independence Party, running in District 65B.[13]

In 2019, Birrenbach was a candidate for Minnesota Senate in the District 11 special election to replace Tony Lourey, who resigned to become Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health and Human Services. Birrenbach represented the Legal Marijuana Now Party, which became a major party in Minnesota on January 1, 2019.[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ Gainor, Mike (September 5, 2018). "Pine City area setting of film 'The Lake Mystery'". Pine City Pioneer.
  2. 1 2 3 Malcomb, James (January 8, 2019). "Candidates crowd Senate District 11 race". Pine Journal.
  3. ↑ Bode, Gus (November 7, 1994). "While cannabis hemp is known primarily for its leaf usage, the fabric industry is popularizing the textile which is more than 7,000 years old". The Daily Egyptian.
  4. ↑ Tillotson, Kristin (October 9, 1995). "Legal Threads". Star Tribune. "Hemp - it's not just for smoking anymore." That's the motto of the St. Paul-based Institute for Hemp - a virtual one-man band run by hempophile John Birrenbach - which is dedicated to spreading the word that hemp cultivation should be legalized as one answer to the country's environmental and agricultural woes.
  5. 1 2 "Entrepreneur wants OK to harvest hemp". Post-Bulletin. Associated Press. June 20, 1991.
  6. ↑ Gainor, Mike (January 17, 2019). "Four remain in special senate race". Pine City Pioneer.
  7. ↑ Morris, David (December 9, 1990). "Alternatives to oil, paper get kiss of death". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Last August St. Paul, Minn., businessman John Birrenbach applied for a license to harvest wild hemp. Minnesota law allows such harvesting for commercial purposes, but its Department of Agriculture turned down his request, adding that it intends "to ask for repeal of this section of law because we do not feel it is either necessary or in the best interests of agriculture."
  8. ↑ "Just Say Maybe". Newsweek. October 31, 1993.
  9. ↑ Hakin, Danny (May 31, 1995). "A Fashionable Joint Venture". The Washington Post.
  10. ↑ Birrenbach, John (July 30, 2015). "Guest Commentary: The problems with Colorado marijuana". The Denver Post.
  11. ↑ Hughes (August 31, 1992). "Hemp's advantages don't all go up in smoke, boosters say". Post-Bulletin.
  12. ↑ "Election and voting information".
  13. ↑ "Results for STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 65B". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
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