Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Infamous pot outlaw turns focus to utilitarian hemp

By Chris Anderson

Donnie Clark, right, shared a prison cell with his son Duane after both were convicted in a legendary marijuana bust.

MANATEE COUNTY - Prison never bothered Donnie Clark, the pot-growing legend from the swamps of Myakka City whose mischievous life reads like the lyrics to a twangy country music song on a scratchy AM radio station.
He would take long naps in a cell he shared with his son, the younger inmates always treated him with respect, and he had nothing but time to devour all the books he could read.
Clark read over 750 while serving life without parole in a maximum security federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana in the 1990s. His crime: conspiracy to grow marijuana.
Ironically, one of the books he read was about President Clinton, who surprisingly commuted Clark's sentence in 2001 and sent him back to Manatee County, where his first meal as a free man was cow intestines.
Another book Clark read in prison, “The Emperor Wears No Clothes,” opened Clark's eyes to the many uses of industrial hemp. There was a time when Clark was one of the best marijuana growers in the country — the father of the infamous “Myakka Gold,” a strain so popular it was showcased in the centerfold of “High Times” magazine — but above all he was a highly skilled farmer, which is why he believes so strongly in industrial hemp.
Clark is in Tallahassee this week speaking to legislators about hemp, and he is trying to get the ear of Adam Putnam, Florida's Commissioner of Agriculture. He wants to inform them that hemp and marijuana are very different, even though they come from the same cannabis family.
The difference between the two is now recognized by 20 states — which is a step forward in the legalization fight — but Florida is not one of them. Though there is only about .025 percent THC in hemp as compared to 25 percent in marijuana, hemp is illegal under the Controlled Substance Act.
But Clark, 74, wants to see it legalized soon — or at least in his lifetime.
“We're going to live in a better place once it gets legalized,” Clark says.
Myriad products can be made from hemp and its strong fibers, such as textiles and rope and biodegradable plastics and paper.
The Odd Couple
Cement is another product and Clark says homes can be built of hemp that would cut electric bills in half because they would stay at room temperature. And because the plant takes in an exorbitant amount of carbon dioxide, Clarks says mold and mildew would not be a problem. Also, homes would be unlikely to catch fire because hemp doesn't burn.
“It's mind-boggling — there's so much you can make out of this stuff,” Clark says.
Clark says there are over a million acres of land in this part of the state alone, and Florida would be an ideal climate to grow hemp year-round. Another benefit is that vegetable farmers could plant it after tomato crops are harvested and it would be beneficial to the soil.
Hemp was actually used to help clean up soil around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Clark has become close friends with Cathy Jordan and her husband, Bob, of Parrish. Cathy Jordan was diagnosed with ALS in 1986 and after she was told she had three to five years to live she began saving her muscle relaxers as part of a plan to kill herself.
In 1989 a friend persuaded her to come to Bradenton from Delaware and implored her to try some “Myakka Gold,” the legendary pot Clark and his sons were growing in Myakka City. Jordan has been regularly using ever since and says marijuana has kept her alive.
It wasn't until a few years ago that Clark and Cathy Jordan met and now they are partners of sorts. She wants to start a dispensary if medical marijuana is legalized, while Clark would handle the hemp part of the operation.
They call themselves the “Odd Couple.”
"We both got life,” Clark says. "I got life for growing it and she got life for smoking it.”
In addition to reading many books in prison, Clark also started writing his own amazing story and his book has been out a few years now.
At one point Clark sent a copy to actor Woody Harrelson, who has long been a strong proponent of industrial hemp. Clark hoped Harrelson would get interested in the possibilities of growing hemp in Florida, but Clark never heard back from him.
Not that it was enough to deter Clark from his cause.
“It's the best plant on the planet,” he says.

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