Chris Conrad

Author, museum curator, internationally recognized media spokesperson, educator, West Coast Leaf publisher; Chris Conrad is a court-qualified expert on Cannabis Hemp (Marijuana) who is cited in numerous Appellate Decisions and at least one California Supreme Court ruling.

Photo: Chris Conrad in a field of seeded industrial hemp, 1999.

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Chris Conrad designed and curated the Hemp, Marihuana and Hemp Museum in Amsterdam in its form from 1992 to 2011; He has curated the Oaksterdam Cannabis Museum since 2010.

A quick-witted, internationally known expert on the history, medical, social, economic and ecological aspects of Cannabis hemp, Chris Conrad is author of four groundbreaking books. He advocates full restoration of industrial hemp, medical marijuana with a doctor's supervision, and setting a legal age of consent for marijuana use by responsible adults in a regulated market. written about Chris Conrad and his wife, Mikki Norris.

        

The books: His landmarktreatise, Cannabis Yields and Dosage has provided the scientific basis for devising policies on medical use and was presented at the Fifth International Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics, 2008. It is currently available in its sixth updated edition. Hemp, Lifeline to the Future, his first book, helped launch the modern hemp industry and cannabis reform movement. It reintroduces hemp as a sustainable natural resource. Hemp for Health discusses medical marijuana and the nutritional and environmental uses of the cannabis plant. Shattered Lives, Portraits From America's Drug War, co-authored with his wife, Mikki Norris, and their colleague, Virginia Resner, explores the human cost of America's prison-based drug policy. The trio also wrote their newest book, Human Rights and the US Drug War as an analys of drug war policy within the context of international human rights law.

Chris Conrad is founder and director of the Business Alliance for Commerce in Hemp (BACH), director of the Family Council on Drug Awareness (FCDA), and a member of the Hemp Industries Association (HIA). He designed and curated the international Hash-Marihuana-Hemp Museum located in Amsterdam, Holland, where he researched cannabis culture and cultivation. He is art director for the Human Rights and the Drug War exhibit. He is also on the boards of Human Rights and the Drug War and the Drug Peace Campaign.

Chris Conrad researching cannabis cultivation in Holland, 1993.

Mr. Conrad's penetrating research uncovers the facts, faces and cost of hemp prohibition, analyzing the political dynamics working for and against legal reform. He knows his facts and won't duck your toughest questions (yes, he has inhaled). He heads up a number of prominent reform organizations. He was state community action coordinator for the petition drive that launched the 1996 California Medical Marijuana Initiative, Proposition 215, which passed with 56% of the vote. He provides expert testimony, both in court of law and for legislators and their staff.

Chris Conrad has been qualified as an expert witness on industrial hemp, hempseed, marijuana, marijuana cultivation, medical marijuana, and personal consumption of marijuana in the Superior Courts throughout the State of California. He has presented expert testimony in court and at government hearings and consults with legislators.He founded the American Hemp Council in 1989, was a chief proponent of the 1992 and 1994 California Hemp Initiatives, and portrayed "Johnny Marijuanaseed" in the PBS classic The Nineties "Hemp Show #1."

Photo: Chris Conrad at the Cannabis College, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 1999.

Chris Conrad advocates setting a legal age-of-consent for marijuana use. An acknowledged expert on the broad spectrum of industrial, ecological and social uses of cannabis hemp, he is a popular and entertaining guest speaker on interview and call-in programs, as well as on college campuses. Born in 1953, he is a businessman, consultant, lecturer and speaker, writer, editor, fine and graphic artist, designer, researcher, analyst, community organizer, historian, orator, political cartoonist and philosopher. His original acrylic painting, "Hemp Fields of Tomorrow," is displayed in the Hash- Marihuana-Hemp Museum in Amsterdam, Holland. He wrote and produced a play entitled, Marijuana! Conrad is a former seminarian who holds an honors degree in fine art and communications from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Conrad has been quoted in The Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, L.A. Times, California, Atlantic Monthly, Vegetarian Times, Earthkeeper, Earth Island Journal, High Times, Denver Capitol Reporter, by the AP, UPI, Radio Netherlands News Service, Pacifica News, Canadian Broadcast Co. and many other national and international news sources.

The initial printing of Hemp, Lifeline to the Future sold out in just nine months and the book is going into its third edition. Its cover has appeared on CNN's Larry King and on KRON's Money Talks, and made CNN News, MTV News, plus the national broadcast news when a political activist sent a copy of the book to President Clinton-along with a quarter-pound of marijuana

Mr. Conrad has appeared on television news and talk shows including Goodnight America, California This Week, and Today's Religion, cable programs, such as The Exchange, and Bay TV, syndicated radio programs including Art Bell, Talk Radio Network, People's Radio, Talk America, Earth Break, Natural Health Alternatives Radio, Unified Solutions, and College Radio Network. He has been quoted by The Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, L.A. Times, California, Atlantic Monthly, Buzz, Vegetarian Times, Earthkeeper, Earth Island Journal, High Times, Capitol Reporter, AP, UPI, Pacifica News, Radio Netherlands News, Canadian Broadcast Co. and many other national and international news sources.

To arrange interviews, speeches, presentations, consultations, essays, artwork, analyses, and / or translation / publication rights, contact

Chris or Mikki Norris at Creative Xpressions 510-275-9311 (California).