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The younger generation is blowing away the smoke screen used to incite the public’s disapproval of marijuana.

The New Mexico Medical Marijuana and Natural Healing Expo is the brainchild of Aaron Kushmor and Ben Marshall III. The plant’s natural healing benefits, Marshall said, are among its thousands of discovered uses.

“Hemp essentially could replace all paper needs, even protein,” he said. “They’re the best proteins for your body and easier to digest. Honestly, the applications go on. … We’re the 48th poorest state in the nation. Why not create some new jobs, give this industry a real chance here, really make it work and make some money? We all feel this industry could actually do that for this state.”

The three-day event looks to educate the public about medical marijuana, Kushmor said. He said, for example, the government replaced the term “cannabis” with the Spanish term “marijuana” to give it a negative connotation.

Historically it was the byproduct, hemp, that threatened industries like steel and paper, he said, and eventually threatened the medical industry. He said that resulted in marijuana’s inclusion in Schedule I drugs category, which means its one of the most heavily penalized drugs in the government drug-rating system.

“It’s all about natural healing, and the pharmaceutical (companies) don’t want us to know about that because it’s cheap — you can grow it in your closet or backyard, and you can heal yourself,” Kushmor said. “Why take the other drugs that the pharmaceutical drug companies are pushing on us that kill thousands of people every year? How many people does marijuana kill? Zero.”

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