John Birrenbach

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

John "Sparky" Birrenbach
Born (1961-05-17) May 17, 1961
Minnesota, United States
OccupationBusiness and marketing consultant
Political partyLegal Marijuana Now

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 US Navy Corpsman having served in the US Navy from 1979-1985 (honorably discharged in Sept 1983), In 1987 Birrenbach founded the Institute for Hemp, a nonprofit industrial hemp research organization.[6]

In 1989 Birrenbach met with members of the Russian Agricultural delegation sent to Minnesota where he and they discussed Cannabis cultivation in the Ukraine and other former Soviet Republics.

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] and many other newspapers and magazines.

In 2005, Birrenbach moved to Pine City, Minnesota, having visited the area since childhood, going to his grandfather's cabin. He is now a grandfather himself.[11] There he started his own business John Birrenbach Consulting[12] where he does everything from computer repair to assisting companies with marketing more specifically the internet. Birrenbach also owns and operates an E-Retail store selling coffee[13]

In 2017 Birrenbach assisted a patient in navigating the complex Minnesota Medical Cannabis Program[14] so that they were able to get into the program. In 2018 Birrenbach became a caregiver for a patient in the program allowing him to purchase Cannabis from a dispensary in Minnesota for the patient.

As a world renowned expert Birrenbach continues to be active in the Cannabis Legalization movement in Minnesota, United States and world.

Political career

Birrenbach participated in a hemp festival held in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1992.[15] Birrenbach also traveled around the midwest throughout the early 1990s speaking at events like Hash Bash in Ann Arbor MI, Great Midwest Marijuana Festival in Madison WI, Weedstock in Black River Falls WI, Colleges in IL, IA, MN, and WI.[16]

In 1996, Birrenbach ran for President of the United States as a nominee of the Independent Grassroots Party, on a ticket with George McMahon for Vice President.[17]

Birrenbach was a candidate in the 2000 Minnesota House of Representatives election for the Independence Party, running in District 65B.[18]

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. 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. Associated Press (June 20, 1991). "Entrepreneur wants OK to harvest hemp". Post-Bulletin.
  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. http://minnesotabrown.com/2019/01/several-file-in-senate-district-11-special-election.html
  12. "Welcome". Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  13. "Coffee-n-Caffeine". Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  14. "Medical Cannabis Registry - Minnesota Dept. of Health". www.health.state.mn.us. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  15. Hughes (August 31, 1992). "Hemp's advantages don't all go up in smoke, boosters say". Post-Bulletin.
  16. The Greater Mississippi Valley Tea Party, retrieved 2020-01-30
  17. https://transition.fec.gov/pubrec/fe1996/summ.htm
  18. "Results for STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 65B". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
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