John Birrenbach

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

Birrenbach, who founded the Institute for Hemp, 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.

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.

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.

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. And, in 1991, Birrenbach applied to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture for a permit to grow hemp.

A father of two, Birrenbach has written for High Times and The Denver Post 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.  There he started his own business John Birrenbach Consulting 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

In 2017 Birrenbach assisted a patient in navigating the complex Minnesota Medical Cannabis Program 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.  Birrenbach also traveled around the midwest throughout the early 1990's 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.

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.

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

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.

Notes

Category:1961 births
Category:Living people
Category:American cannabis activists
Category:Cannabis political party politicians
Category:People convicted of cannabis offenses
Category:People from Pine City, Minnesota
Category:Writers from Minnesota