In a world of day-to-day farm life, collective money, a pure constitution, legalized industrial hemp and marijuana, High Times magazine writer Steve Gaskin would be president.

Speaking of his life story and his future campaign plans, Gaskin lit flames of inspiration in all who attended his speech Thursday in the Student Center.

Wearing worn blue jeans and streamers of tie-died colors dangling from his gray braid, Gaskin spoke about his injection into the hippie culture and the beginning of his political career to an intent audience of about 60.

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Gaskin began his trip in 1970 with 25 bus loads of hippie followers, traveling across the country from San Francisco to Summertown, Tenn.

The result was The Farm, a commune of 1,500 people on 1,000 acres of soil and oak trees. The residents re-popularized natural childbirth, home marriages and living off the land with a sense of sharing rather than capitalizing.

Currently, The Farm has a population of about 300 and is a small village with roads, water systems, housing, schools and health-care facilities.

Gaskin’s involvement with politics began after spending time in jail following his arrest for 1,200 marijuana plants on The Farm.

The local sheriff, a friend, came to The Farm to arrest four of us for the plants, which was constitutional, he said. When we saw he had a gun, questions erupted. Why would he need a gun for a bunch of hippies? His response? He was afraid of the rattle snakes.

Local government never seemed to block the path of Steven Gaskin, even when a young Al Gore visited with The Farm as a reporter. And while Vice President Gore moves up the political ladder, Gaskin plans to be right by his side with the help of his High Times co-writers and friends.

I’m going to challenge Al Gore for the Democratic nomination for the president, he said. I don’t really think that I’ll win, but at least I’ll be able to put the issues on the table. I would like to compare myself to Ross Perot or Jesse Jackson.

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Working for High Times magazine, Gaskin is assured that other writers across the country will include him on the ballot.

With a sense of humor, friends and the hippies, it should be fun, he said.

With determination and an almost euphoric nature, Gaskin verbalized his solutions for an America he believes is turning into a police state. The two most controversial issues in Gaskin’s plan are to legalize industrial hemp and marijuana.

Many fear the legalization of hemp because it is a first cousin of the marijuana plant. Nevertheless, hemp is an age-old material that has been used by the Chinese, Greeks and Thomas Jefferson, who raised hemp on his Virginia farm and drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper.

Some also think, because of its relation to marijuana, that hemp can be smoked to get high. Gaskin threw his head back in laughter in response to this assumption.

Do they honestly think that we would mix hash seeds that cost about $2 a pound, and pot seeds that average about $2 a piece? he asked. The seeds would cross pollinate and ruin the pot.

Gaskin also places decriminalization of marijuana at the top of his political issues list. Paralleling the current standards and laws on alcohol, Gaskin believes responsibility would be at the heart of marijuana use.

I have seen straight-A kids try pot and their lives are unaltered, but I have also seen kids try their first hit and never do homework again, Gaskin said.

The younger people have to understand that marijuana is the icing on the cake, not to be confused with the cake itself.