World-renowned hemp and cannabis activist Jack Herer passed away today at the age of 71.  Jack is the author of the seminal and influential book, The Emperor Wears No Clothes, which was translated into over a dozen different languages, and he is the subject of the documentary, The Emperor of Hemp. Below is a video of Jack's last speech, which he delivered at last year's Portland Hempstock just before having a heart attack.  A video documenting that incident follows after the jump.

As the Salem-News reported earlier today:

The Hemperor, Jack Herer has Died

By Bonnie King, Salem-News.com

The global cannabis community mourns the loss of the great Jack Herer.

(SALEM, Ore.) - The sad news has been confirmed. Jack Herer, author of Emperor Wears No Clothes and renowned around the world for hemp activism, has died at 11:17 a.m. today, in Eugene, Oregon.

Jack Herer suffered a heart attack last September just after speaking on stage at the Portland HempStalk festival. The last seven months have proven to be a huge challenge to the man, with several health issues making his recovery complicated.

Jack Herer's health has been poor lately, this last week there have been reports of the severity, and an outpouring of prayers on his behalf.

"It's shocking news, even after these last seven, trying months," said Paul Stanford, THCF Executive Director.

"Jack Herer has been a good friend and associate of mine for over 30 years. I was there when he had the heart attack at our Hempstalk festival and I know he wouldn’t appreciate the quality of life he's endured these last months. Still he will be greatly missed. I honor his memory."

"No other single person has done more to educate people all across the world about industrial hemp and marijuana as Jack Herer. His book is translated into a dozen different languages, it's a bestseller in Germany," added Stanford.

"The Hempstalk stage will forever be the Jack Herer Memorial stage. And, a Memorial is planned to be built where he fell that day," Stanford said."His legacy will continue to inspire and encourage for generations to come."

SAFER's Mason Tvert has a new piece on The Huffington Post discussing the SAFER Campuses Initiative Nationwide Day of Action and growing SAFER movement on campuses across the country. 

Here's an excerpt, or you can CLICK HERE to read the entire post:

College Students Nationwide: Allow Marijuana as a Safer Alternative to Alcohol

Students at more than 80 colleges and universities across 34 states held rallies on their campuses this week to recognize April as National Alcohol Awareness Month. At first glance, these events don't appear to be anything out of the ordinary. The message behind them, however, was anything but ordinary.

At the rallies, students called on their respective schools to "stop driving them to drink" and urged them to allow marijuana as a safer recreational alternative to alcohol. In particular, the students argued that laws and policies on and around most college campuses punish students more harshly for marijuana use than for alcohol use, steering them toward drinking and away from using a far less harmful substance instead: marijuana. 

Every day college students demand the right to use marijuana, but it's not every day that they do so in an effort to curb alcohol use and abuse. Needless to say, the effort raised eyebrows and generated quite a bit of media attention.