BEWARE OF RIPOFFS, JACKALS AND TOBACCO, VENTURA SAYS

Gov. Jesse Ventura, broadcasting his radio show live before music students
in St. Paul on Friday, warned the budding musicians to beware of being
ripped off by the industry, to be suspicious of "media jackals" and to
refrain from tobacco use until they reach the legal age.

The students at Musictech College of Music and Recording Arts had recorded
a song borrowed heavily from Rick Springfield's 1980s hit "Jessie's Girl"
entitled "Jesse's World" in honor of the occasion. They also gave the
governor an enthusiastic reception.

Gov. Ventura takes a bow.

Duane Braley Star Tribune Tavarris Steward, from the High School for
Recording Arts in St. Paul, was a guest on the show. The school recently
produced a CD called "HIV Still Ain't No Joke."

Music, not surprisingly, was a recurring theme during the one-hour
broadcast. Ventura revealed:

. If he runs for reelection, he'd consider asking the Rolling Stones and
Aerosmith to perform.

. He listens to "goat-ropin' music" (country music) when he's in the horse
barns on his Maple Grove ranch because the horses get upset when they hear
Led Zeppelin -- his preference.

. He has autographed posters or pictures of the Rolling Stones, Jimi
Hendrix and Carlos Santana in his office.

Another recurring theme was tobacco.

Ventura railed against a talk-show host, who he said had proclaimed that
the governor was out to ban tobacco. Later the governor said he no longer
listens to talk radio because "it's too disgusting and irritating" and
prefers all-music stations.

"There's a lying talk-show host out there that perpetrates all this
baloney, but I understand why," said Ventura, who didn't name the host or
the station. "This particular guy is a voice for the extreme right wing.
The very, very right wing. He is nothing but a paid mouthpiece for that
right wing.

"I smoke cigars. Why would I want to ban tobacco?"

But he tempered his remarks by telling the students to wait until they are
of legal age to use tobacco. And he told the story of his painful efforts
to quit snuff, which he said he used for 20 years.

Ventura added that he supports legalizing marijuana for medical use -- a
remark that drew cheers from the 100-some students gathered to hear him. In
fact, this week Ventura sent a videotaped address to a conference of the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which is meeting in
San Francisco.

"What are we waiting for?" he says on the videotape. "How much should
people suffer because others won't use common sense?"

Doctors, Ventura said, should be able to prescribe marijuana to cancer
patients getting chemotherapy who have no appetite, he said. If they can
give morphine and other powerful addictive drugs to patients, why not
marijuana? he asked.