I wish I had a nickel for every story about cops pulling over people with hemp that they were sure was cannabis.
Thanks to the confusion between illegal THC-rich cannabis and newly-legal, low-THC cannabis - legally known as hemp - numerous lawful individuals have been unfairly targeted by law enforcement officials.
Here's a case to illustrate my point:
A couple of enthusiastic NYPD officers confiscated 106 Lbs. of raw hemp after a suspicious FedEx driver took it upon himself to report the shipment.
This was despite the fact that the cargo was shipped along with third-party lab reports and necessary documentation proving it was legal hemp.
The eager officers then contacted Green Angel CBD - who had ordered the $30,000 hemp shipment from a Vermont farm - and told them to come and collect their cargo.
Upon arrival at the station, however, the brother of the company's owner was arrested and charged with felony marijuana possession before being released on bail the next day.
Needless to say, the bust was a bust and all charges were dropped. Brothers in Hemp filed a lawsuit against the City of New York.
Meanwhile the confusion continues from state-to-state and from city-to-city. In most cases the hemp seized is destroyed before the owner can be cleared, resulting in financial losses that should never have happened.
One more true story related to the topic today:
This farmer had a million-dollar hemp crop until South Carolina bulldozed it
Until states and cities get their shit together and start educated their law enforcement personnel this perpetual problem will continue to hurt a lot of honest people and businesses.
It's appalling to me that law enforcement is universally ignorant about the federal hemp law and their own state hemp laws.
Time for me to walk to walk on down the road...
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