Pubdate: Fri, 18 Sep 2009
Source: Beacon Herald, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2009 Osprey Media Group Inc.
Contact: http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/feedback1/LetterToEditor.aspx
Website: http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1459
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?330 (Hemp - Outside U.S.)

IT'S HEMP, NOT MARIJUANA

Stratford Police Issue Alert

Stratford Police have issued an alert to the public as a result of 
problems stemming from a legal hemp hemp crop located inside the city limits.

The crop is located just south of the Festival Marketplace Mall off 
C.H Meier Blvd. People, both adults and youth, have been going onto 
the property and stealing the crop, thinking it is marijuana.

"Our biggest concern is from a public safety standpoint," said Insp. 
Sam Theocharis. "Hemp is not meant for ingestion and the user will 
become violently ill and may very well require hospital care. It has 
come to the attention of the Stratford Police that people are 
venturing onto this property and stealing the plant."

Stratford Police have notified Stratford General Hospital and made 
them aware of the possibility that people may arrive at the emergency 
unit suffering the ill effects of hemp ingestion. The police have 
also notified the producer of the crop.

Insp. Theocharis says the situation also goes beyond the health risk 
to people taking the plant. Most notably, this is a legally produced 
crop and people taking the plant are stealing.

"In Canada, it is also an offence to have hemp or to sell it if you 
are not legally licenced to do so," added Insp. Theocharis.

Hemp and marijuana are both members of the cannabis family and can be 
mistaken for one another. Hemp however is a legal crop and is used in 
the production of health supplements, fibre, paper, textiles and even 
building materials. The most significant difference in the presence 
of THC (tetrahydrocannabino) in marijuana. THC is the chemical that 
provides the "high" associated with marijuana.

Insp. Thoecharis, a veteran of the Stratford Police, says this is a 
new problem, partly because hemp has only been produced legally in 
Canada since 1998.

"We have never seen this problem before," he said. "And we were not 
even aware there was a hemp crop inside the city limits. This crop 
belongs to a significant industrial hemp grower."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom