The letter below is from Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND At Large) to a Vote Hemp supporter in reply to a letter asking him to become a sponsor for the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2009.

Rep. Earl Pomeroy
(D-ND At Large)

If you receive a reply from one of your elected representatives please email a copy of it to us at hempinfo@votehemp.com. It will help with our lobbying efforts to know the contents of these letters. We will not publish your name or address and hold them in confidence.

August 7, 2009

Dear Constituent,

Thank you for contacting me regarding industrial hemp legislation. I appreciate hearing from you.

As you know, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) introduced H.R. 1866, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2009 on April 2, 2009. This bill would amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marihuana. The bill also grants a state regulating the growing and processing of industrial hemp exclusive authority, in any criminal or civil action or administrative proceeding, to determine whether any such plant meets certain specifications.

I believe that it is important to be open to exploring avenues that provide North Dakotans with additional alternative cropping options. I also support additional research and study of the marketable uses for hemp, although I understand that there are continued legal issues given current drug enforcement laws and regulations that limit research in this area. In addition, I also believe it is important to ensure the enforcement of federal laws regulating marihuana and drug use is not weakened. Currently, the Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Administration has concerns over how the production of industrial hemp can be done without undermining their efforts to regulate the production and distribution of marihuana. With the Administration's opposition to the issue it would be difficult to get Congressional action on this legislation

Again, thank you for contacting me. To receive updates on this and other issues, please visit my website at www.house.gov/pomeroy Should you have any additional questions or concerns in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Earl Pomeroy
MEMBER OF CONGRESS

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