The letter below is from Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI 1st District) 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. Neil Abercrombie
(D-HI 1st District)

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.

October 23, 2009

Dear Constituent,

Thank you for contacting me to express your support for H.R. 1866, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2009.  I appreciate hearing from you on this matter.

As you know, H.R. 1866 amends the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of "marihuana." The bill defines "industrial hemp" to mean the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of such plant with a delta-nine tetrahydrocannabinol concentration that does not exceed 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis. 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 that concentration limit.

The bill was referred to the House Committee on Judiciary and the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Please be assured that should this bill come before the House for a vote, I will keep your views in mind.

Thank you for pointing out both the Congressional Research Study's "Hemp as an Agricultural Commodity" report and the "Controversial Crop" video by the America's Heartland. Both the report and video clearly add to the discussion of industrial hemp.

Again, mahalo for sharing your views on this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Neil Abercrombie
Member of Congress