The letter below is from Rep. J. Randy Forbes to a Vote Hemp supporter in reply to a letter asking him to become a sponsor of the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011.

Rep. J. Randy Forbes
(R-VA 4th 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.

May 17, 2011

Dear Constituent,

Thank you for contacting me in regards to your support for the Industrial Hemp Farm Act (H.R. 1831). I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts on this matter with me.

H.R. 1831 would exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. This bill has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on the Judiciary for further consideration.

Since 1970, the production of all varieties of Cannabis, regardless of THC content and intended use, has been tightly regulated under the Controlled Substances Act. As a result, all hemp or hemp-containing products sold in the United States must now be imported or manufactured from imported hemp. I will keep your thoughts in mind should H.R. 1831 come before me in the Judiciary Committee for consideration or the House of Representatives for a vote.

For more information on what is happening each week in Congress, please visit http://forbes.house.gov to subscribe to my weekly e-newsletter. If I may be of assistance to you on this, or any other issue, please visit my website or feel free to contact me in my Washington DC office at (202) 225-6365. With kind personal regards, I am

Yours truly,

J. RANDY FORBES
Member of Congress

JRF:CH