August 25, 2009

Washington, DC — On August 17, 2009 we received a copies of a letter to constituents of Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA 1st District) in which he states that he supports H.R. 1866, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2009. In the letter Rep. Thompson wrote that "The United States is the only industrialized nation that prohibits industrial hemp cultivation. This is a situation that should be changed. Please know that I will vote for this bill should it come to the House floor in its present form." We want you to ask that he go one step further and become a co-sponsor of H.R. 1866 and to work to get hearings for the bill in the committees to which it has been assigned.

Rep. Thompson signed the March 2002 letter to DEA about their new interpretive rule that effectively banned hemp food. He urged DEA to "encourage the development and use of these products and not set unwanted barriers to their production which cannot be overcome."

In 2006 the California Legislature passed AB 1147, a hemp farming bill, and in 2007 they passed AB 684, a hemp study bill. The Governor vetoed both bills stating that "Under federal law, all cannabis plants, regardless of variety or THC content, are simply considered to be 'marijuana.'" To help get hemp farmed in California once again we should amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of "marihuana," which H.R. 1866 does.

Please take a couple of minutes and write to your Representative using our custom letter. Please take action now:

http://capwiz.com/votehemp/issues/alert/?alertid=13940851

If you have a few more minutes please call his office as this is very effective. We have a great call script that is very short and has a very helpful feedback form so we know how your call went. Please call now:

http://capwiz.com/votehemp/callalert/index.tt?alertid=13940821

We need your help and that of your family, friends and colleagues in the 1st District of California, so please forward this email to them. We encourage you to write and call today!

Vote Hemp is a national, single-issue, non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and a free market for low-THC industrial hemp, oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis, and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to once again grow the crop.

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