The letter below is from Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA 4th 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.

If you receive a reply from one of your elected representatives please email a copy of it to Tom Murphy, Vote Hemp's National Outreach Coordinator, at tom@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.

April 9, 2009

Dear Friend:

Thank you for contacting me in regard to your support for H.R. 1866, the Industrial Hemp Farm Act of 2009 (this bill was H.R. 1009 last Congress). I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts on this matter with me.

Introduced by Congressman Ron Paul, H.R. 1866 would exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. H.R. 1866 has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on the Judiciary where it is currently being reviewed.

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. Please be assured that I have taken your opinion into consideration and will keep your thoughts in mind should H.R. 1866 come before me in the Judiciary Committee for consideration or the House of Representatives for a vote.

As your Representative in Congress, I appreciate your input in this matter. As always, if I may be of assistance to you on this, or any other issue, please feel free to contact me in my Washington DC office at (202) 225-6365 or online at http://randyforbes.house.gov/. With kind personal regards, I am

Yours truly,

J. RANDY FORBES
Member of Congress
JRF:BP