IT'S HEMP, NOT MARIJUANA

Stratford Police Issue Alert

Stratford Police have issued an alert to the public as a result of
problems stemming from a legal hemp hemp crop located inside the city limits.

The crop is located just south of the Festival Marketplace Mall off
C.H Meier Blvd. People, both adults and youth, have been going onto
the property and stealing the crop, thinking it is marijuana.

"Our biggest concern is from a public safety standpoint," said Insp.
Sam Theocharis. "Hemp is not meant for ingestion and the user will
become violently ill and may very well require hospital care. It has
come to the attention of the Stratford Police that people are
venturing onto this property and stealing the plant."

Stratford Police have notified Stratford General Hospital and made
them aware of the possibility that people may arrive at the emergency
unit suffering the ill effects of hemp ingestion. The police have
also notified the producer of the crop.

Insp. Theocharis says the situation also goes beyond the health risk
to people taking the plant. Most notably, this is a legally produced
crop and people taking the plant are stealing.

"In Canada, it is also an offence to have hemp or to sell it if you
are not legally licenced to do so," added Insp. Theocharis.

Hemp and marijuana are both members of the cannabis family and can be
mistaken for one another. Hemp however is a legal crop and is used in
the production of health supplements, fibre, paper, textiles and even
building materials. The most significant difference in the presence
of THC (tetrahydrocannabino) in marijuana. THC is the chemical that
provides the "high" associated with marijuana.

Insp. Thoecharis, a veteran of the Stratford Police, says this is a
new problem, partly because hemp has only been produced legally in
Canada since 1998.

"We have never seen this problem before," he said. "And we were not
even aware there was a hemp crop inside the city limits. This crop
belongs to a significant industrial hemp grower."