WILD HEMP

To The Editor:

When I read The Journal article "$30 to $80 Million in Pot" I was
astonished at the numbers given (75,000 to 80,000 marijuana plants).

Through telephone calls from Lisbon area residents it became evident
that the pot was the infamous wild hemp that grows in a certain
section in the Town of Lisbon. This growth of hemp has flourished for
many years. One resident told me that a hemp rope factory once existed
in that area, which explains the plants escape into the wild. In the
09/12/03 WDT article "Lack of Care Cut Crops Pot-ential" Sheriff Gary
Jarvis said he could not determine if the plants had been sown where
they were found or growing wild. Michael Hunter, Field Crop Extension
Agent, with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Jefferson County said it
looked like marijuana but really wasn't t. Steve Vandermark,
Horticultural and Natural Resources Educator, with Cornell Cooperative
Extension of St. Lawrence County said it was some sort of native hemp.

Now this may seem rather humorous but, the cost to the taxpayers
certainly is not funny. The manpower and equipment cost to uproot the
perennial crop must be exorbitant. Eight law enforcement agencies and
the National Guard participated. This raid and publicity seems rather
coincidental when the sheriff's department and drug task force are
facing budget cuts. In the 09/14/03 Kelly comments "$30. to $80.
Million in Marijuana" the editor continues to write as though the crop
was planted by marijuana growers. If the editor had given this
incident any thought he would have realized that a crop of 75,000 to
80,000 plants could only be achieved by mechanized means unless a huge
cartel was responsible and I'm sure area residents would have seen the
activity if that were the case.

In the event that law enforcement or the editor claims that
psychoactive marijuana was being grown with the feral hemp I would
contend that this is very unlikely as cross pollination of the two
species would render the psychoactive marijuana worthless. Hemp
typically has less than 1% of THC, the main active ingredient in
marijuana which makes it psychoactive. Basically, if you smoked a car
load of this hemp all you would end up with is a headache.

From my perspective the editor and sheriff are trying to spare the
drug task force and sheriff department from budget cuts by imparting
erroneous information to the public.

Lee Monnet