Apparently, the Elizabethtown Police Department is responding to a high number of calls from farmers reporting the theft of hemp. In response, on Thursday, the EPD issued the following Facebook post on the department’s page warning would-be hemp thieves that they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, adding that smoking hemp will not provide the user the high that marijuana provides:
Okay…we’ve had a lot of PSA’s this week. But we need another one. This one thankfully doesn’t apply to most…but thanks to a few folks…well here we are. Let’s just say their cheese has slid off their crackers. Hemp crops are popping up everywhere in our area, which is definitely an unusual sight at first. These are legitimate crops that require thorough vetting and licensing before they can be grown, marketed, and possessed. Already, we’ve had reports of a few geniuses stealing hemp plants. Firstly, to these upstanding citizens, great job depriving local farmers of income. Secondly, great job stealing a plant that absolutely will NOT get you high. You can smoke the stuff till you pass out and won’t get the least high out of it. It does not have enough THC, the ingredient in marijuana that causes the high.
Now, for anyone who is having brilliant thoughts of helping yourself to someone else’s hemp crop, consider the following: If we catch you in a hemp field and it’s not your property, we will charge you with criminal trespassing. If we catch you stealing hemp plants, we will charge you with theft. If we catch you with industrial hemp in your possession and you don’t have a license from the department of agriculture to do so, we will charge you with possession of industrial hemp. If we catch you growing hemp without a license, we will charge you with cultivating industrial hemp without a license. Also, if we catch you doing any of the above, we’ll probably make fun of you as well for being dumb. That is all.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
