Transcript Hemp Expo Yuma County Sheriff Chad Day

HEMP
or not
YUMA COUNTY SHERIFF CHAD DAY
2015 PROGRESSIVE15 HEMP EXPO, AKRON, CO
What is Hemp?
Industrial Crop
 Food/Fiber
 Cannabidiol (ex. Charlotte’s Web)
 Less than .3% THC (The intoxicating stuff. If you smoke it, all you
get is a headache)
What Hemp is not.
 Not for “getting high”
 Not for “drug dealer” sales
 Not a law enforcement priority
A Sheriff’s Perspective

Colorado Revised Statutes (As a result of A64)

S.B.13-241 Industrial Hemp

Allowed for cultivation, processing, and sale under strict registration and
regulation scheme
A Sheriff’s Perspective



Federal Controlled Substances Act

Doesn’t differentiate between hemp (cannabis sativa L) and marijuana
(cannabis sativa/cannabis indica)

Currently still illegal federally without DEA research approvals
CARERS Act (S.683) introduced, not passed

Amends CSA to move MJ from Schedule I to Schedule II (opens process
to acquire MJ in pharmacies like all other legal drugs/medicines)

Redefines MJ in CSA to exclude cannabadiol (Hemp effectively)
Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2015 (S.134) introduced, not passed

Excludes “industrial hemp” from Controlled Substances Act

Defines “industrial hemp” as marijuana with less than .3% delta-9
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
SO…….

Whether it should or should not be……

Despite it’s viability as a wonderful agricultural product…..

Regardless of it’s relative “safety”……….

Hemp is still not yet differentiated from Marijuana in the Controlled
Substances Act, and is therefore still

illegal federally.
Admittedly, law enforcement has higher priorities than dealing with hemp, we just can’t condone willful violation of federal
law…..
Sheriff’s Lawsuit IS

March 5th, 2015 -Filed by 6 Colorado Sheriffs, 4 Sheriffs from KS and
NE, 2 prosecutors from KS and NE

“Crisis of Conscious” in this area (Sheriffs swear an oath to uphold the
constitutions of both the United States (CSA concerns) and the State of
Colorado (A64)

Constitutional Challenge? (can a state legalize a substance that is not
legal federally?)

Other states claiming harm from “diversion of resources” and
“economic burden” (can one state enact a law that harms another
state?)
Sheriff’s Lawsuit IS NOT

Not a campaign Against Marijuana

Certainly not against Hemp
The basis for the legal challenge has nothing to do with our concerns
about the dangers of normalizing Marijuana.
It is simply a legal question that
deserves an answer from the courts.
Questions for Law Enforcement?

Talk to your local Sheriff