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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 2019)
A8 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2019 Hemp: ‘You’re trying to make hemp legal so farmers can grow it’ Agriculture to issue a for- mal warning to hemp grow- ers not to ship their crop across state lines. Ross posted bail and continues to run his hemp transport business, Patriot Shield Security, from Den- ver while awaiting trial in Oklahoma. He said poten- tial customers from places like Nevada, West Virginia and Wyoming say they now are afraid to send their hemp out of state. “The whole industry has been turned upside down. Everyone is terrifi ed. No one wants to transport any- thing,” Ross said. Osage County First Assistant District Attor- ney Michelle Bodine-Keely said the seized hemp was still being tested. Some samples sent to a DEA lab in Washington, D.C., came back within the legal range for THC, but several were over, she said. Based on the results so far, Bodine-Keely said she’s not convinced it’s all hemp. “Part of it is hemp, and part of it is marijuana. It’s an ongoing case, and not only is it an ongoing case, it’s still an ongoing investi- gation,” she said. But, she allowed, “It would be nice to have a dif- ferent kind of test in the fi eld that will actually tell what the percent is.” Continued from Page A1 that already have their own hemp programs must have them approved by the U.S. Department of Agri- culture, which could take months. “It’s the greatest exam- ple of the cart being put before the horse that I’ve ever thought of,” said Grant Loebs, who is on the board of directors of the Idaho Prosecuting Attor- neys Association, which has demanded better test- ing. “You’re trying to make hemp legal so farmers can grow it, but you haven’t put into place anything that’s going to keep marijuana dealers from taking advan- tage of a huge loophole.” At least three truckers and two security guards transporting state-certifi ed hemp have been arrested and charged with felony drug traffi cking. Thousands of pounds worth more than $2 million combined after processing remain in ware- houses in Oklahoma and Idaho as evidence while the cases play out. Frank Robison, a Col- orado-based attorney spe- cializing in such cases, said he has about a half-dozen clients in similar situa- tions in other locations. He declined to provide more information, citing his cli- ents’ desire for privacy. “What local law enforce- ment is doing is they’re sti- fl ing an industry that Con- gress intended to promote to help American farm- ers and help the American economy — not to make people nervous that they’re going to get tossed in jail over a (THC) discrepancy,” said Robison, who rep- resents one of the compa- nies involved in the Okla- homa case. Robison and others hope the USDA will work quickly to create rules for validating hemp shipments that local law enforcement could use instead of rely- AP Photo/Thomas Peipert Samples of hemp sit on a table in the conference room at Andrew Ross’ offi ce in Denver. ing on THC fi eld tests, such as state agricultural certif- icates or lab certifi cates. That way, police could let a suspicious load through without arrests and if the hemp samples come back high in THC from test- ing done in a lab setting, authorities could pursue the grower or shipper after the fact. Andrew Ross, a Marine who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, is facing 18 years to life in Oklahoma if con- victed after he was arrested in January while provid- ing security for a load of state-certifi ed hemp from Kentucky. Ross and a col- league were riding in a van behind a semitruck fi lled with the plant that ran a red light and was pulled over. Ross said he provided police in Pawhuska, Okla- homa, with the state-is- sued license for the Ken- tucky farm that grew the hemp, the license for the Colorado lab that was buy- ing it and chemical analysis paperwork for all 60 sacks of hemp that he said shows it was within federal guide- lines for hemp. That wasn’t enough for the offi cers. They tested the shipment and found it con- tained THC — although not how much — and arrested Ross, his colleague and the two truck drivers. The charges against the drivers eventually were dropped, but their 18,000- pound cargo with a value of nearly $1 million after pro- cessing still is being held. The case and a simi- lar one in Idaho prompted the Oregon Department of Volunteer Pick of the Week Mindy 10 year old Tortoiseshell Mindy loves spring, a time for new beginnings. Come discover the heart of her charm. 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