Wanted to share this with you guys as I am sure you will find it interesting.
So after someone else posted about the IHAM hemp auction at Franklyn, TN, I decided to trek up from Florida to go check it out even though there was only one day left.
I figured even for one good contact the 12 hour drive each way would have made it worth it, however I really went for the learning experience.
On the way over there I got pulled over by a Florida State Trooper. Apparently, I was tailgaiting too close to a tractor-trailer and a female cop decided to pull me over.
She was actually very nice and was going to just let me off with a warning, but things went south when she asked me where I was going.
For a moment, I paused to think about what I was going to tell her, I have multiple businesses so I could have said a number of things …but… I decided to tell her I was going to a Hemp auction in Tennessee. I wanted to see how a State Trooper would react to hemp overall.
It pretty much went how I though it was going to go. There is another post on here where somenthing similar happend to hemp farmer once the cop found out they were in the hemp trade. Her entire demeanor changed after I mentioned hemp.
She asked me to get out of the car and asked me if I was carrying marijuana. The entire conversation became about marijuana and that if I was carrying any that it was OK.
I told her that I dont understand why she brought up MJ when all I said I was going to a hemp auction which is a legal product federally and in florida.
She then asked me for my permission to search the car. I declined. She asked why would I decline if I have nothing to hide. I then asked her do you like it when a stranger go through your personal things or do you like relinquishing your civil rights just because some stranger asks?
She didnt like my response and called back up. After back up arrived, she pulled out a K9 from her vehicle and started circling my vehicle. She went around twice and the dog sat down in front of drivers side rear door.
She then informed me that the dog alerted to the presence of narcotics and they escorted me to the back of one of the patrol cars.
I sat in the back of the patrol car for over an hour as they searched every nook and cranny of my vehicle.
Of course, they found nothing, but during the whole affair, I kept thinking that these guys were going to plant something on me. It was a very uncomfortable feeling.
Lesson learned. Don’t bring up hemp if you don’t have to. There are a lot of ignorant cops out there.
After that the road to IHAM was uneventful. The actual event was pretty empty.
Nothing much sold.
They had two lots of crude with no actual samples present. That was pretty much it for processed hemp.
The biomass that did sell sold for 60 cents a pound.
Most sellers had a reserved of $2.00 and when buyers heard the starting bid they just walked away.
I managed to speak to two Police Officers that were present. They were standing next to a bale of biomass as I was inspecting it. I spoke to them and said, you know, it looks a little bizzare watching you two officers stand right here with me looking through this big bag of bud.
They laughed and one officer said “Yeah, my instinct is to bust every one in here”
I said that’s funny and not funny at the same time. “What would happend if you pulled me over with this?”
He said, “if it was before today, we would probably end up on the news”
The cops mentioned that they had no idea about hemp and that they were not being educated on it.
I spent a good half hour explaining everything to them including how hemp is different that marijuana, how to read COAs and describing the whole process of extraction and THC remediation
I reminded them to be extra thoughtul when encountering someone in the hemp business whether its someone with biomass or someone that processes for a living.
The last thing they want to go is hurt a family because of lack of knowledge on the topic.
This trip made me realize how dangerous it is for people in our industry because of the lack of education of Law Enforcement.
Its our job to try to educate them as much as possible as to protect our industry from the evils of ignorance.
