51

LETTERS

Thanks

        Dear Sir/Madam,

        We received the December issue.  Congratulations on another fine journal.
        Early this year, an Australian company was under serious legal threat for importing sterilized hemp seeds to use in food production.
        I referred them to one of your articles which showed that hemp seeds contain no THC, and it proved to be a factor of some importance in the decision to drop the charges against them!

        Keep up the good work!

                Cathy Crago
                President
                Roseworthy Hemp Information Network
                South Australia

Theft

        Dear IHA,

        I was impressed by the variety of contents in the IHA information package, which I received in mid-August of 1996.  Several items were new to me, and the selection of color slides was spectacular!  After going over the check list, however, I noticed something missing; a sample of 'hemp stone', which was described as a small, rust red or black square.
        After a call to the IHA, I was assured that the hemp stone had been enclosed.  I was also informed that this material was in short supply, and that its omission was unlikely.  I considered the possibility that my missing piece of hemp stone may have, to the untrained eye, resembled a piece of hashish.   Since my package had already been inspected (i.e., opened) enroute, I petitioned Finnish customs to investigate this possibility.  Their prompt response neither confirmed nor denied a hand in the matter, but only asked how much the missing item was worth.  I responded with more forms, to indicate that an actual answer was more valuable to me than a quick payoff.  Almost three months have passed without a response.  Fortunately, "with a little help from my friends", I was able to eventually obtain samples of this 'suspicious' material.

        J.C. Callaway, Ph.D.
        Dept. of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
        University of Kuopio
        FIN-70211 Kuopio, Finland