Suspected cannabis plants turns out to be industrial hemp says "Feed the Birds" man

By Mid Devon Gazette
Source: middevongazette.co.uk

A SUSPECTED cannabis plant which was taken away by police was actually industrial hemp with no psychoactive properties.

Police removed the plant from the top of Bampton Street today – Friday, August 7 – and took it back to the station for further investigation.

It's thought that seeds were fed to birds, but were accidentally left to grow into what police thought was cannabis.

Sky News was in Tiverton today filming an interview beside the plants in question with Chris Bovey who is a member of the group Feed the Birds.

Feed the Birds is a campaign that spreads hemp or cannabis seeds to feed the birds. Chris explained: "The Home Office has said that this is perfectly legal and if those seeds were then to germinate, as long as that person didn't cultivate them in any way then no law has been broken.

"It's still not legal to cultivate industrial hemp in the UK without a license, and there are lots of restrictions which make it prohibitively expensive for farmers to grow."

However, Chris said that the country owes a lot to hemp and links it to villages in the area such as Littlehempston and Broadhempston.

"It used to be obligatory for hemp seeds to be grown by farmers or they would have to pay a £5 fine to Queen Elizabeth – so the empire was built on hemp.

"So the point of our campaign is to encourage people to use hemp or cannabis seeds to feed the birds."

Mr Bovey was amused at the thought of Devon & Cornwall's police taking the plants away in an evidence bag.

"The reason Sky came to Tiverton was because we had just been sent a photograph some decent looking plants in Tiverton.

"So I was invited to Tiverton to explain to Sky that this is the most nutritious seed in the world as it contains every vital amino acid, all the omegas which we currently kill fish for, and you could even make concrete with it.

"It also contains CBD which can be used to treat epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, crone's disease and even schizophrenia."

Chris added that after the seeds were left uneaten by the birds, nature did its job to provide "one of the most beneficial plants in the world."

"Unfortunately, that policeman's job was to waste his time taking away the most beneficial plants in the world in an evidence bag.

"Hopefully he will see the funny side of it when he realises that it is industrial hemp.

"Only an expert would probably know the difference. I couldn't tell the difference when I was there, although most people don't tend to feed birds with cannabis seeds because they can be quite expensive."

Industrial hemp requires a licence to be cultivated which is not the same as sprinkling seeds to feed birds.

"Licenses are not easy to get," Chris added.

"It puts a lot of farmers off growing hemp which is such a shame as the British Empire was built on hemp. Hemp was what was used to make all the ropes and sails for boats when we conquered the world."