The Colorado Plateau Growers Association is glad to see our city and counties moving forward on issues regarding cannabis, but there are still areas of misinformation that need to be clarified. The main area is what is marijuana?
The Untied States federal law says there is only one type of cannabis, cannabis sativa. The entire plant is illegal, not just the THC content. So, all plants, including low-THC varieties are equally illegal.
Therefore, there is no valid legal reason for low-THC plants — except that they are all patented seeds, owned by foreign international companies and would create a legal monopoly. This would force farmers to buy seeds yearly; and would prohibit farmers from owning, saving or reproducing their own seeds.
Low-THC seeds do not exist anywhere in nature on their own. In fact, it is impossible to tell any difference between low- or high-THC plants, visually, all marijuana is the same plant. Only through a microscope can high-THC plants be identified, because they contain an extra chromosome strand in the nucleus of their cells. This is the classic definition, in plant science, of a hybrid plant.
In cannabis, all plants over 5 percent THC are hybrids. Hybrids bred to each other, over time, produce cultivars, otherwise known as stable hybrids. These plants are unique to their particular environment. These are the type of plants our association is growing for the Colorado Plateau. These seeds would allow farmers to grow every type of cannabis to produce the maximum number and quality of products. This in turn would allow the development of a new local agriculture market, from which we would all benefit.
The laws of Colorado, at the present time, create a monopoly for a few, while making it illegal for farmers to participate, except at the lowest, least profitable areas. It’s time for farmers to stand up for their right to grow the most profit-oriented legal plant they can.
Farmers interested in the growing of high-THC plants, contact Mark Reider, attorney for the Colorado Plateau Growers Association at (970) 310-6977 for details.
Lu Nettleton,
Colorado Plateau Growers Association, LTD
Cortez