In response to "Alabama authorities eradicate pot" ( The News, Wednesday ), I'd like to point out that by the Drug Enforcement Administration's own admission, 98 percent of the estimated 223 million marijuana plants destroyed by law enforcement in 2005 were classified as "ditchweed," a term the agency uses to define "wild, scattered marijuana plants ( with ) no evidence of planting, fertilizing or tending."
Unlike cultivated marijuana, feral hemp contains virtually no detectable levels of THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis, and does not contribute to the black market marijuana trade.
So, how much money is Alabama wasting by using helicopters and the National Guard to harass elderly men suffering from multiple sclerosis and to pull up and burn feral hemp plants that are of no value in the black market?
Loretta Nall
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