01/24/2022
HB 5058 update. Today we were informed that the adulterated h**p food Bill package will be taken up for committee tomorrow. We have been informed that lawmakers believe the Bills will pass the committee. This is answered prayer.
In this post update is an image of the approval letter for the Bill package and the letter we submitted about our unique history with the Michichigan h**p industry for the official record.
Please let me know if anyone has questions. I'll keep you all updated.
Dear MDARD,
This statement is a plea for help for small minority/woman, cannabis felon-owned, and operated h**p farms and businesses (minorities). Everything that is stated is 100% factual and has documents to prove everything stated is true and factual. We pray that our faith-based minority members will not be punished or publicly silenced and/or blacklisted for speaking out.
My name is Russell Joe Brown Jr. Some folks call me Father Joe, but my friends and family call me Joe.
I am the oldest grandson of Maria Rodriguez and the oldest great grandson of Suzie Perez. I am a Mexican American. I was raised a Hispanic male in a Hispanic community.
I am the 1st and only farmer in over 5 generations to own my own land and not be a field hand like the generations of my people before me.
I am a former convicted ma*****na felon who served 36 months in the federal prison system for cannabis crimes I willingly committed for personal financial gain and control of the market. After being released from federal prison I have not and will not reoffend. I have spent the last 22 years trouble free. I have been married 25 years with three multiracial adult children, an African American son in law and two multiracial grandsons.
For these reasons and many more my family founded the Michigan H**p Farmer Association and I have the honor of fighting for the rights of the smallest and least respected h**p business owners in the Michigan h**p industry.
In 2008 Michigan legalized medical cannabis. In 2009 I began growing and selling h**p CBD under the protections of the MMM ACT of 2008. Our family business was the very first h**p CBD company in Michigan. Many people bought our Michigan h**p products from us starting in 2009 from cannabis farm markets exclusively around the state of Michigan until the 2014 Farm Bill opened new doors for my company. Farm Markets were essential to the introduction and start of the Michigan h**p industry in its infancy. In 2009 our Christian family formed a secret board of sisters and brothers who wanted to make sure the Michigan cannabis/h**p industry had Christian representation at all the Michigan business owner meetings and with Michigan law makers. We have weighed in on most Michigan cannabis and h**p discussions since 2009 that would lead to consumer protections, criminal cannabis inclusion, and the inclusion and empowerment of minority populations into the Michigan cannabis and h**p industry. I became the face and voice for Christian minority cannabis and h**p stakeholders with the mission to influence Christian values into the final language in Michigan Bills from the earliest days in the Michigan cannabis and h**p industry. Our family’s ministry funds Conservative Christians for Cannabis Reform. CC4CR was originally both a cannabis and h**p advocacy organization. However, in 2018 the federal government legalized h**p. In 2018 our family ministry appointed a board and board of advisors and organized Michigan’s 1st faith-based h**p association focused on empowering and protecting the rights to participate in the Michigan h**p industry for people of color, women, and cannabis felons, the Michigan H**p Farmer Association. The MFHA mission has an emphasis on training our members how to be Craft H**p Farmers and business owners while fighting to protect all our members from government bureaucracy and continue to be the leading watch dog organization in the Michigan h**p industry for minorities.
In 2014 I was granted Michigan’s 1st and only federal permit to grow h**p in Kentucky, and process and manufacture products in our Michigan facility. These products were sold globally. From 2014 to 2018 I owned the only federally licensed 100% legal CBD h**p research company in Michigan. We also opened Michigan H**pcrete, Michigan’s 1st research and development company for h**pcrete, h**p bioplastics, h**p fiber, h**p composites and product trials. We continue make progress in our research and development. We have worked closely from 2014 with leading university h**p scientific leadership in Michigan and continue our relationships with university leadership today.
In 2016 I was manufacturing h**p food products with a DEA 7606 h**p research permit and a MDARD food license. I received a letter from the FDA instructing my company to cease and assist. They informed me that adding CBD to any edible product for animals or humans is illegal and that noncompliance would jeopardize our h**p research permit and put us in legal jeopardy. Being a former federal cannabis prisoner, I refused to break the law and stopped manufacturing all edibles containing cannabinoids derived from h**p immediately. We also trashed over 30k in illegal CBD food products. Financial supporters and investors got scared of prosecution, forfeit and seizure and ran from us. We were almost defunded entirely overnight after being previously well funded and a known national CBD h**p brand. In 2016 we were now limited to manufacturing only cosmetic products and smokable h**p from 2016 to the present day. We potentially lost 100’s of millions of dollars in the CBD h**p cannabinoid food/feed industry. Basically, we were forced and limited to participate in only 10% of the Michigan h**p cannabinoid food/feed industry or face penalties from the Michigan Department of Ag and Rural Development and or the FDA, with government enforcement looming over our company causing financial losses and possible bankruptcy. To add insult to injury we comply as we watch 100’s of millions of dollars of CBD human and pet CBD food products being sold in an “open free market “by federal law breakers. Only CBD Farm Market business owners are held to a tightly regulated market, and unfortunately h**p farm markets offer the greatest opportunities to enter the legal h**p industry for minorities, women, and cannabis felons.
In 2018 we received word from MDARD officials that CBD edibles would not be regulated, and the market would be “open and free”. The first good news we heard in many years after being in the Michigan h**p industry from day one. But with the feds on the record that CBD food products are illegal, we decided to wait for the USDA final rules before we would jump back into the CBD food business. From 2016 to now we have watched thousands of people use our business plan, our product concepts, packaging, and labeling making millions selling CBD food products for human and animal consumption across the state without worry. The only problem is that our family-owned farm was given written notice from MDARD that our company could not participate in the CBD Food industry because we operate from a farm market?? After operating with a MDARD food license for 4 years at our legal farm market they decide that farm markets are off limits for CBD food h**p products? This is a financial nightmare, and the over regulation can be proven to be most harmful to people of color, women and cannabis felons when trying to participate in the legal Michigan h**p industry.
Let me explain why MDARD’s policies on farm markets are not only harmful to my minority owned family h**p business but also endangers the ability for minorities, women, and cannabis felons in the Michigan h**p industry to participate and play on a level playing field. But to do this you must first understand that in 2009 no one knew what CBD h**p products were or what they were used for by most people. And no mainstream companies would dare sell our products for risk of criminal prosecution. Yes from 2009 to 2014 most companies viewed CBD h**p products as risky, shady at best. This high risk made it virtually impossible to bank or use merchant accounts unless we paid predatory fees. This predatory unreliable banking is still a huge problem today and negatively effects minorities in high numbers. Worse, the same banks would eventually shut our accounts down and hold our funds for months. The Michigan h**p industry was born at Cannabis farm markets because it was the only venues that would let us attend. Eventually we were invited to attend huge cannabis events to sell our products. The golden years. We also sold our goods at only very respected dispensaries, but quickly pulled back from that because of the McQueen decision in the Michigan supreme court explained that dispensaries for cannabis were not legal and must close or be shut down and/or face prosecution. We didn’t want to jeopardize the good name of our business or jeopardize the brand-new Michigan h**p industry and complied.
In Michigan Governor Whitmore signed SB 0816 March 24,2021 into law. This law instantly brought the state into federal compliance with the USDA final rules on h**p. The MHFA, our members and my family farm have waited 5 months today for MDARD to begin enforcing the h**p rules equally for all Michigan h**p business owners? How many 100’s of millions of dollars will our minority legal h**p business owners continue to lose because of unfair governmental bureaucracy?
Attached to this letter is the “MDARD Frequently asked questions about h**p at Farm Markets Hand Out.” This is a set of rules specifically made for licensed h**p retailers who depend on Farm Markets.
Unacceptable MDARD Farm Market Rules
1. Question-Are Sales of ingestible h**p products legal? Answer MDARD, Some, not all, industrial h**p products are Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) products. The h**p products that are GRAS and can be sold include: hulled h**p seed, h**p seed protein powder and h**p seed oil. In Michigan, all food production must be in accordance with Michigan law when applicable.
Products that are not GRAS and derived from extraction, including cannabinoids (CBD, CBG) and products that include cannabinoids, are unlawful to sell as ingestible products per the FDA. This includes CBD tinctures that are labeled for consumption.
2. Question-Can CBD pet treats be sold at a farmers’ market? Answer MDARD, CBD is not considered GRAS by the FDA. Food items including pet food are considered adulterated if they contain unapproved ingredients like CBD. CBD cannot be included in animal feed or treats for animals to eat.
3. Question-Is it legal to market CBD oil as medicinal for pets? Answer MDARD, The FDA has not approved CBD for any use in animals. Therefore, it is also unlawful to market CBD oil as medicinal for pets.
I recommend you read the entire Michigan Farm Market rules I have attached. Additionally, it’s important to mention if you break the rules at the farm market you will be removed from the market, face possible loss of h**p license and economic loss to start with. Unfortunately we are currently the only h**p group in Michigan that faces these special set of rules, regulations and penalties.
MHFA Response: As I have stated above the Brown family was instructed to obtain a MDARD food license from 2014 thru 2016 with full knowledge at MDARD that we were processing h**p and manufacturing CBD edibles to be sold nationally. The FDA warning letter stopped us from legally participating in the h**p cannabinoid food/feed industry in 2016. However, MDARD has not enforced the FDA/USDA rules on any other CBD food/feed company since 2018 except the h**p businesses that operate their minority craft h**p companies from a farm market? This doesn’t just grossly negatively affect our minority/woman/cannabis felon owned family h**p businesses it also hurts any other minority, woman and cannabis felon owned Michigan h**p business owner who depends on the Farm Markets and roadside food stands to make a living.
The Michigan h**p industry was started in 2009 and we became Michigan’s 1st family of h**p when we held the only federal permit in Michigan starting in 2014. MDARD has told me that if we want this law changed it will take an act of Congress. This we agree. MDARD told us they will allow a free open h**p CBD and h**p cannabinoid food/feed market to 99.5% of Michigan h**p licensees despite federal law?
Currently MDARD allows 99.5% of the people in Michigan to sell h**p CBD food/feed products across the state without any rules or regulations. However, me, my legal licensed h**p companies and members are held to a special set of rules, regulations, penalties, and fines? I challenge anyone to show me anywhere before today were MDARD has special rules and regulations for any group of licensees other than Farm Market owners and operators like me and my family??
I would like to explain that Michigan is a cottage industry state. Our state has long supported the small farmer by allowing us to grow and manufacture handmade craft products that can only be found at our roadside food stands and markets. Just like our sister and brother farmers in that own honey farms, maple syrup companies and wineries. This is celebrated by Michiganders. Farm Markets have long been a way for minorities and women to make their goods and sell them at a venue that only cost $50.00 a year to attend on once-a-week basis. This is Michigan’s best venue to open a h**p startup company with limited time and dollars.
I built Michigan’s 1st roadside h**p market in 2014 in a small rural farm village, of 1200 people at my h**p farm. I did this because it was the only way I could afford to get my goods in front of thousands of people for just a few thousand-dollar investment and a summer of work building it with my sons and volunteers. Remember we refused to be abused by predatory banks and credit card processing companies, so we depended on farm market sales vs unlicensed and unregulated grey market CBD companies operating in Michigan online and at gas stations for example, without a worry. We are blessed to be members of the state-run Saranac Farm Market where we are embraced by our sisters, brothers, and patrons. I can tell you they disapprove of the state’s position to only enforce and penalize us CBD licenses who depend on Michigan farm markets to make our living. When we had our hands cut off from the CBD food/feed industry I lost all the remaining big investors. We had to be creative with what resources we have. Like most small business owners who depend on farm markets as a primary source of income let me emphasize how important it is that minorities, women, and cannabis felons be allowed into the current Michigan grey CBD food/feed market without worry of enforcement like the 99.5% of the Michigan retailers making 100’s of millions off CBD food/feed sales free and clear without any worries as the state has promised them on the record and through their inactions and collaborations with law breakers at public events.
I write this letter because the current situation is killing our family business and killing the greatest opportunity for minorities, women, and cannabis felons to enter the legal h**p industry and have a real shot at being legal h**p business owners. We humbly ask MDARD to make the USDA rules the same immediately for anyone who wants to legally sell or distribute any type of h**p-derived cannabinoid products. And please explain to the MHFA how these MDARD policies empower small craft h**p farmers and business owners who are people of color, women, and cannabis felons? We requested a written statement from your office regarding all these matters.
Thank you for your consideration,
Father Joe Brown Executive Director MHFA
We are a small family farming company that believes in creating natural and holistic products.
