Latvian police apologize to woman for ruining her hemp garden

Officials of the Latvian state police have apologized to an elderly woman, a resident of the eastern Latvian district of Vilani, for ruining her hemp garden in overzealous efforts to crack down on illegal cannabis growers, local media reported on Monday.

Anti-narcotics officers had seized 363 hemp plants from the woman's garden in order to test them for possible narcotic substances, as they had taken the plants for the variety of cannabis from which marijuana is produced.

The law enforcement officials explained that the awkward situation occurred because in most other cases like this laboratory tests had confirmed the presence of narcotics in the confiscated plants.

The state police also promised to compensate the woman for the destroyed hemp plants.

"Apparently, we have to revise our standard procedures and seek effective solutions that would allow police officers to do their job without the risk of causing material damage to persons that grow hemp for personal use," said Ints Kuzis, chief of the Latvian state police.

The hemp that is grown in Latvia's countryside is a variety of the Cannabis sativa plant species. It is mostly used to make a tasty hemp butter and does not contain any narcotic substances.