Follow-up to our published article on November 12, 2019

Court action commenced by two brothers to charge the New York Police Department over an arrest and seizure of hemp plants that were incorrectly identified as marijuana.

Oren and Ronen Levy filed notices of claim today after police arrested Ronen Levy in early November and confiscated 106 pounds of hemp plants. Meanwhile, prosecutors dropped Ronen Levy’s felony marijuana possession charges. The notices of claim describe the incident as a “nightmare” that ruined their reputations and threatened their livelihoods of selling CBD, the extract of hemp plants which does not have an intoxicating effect on users. The filing, while not a lawsuit, could evolve into one, as the first step of the administrative proceedings.

Field tests of the seized plants tested positive for marijuana, but Oren Levy alleges that police ignored other lab tests and paperwork which showed that the plants were hemp. He says legal fees and the loss of the plants cost him about $40,000. The brothers are asking for $10 million. “What they did is completely illegal, and these are the people we have to trust to keep us safe?” said Oren Levy.

While the U.S. government removed CBD from the list of illegal drugs, as long as it does not contain more than 0.3 percent of THC, New York penal law still regards hemp as illegal. The state is conducting a pilot program for the sale and distribution of hemp, but neither the brothers nor the Vermont farm they received the plants from have permits to participate. "In New York State, hemp sale and possession/distribution is only permissible when the buyer and seller have the proper permissions from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. In this case, neither the seller nor the buyer had those permissions," the NYPD said in a statement. "The plants were illegal marijuana and both parties were violating New York State law."

Seizures of hemp believing to be marijuana has accelerated in the last two years, and to date over $50 million on retail crop value have been confiscated under false pretenses. The issue should have been addressed years ago with a standardization certification and origin program declaring the crop as hemp with an audited profile beginning at the planting level to the final destination. Greenmark Crytographics & Testing Labs, a division of Northridge Corporation plans to launch its solution in early 2020.

Greenmark's agenda: To become a fully integrated analytical industrial Hemp testing and tracking company. With the passage of the Farm Bill, Hemp CBD products are available on a national basis. Ensuring Hemp raw materials to processed products are labeled correctly will prevent misunderstanding to origin and content. We plan to use state of the art instrumentation to ensure our clients receive accurate and reliable data. Training an expert staff in product and method development in hemp science will allow us the set the standard.

ACCURATE AND RELIABLE TESTING:

· Industrial Hemp Cultivation

· Extractors and Processors

· Cannabidiol (CBD) Product Companies

· Proprietary application

FEATURES AND PROGRAMS:

· cGMP & GLP Practices - We intend to follow current Good Manufacturing Practices and Good Laboratory Practices.

· ISO 17025 Accredited - Planning to receive ISO/IEC 17025 accredited by the American Association of Laboratory Accreditation.

GREEMMARK'S analytical testing services can meet your compliance, safety, formulation, and business transactional requirements. We plan to offer Cannabinoid Potency Testing, Terpene Profile Analysis, Residual Solvent Analysis, Microbial Contamination Testing, Pesticide Testing, Heavy Metal Testing, and Shelf Stability Testing (Water Activity and pH) and Mycotoxin Testing.

WE ARE CAPABLE OF TESTING all types of matrices in the hemp supply chain—from biomass to concentrates to finished products. Our testing methodologies take into account the unique composition of each product category to provide the most accurate analysis.

· Raw Hemp

· Biomass

· Crude Oil

· Distillate

· Isolate

· Water Soluble CBD

· Nano-emulsified CBD

· Edibles

· Topicals

TRACKING ACTIVITIES

In conjunction with our testing capabilities, and the original testing sequences in the field as the hemp crop matures, the first chain to the link begins the expanding list of records, called blocks, that are linked using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data. By design, a blockchain is resistant to modification of the data. This last factor allows for accuracy, timely history and the movement of hemp at any level.