It’s the word “unfortunate” in an email from the Nevada County Republican Party that gets to Forrest Hurd.

The father of an 8-year-old boy with intractable epilepsy, Hurd grows emotional when he talks about the email that refers to his son Silas as an “unfortunate child” being used as a “publicity stunt” to gain outdoor marijuana grow exemptions.

“It’s hard, you know?” Hurd said Wednesday. “It’s hard. This is real.”

The email burst, sent by the local Republican Party, encourages people to contact the Board of Supervisors and express support for Measure W. That measure, if passed June 7 by voters, would implement a voter-approved ban on outdoor grows and limit indoor grows to 12 plants.

Hurd and many others oppose the measure, arguing they want to obey the law and be allowed to grow outside. Opponents call marijuana grows a nuisance that draw criminal activity to the area.

“They are putting out poisons and traps and killing wildlife,” Deborah E.G. Wilder, chairman of the local Republican Party, said of commercial growers.

The email, written by Wilder and others in her party, says Measure W prevents no one who needs medical marijuana from growing indoors.

“The commercial growers are using an unfortunate child as a publicity stunt to ask the Board of Supervisors to create an exception and allow for outdoor growing of marijuana,” the email states.

The email has led many on Facebook to blast its message, calling it uninformed and biased.

Hurd called the message hard to read.

“I understand that politics happens,” he added. “I’m upset over it, obviously, but it’s not going to cause us to lose sight of our goal.”

Hurd on Monday filed a writ in Nevada County Superior Court that seeks to remove Measure W from the ballot. He’s previously said that he needs 40 to 50 plants to get the medicine for his son. The plants don’t grow well indoors, he said.

Wilder said she supports children like Silas receiving the medicinal marijuana they need, adding she might have changed the email’s wording if she’d known of its response.

The email’s purpose, Wilder emphasized, was to encourage people to contact their supervisors and show support for Measure W.

“I really feel for this little boy,” she added. “He should absolutely have this marijuana oil to help him with his condition.”

To contact Staff Writer Alan Riquelmy, email ariquelmy@theunion.com or call 530-477-4239.

“The commercial growers are using an unfortunate child as a publicity stunt to ask the Board of Supervisors to create an exception and allow for outdoor growing of marijuana.”the email states