DEA Final Rule on Hemp Foods Challenged

[Guest guest]

On March 21, while most Americans were captivated by the U.S. led

invasion of Iraq, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) published

their final rules on hemp foods. The new " Final Rule " essentially bans

the sale of all hemp food products by April 21, 2003 and is virtually

identical to an " Interpretive Rule " issued on October 9, 2001 that

never went into effect because of a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth

Circuit Stay issued on March 7, 2002. Today, the Hemp Industry

Association and several hemp food and cosmetic manufactures will

petition the Ninth Circuit to once again prevent the DEA from ending

the legal sale of hemp seed and oil in the U.S. and Canada.

 

" The DEA's charade of supposedly protecting the public from safe and

nutritious hemp food is finally going to end, " says David Bronner,

Chairman of the Hemp Industry Association's Food and Oil Committee.

" The court is currently hearing a substantive challenge to the

" Interpretive Rule, " and in light of the announcement of the " Final

Rule, " the hemp industry is optimistic that the Court will ultimately

invalidate the DEA's rule, as one of the prime criteria in granting the

Stay was whether the hemp industry is likely to ultimately prevail on

the merits of the case, " adds Bronner.

 

Background on the DEA Hemp Food Fight Because trace infinitesimal THC

(an active ingredient in marijuana) in hemp seed is non-psychoactive

and insignificant, the U.S. Congress exempted non-viable hemp seed and

oil from control under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) (see 21

U.S.C. '802(16)), just as Congress exempted poppy seeds from the CSA,

although they contain trace opiates otherwise subject to control. Hemp

seed has a well-balanced protein content and the highest content of

essential fatty acids (EFAs) of any oil in nature: EFAs are the " good

fats " that, like vitamins, the body does not produce and requires for

good health. Dr. Udo Erasmus, an internationally recognized nutritional

authority on fats and oils, writes in Fats that Heal - Fats that Kill:

" Hemp seed oil may be nature's most perfectly balanced oil. " Not

surprisingly, shelled hemp seed and oil are increasingly used in

natural food products, such as corn chips, frozen waffles, nutrition

bars, hummus, nondairy milks, breads and cereals. In the last few

years, the hemp foods industry has grown from less than $1 million a

year to over $6 million in retail sales.

 

DEA attempts to ban hemp foods prompted a major public outcry. Over

115,000 public comments were submitted to the DEA against banning hemp

food. On December 4, 2001, Vote Hemp, working with students,

nutritionists, and hemp manufacturers, organized the first ever " DEA

Taste Tests " at DEA offices and natural food stores in 76 cities around

the country to educate the public. In 2002, 22 members of Congress

wrote the DEA telling the agency that their " Interpretive Rule " that

bans edible hemp seed or oil items that contain " any THC " is " overly

restrictive. "

 

Unlike the U.S., other Western countries (Canada, Germany Australia)

have adopted rational THC limits for foods, similar to those

voluntarily observed by North American hemp food companies which

protect consumers with a wide margin of safety from any psychoactive

effects or workplace drug-testing interference.

 

See hemp industry standards regarding trace THC at:

http://www.testpledge.com

 

The 10-year-old global hemp market is a thriving commercial success.

Unfortunately, because DEA's drug-war paranoia has confused

non-psychoactive industrial hemp varieties of cannabis with

psychoactive " marijuana " varieties, the U.S. is the only major

industrialized nation to prohibit the growing and processing of

industrial hemp.

 

Please visit -- http://www.votehemp.com/ -- to read scientific studies

of hemp foods and see court documents.

 

For more information or to arrange interviews with representatives of

the hemp industry, please call Adam Eidinger at 202-986-6186 or

202-744-2671 (cell).

 

Complete Title: DEA Final Rule on Hemp Foods Challenged; Stay on DEA

Rule Continues; Hemp Industry Confident DEA Harassment to End Soon

 

Contact: Adam Eidinger, 202-986-6186

 

DEA Final Rule on Hemp Foods Challenged

http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread15809.shtml

Source: U.S. Newswire

Published: March 27, 2003

Website: http://www.usnewswire.com/

Contact: http://www.usnewswire.com/contactusn.html