Posted on 10/15/2001 9:04:33 AM PDT by MadameAxe
This week, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration banned all food manufactured with hemp grain, delivering a shocking blow to consumers and producers of hemp foods. According to DEA notices published in the Federal Register on October 9, 2001, any product that contains any amount of THC is, and always has been, a Schedule I controlled substance.
The DEA published this notice as an "interpretive rule", not as a new rule, thereby bypassing the usual requirement for public notice and comment. The DEA is stating that hemp food products have always been illegal and that they are just clarifying that fact with this new interpretive rule. The DEA justifies their decision only by saying that it is to "protect the public health and safety", but the DEA does not provide any evidence that THC in any amount is harmful.
"For the first time in U.S. history, the federal government is outlawing a whole class of food products", says Kathleen Chippi, co-founder of the Boulder Hemp Company, who was forced to suspend business last year when investors became nervous about rumors that the DEA was going to outlaw hemp. "It's the same as if the DEA outlawed wheat or corn."
Hemp grain, while not as commonplace as other grains, is touted by health food experts as being "the most nutritionally complete seed on the planet for human consumption."
THC may appear in trace amounts in some products made with hemp grain, just as opiates may appear in trace amounts in poppy seeds. Hemp food has been produced and safely consumed in the U.S. since the founding of the country and has been used worldwide for over 10,000 years without any adverse health effects ever.
The DEA notice in the Federal Register states that it is illegal to consume "any food or beverage (such as pasta, tortilla chips, candy bars, nutritional bars, salad dressings, sauces, cheese, ice cream, and beer) or dietary supplement". Consumers and hemp food manufacturers have until Feb. 6, 2002 to destroy any hemp food products they currently possess.
EXEMPTIONS: The DEA does exempt hemp products that "do not cause THC to enter the human body", such as paper, cloth, and rope. Sterilized seed remains legal for birds, but not humans. Sterilized seed will be exempt only if it is intended for bird seed and combined with some other seed or material that is "not derived from the cannabis plant". Raw hemp fiber is legal, but (strangely) unprocessed hemp stalks are illegal.
Personal care products, such as lotions, soap, shampoo, and lip balm are legal for now, while the DEA searches for evidence that these products can cause trace amounts of THC to enter the body.
There have been rumors for over a year that the DEA was going to ban hemp products. It's unfortunate for citizens that they chose to do this now, while the entire country is focused on terrorist attacks and the war in Afghanistan. You'd think they'd have more urgent things to do right now, like protecting us from bioterrorism, but such is the absurdity of our federal government and its War on Drugs.
This article from the Colorado Hemp Initiative Project. Edited for publication by Sierra Times.com
ME?! I’m not “frothing”! I didn’t call anyone a “pothead”! I made a couple of jokes, and a couple of you guys freaked out. Gosh, everyone is so sensitive these days.
By the way, does anyone know if Lysol kills anthrax?
That pretty much fits liberaltarians perfectly. Ya'll want the ability to swing through the trees and don't mind Democrats being your zoo-keepers.
Call prison a welfare program, for the welfare of your children and "domestic tranquility". You vote for DemocRATS, you support BIGGER government - just the opposite of what you non-thinking liberaltarians profess to support. More dependency - bigger government. More taxes - bigger government. More lawsuits for drug dependency - bigger government by defense attorney kickback.
Just like Marxists, you people have a grand plan founded on fantasyland theory. We have enough cats out of the bag that are screwing this country up, and you IDIOTS want to let some more out of the bag. The legalization of abortion has led to an increase in abortion. The legalization of drugs will lead to a moral defense of addiction, after all, it would be legal wouldn't it?
Maybe if you read the article you'd notice that intoxicants aren't mentioned--it's about hemp, a non psychoactive substance. Perhaps, if you must post again, you could try to address the topic.
Oh, I forgot to refute these flat out lies. If you believe them you are even more clueless than you seem, and if you know them for the falsehoods that they are, then you should be ashamed for spreading them.
Last time I checked, it was an Internet news publication, not an evil bloodthirsty demagogue.
Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances known to mankind.
Alcohol is also a drug, but the Government has to leave something for people to escape in, so it remains.
What have you been smoking?
Oh, I forgot to refute these flat out lies. If you believe them you are even more clueless than you seem, and if you know them for the falsehoods that they are, then you should be ashamed for spreading them.
If you think that Democrats don't want bigger government and more dependency, you probably think Bush stole the election and have other possibly marijuana induced irrationally based backwards paranoia.
Don't you have a war to protest?
The reason I posted this article was not to be a "front" for anything. Banning products that are not drugs in the name of the Drug War is asinine. And flailing around smashing legal businesses by prohibiting their harmless products is a supremely stupid strategy, if you're trying to improve the economy and minimize recession.
Maybe I misunderstood, and your statement "you vote for democrats...etc." was meant, not as an accusation against libertarians, but as a statement of cause and effect. If that's true, then I agree. But I don't vote for them, and neither does any other libertarian I know of. Your statement looked like an accusation to me.
What does voting for democrats have to do with hemp anyway? This really has not much to do with political parties.
It puts the lotion on it's body or it gets the hose again.
This assessment is correct, you have effectively scored rationality points.
Democrats are the "if it feels good do it party". Hemp, as we both know, as a product is a hippy induced pro-dope smoker front.
True Republicans believe in the Constitution - which has created this great country. DemocRATS want socialism and bigger government - the end result always being tyranny and despotism, time-and-again. BIG BIG DIFFERENCE.
I must preface, I used to smoke pot and there is nothing positive about it. But it would be a great way to keep people stupid and dependent.
I will conclude this thread with a positive sentiment. I am a big fan of Metallica, although they pale to Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath.
I used to bring them back to Alabama (they loved to hitch a ride on the grill of the car) and decorate them for Christmas!
Quite a conversation starter.
On that subject, we have a gal at work is is from Romania and she was FACINATED when I told her about tumbleweeds.. she'd never heard of such.
What, you've never heard of EPA?
RE: Cyclamates. You've never heard of FDA?
Now, what is the difference again? Of, that's right: Those substances don't get you off.
Think "third world country." Then go there.
Drug legalization would just be another state controlled dependency program. More welfare. More misused taxes. And more leftist defense attorney frivilous lawsuits, just like they have sued tobacco, sued OxyContin(legalized heroin) and demonized more businesses. Libertarian idiot.
Is this the best you can do, you pathetic excuse for a drug warrior? WHEN is domestic tranquility promoted by declaring war on our own citizens, those few who prefer to intoxicate themselves with something other than alcohol? Nor does seeing the Unconstitutionality of the WOsD make one a druggie. I DARE you to say that to my face. And you live in CA, so you COULD. Come on by and try it, Drug Warrior. I served too many years in the Marine Corps to protect and defend the CONSTITUTION and ALL of my fellow citizens to listen to the line of bull-bleep you and your ilk are always spewing everytime one turns around. You are sick AND disgusting. All of you Drug Warriors are. And ESPECIALLY so now when ALL available resources should be dedicated to rooting out the bin Laden boys and creating a proper and special brand of justice for them.
David Wright
Retired MARINE
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