DEA Bans Hemp Products

The Sierra Times ^ | October 15, 2001 | Colorado Hemp Initiative Project

[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

[wardaddy]

Non-libertarian, soft on pot anti-drug legalisation FReeper here who thinks the US government should have better things to do. Foolishness. Guess I'll have to be careful with my hemp sweater and soap.

[WindMinstrel]

the thing that puzzles me is the why in all of this. The DEA can't fear people eating tons and tons of the stuff just to get high -- that's just not very likely. Ditto on somehow concentrating the trace amounts of THC, or they'd also ban poppies and the like. So why are they bothering to ban it?

[tortoise]

Fresh-squeezed orange juice typically contains detectable quantities of ethanol (about 1/5 that of beer by volume). Perhaps the ATF should start regulating oranges to keep juvenile delinquents from chugging a gallon...

If you take this to extremes it gets stupid pretty quickly. Isopropyl alcohol (i.e. "rubbing alcohol") is one half of the binary to make Sarin nerve gas. I'll bet half the people on this list have "chemical weapon precursors" in their homes, a sure sign of criminal intent.

[Protagoras]

But you are RIGHT ON when you point out that stupid "straw men" like "HEMP--THE SUPER SUBSTANCE THAT WILL SAVE CIVILIZATION" doesn't show the fanatical members of your movement in a very good light.

This doesn't seem to be the correct use of the term "straw man". You might want to check it out.

[MadameAxe]

You might want to re-read my post. I said personally involved. This is the work of some anonymous committee.

COMMITTEE (Com-mit-tee): A bureaucratic life form with 8 or more legs and no brain

[TKEman]

This is so stupid, and actually, is to be expected in this time of crisis. Let them do their worst. Bring it on, drug warriors! Bring it on! I could care less. Woo Hoo! Yep, let's start banning all hemp products. Dumb. Idiotic. Hemp's only "crime" is to look like another plant.

Other countries, such as Canada, which has a growing hemp industry, are starting to move out in front on this issue. There they are developing markets for hemp. Strange to relate, but guess what? Capitalism rules! In a couple of years, this will look even dumber than it does now.

The DEA is becoming the plant Taliban here.

I've told myself that I won't fight this war while the "real" war is on, not the one against some of the American people. And I won't, outside of this post. Which is to convey my absolute scorn and ridicule on a government that chooses to ban a plant whose crime is to look like another plant. You have to smoke a joint the size of a freakin' telephone pole to get high off hemp.

There's a shooting war on. I've read that the government's drug warrior resources have recently been pulled off and put to the practical task of nabbing these terrorists among us. That's what the government should be worried about. I keep up with the news on this issue. Walters is having trouble getting through the Senate. Other countries have been moving forward.

I will continue my "cease fire" on this issue until bin Laden is dead, and the Taliban is run out of power. After that, it's no holds barred. I will put up a fanatical resistance to this type of stupidity.

[TKEman]

This is so stupid, and actually, is to be expected in this time of crisis. Let them do their worst. Bring it on, drug warriors! Bring it on! I could care less. Woo Hoo! Yep, let's start banning all hemp products. Dumb. Idiotic. Hemp's only "crime" is to look like another plant.

Other countries, such as Canada, which has a growing hemp industry, are starting to move out in front on this issue. There they are developing markets for hemp. Strange to relate, but guess what? Capitalism rules! In a couple of years, this will look even dumber than it does now.

The DEA is becoming the plant Taliban here.

I've told myself that I won't fight this war while the "real" war is on, not the one against some of the American people. And I won't, outside of this post. Which is to convey my absolute scorn and ridicule on a government that chooses to ban a plant whose crime is to look like another plant. You have to smoke a joint the size of a freakin' telephone pole to get high off hemp.

There's a shooting war on. I've read that the government's drug warrior resources have recently been pulled off and put to the practical task of nabbing these terrorists among us. That's what the government should be worried about. I keep up with the news on this issue. Walters is having trouble getting through the Senate. Other countries have been moving forward.

I will continue my "cease fire" on this issue until bin Laden is dead, and the Taliban is run out of power. After that, it's no holds barred. I will put up a fanatical resistance to this type of stupidity.

[virtualreb]

This is nuts. We were skeptical to wether or not Bush was a "real", anti-big government conservative but in the first year he has put together some ideas that we would have howled at had he not been our guy. His education package goes light on vouchers and heavy on growing the Dept of Ed, his health care package invents a new form of the judiciary (the Federal Tort Court-a never before existing court designed to hear HMO complaints), his early defense package would have cut Intelligence spending (like its huge now) to save money for Social Security and now the DEA is going after headlines with such a move. I agree with supporting the Commander in Chief during the "trouble" but with Gov't growing like it is and civil liberites shrinking with the new Terrorism Legislation I don't know what kind of country we will live in at the end of all of this.

[WindMinstrel]

I will continue my "cease fire" on this issue until bin Laden is dead, and the Taliban is run out of power. After that, it's no holds barred. I will put up a fanatical resistance to this type of stupidity.

Frater TKEMan,

I've been thinking this myself, which accounts for my poor showing on similar threads (well, that and my boss also expects me to work from time to time! Imagine that!). However, this one seems to be a bit damned excessive of the DEA. May need to rouse myself from slumber.

[Liberal Classic]

The DEA does exempt hemp products that "do not cause THC to enter the human body", such as paper, cloth, and rope.

So my hemp denim jeans are safe for now.

The obvious reason they ban the seeds is so people won't plant their own. It isn't because the seeds contain the controlled substance, it's just a bean. I reject that the hemp seed is special. Sure, it's probably a good source of protein, and made doubly so because it's a hardy plant that will grow in a wide range of areas.

At the very least I wish our government would give up the "refeer madness" and concentrate on opiates and cocaine. That would be a good "compromise" wouldn't it?

[Outraged]

The hemp movement is just a pro-marijuana front. Quit sucking up the B.S. and supporting such nonsense. The war on drugs was very very effective until KKKlinton got in office and besides has nothing to do with the growing of marijuana for the inefficient intentionally misleading uses.

[motexva]

The 9/28 raid looks like the culmination of an investigation that went on before 9/11. I know quite a few border guards in Texas and some INS guys here in DC. My border patrol friends say that since the 11th, they don't have time to check for illegal drugs anymore, not sure what that means but I assume they've changed their policies a little bit, perhaps more scrutiny of the people coming across and less to their bags, etc. Several of the border guards have always told me that their INS duties have always seemed secondary to their drug interdiction functions.

Also, I'm told by some INS friends here in DC that some ongoing investigations they were conducting with the DEA have been placed on indefinite hold and now they are only chasing down leads on potential terrorists.

I'm not sure what is really going on with the drug war, but I suspect the next few months will be light on the enforcement side.

[motexva]

Klintoon put more people in jail for nonviolent drug offenses than Reagan and Bush combined. The drug war cannot be won, all you are doing is destroying your own civil liberties. I'm sure glad we focused so much on the drug war the last few years and not terrorists. It really paid off well. /sarcasm

[Liberal Classic]

I will continue my "cease fire" on this issue until bin Laden is dead, and the Taliban is run out of power. After that, it's no holds barred. I will put up a fanatical resistance to this type of stupidity.

Actually, I agree. There has been a pleasant lack of prohibition threads, recently.

Let this one fall...

[zog]

--dea is an out of control, goose stepping, hypocritical collection of gang members and idiots. I wouldn't whizz on one of them if they were on fire.

Thanks US government! I don't use drugs, nor drink alcohol, but I sure as heck can spot a goon, and goon fascist laws when I see them, and these guys are at the top of the list along with the ESA interior enforcement officials, and some of the batfinks. but....we have to support our prezident, and all they do, because there's a war on ya know! Shrub and his employees can do no wrong, they are completely perfect in all regards! Yep, let's devote more resources to this huge "problem", while we got people getting infected with anthrax, we got another ten million illegals floating around, who knows how many are aztlan sleeper cells getting ready to put in their guerrila warfare two pesos worth, and maybe the chicoms to boot, they don't own any latest design small nukes, they wouldn't even think of smuggling in any blackmail material, would they? Let's concentrate on products that have .0000001% maybe four molecules of thc in them, it's a threat, a national security threat! Way to go executive branch! Hey, nice shiny black boots, real sharp looking with those nice black uniforms!

[Wolfie]

Don't confuse the poor guy. The fact that Klintoon arrested more people for drug-law violations than Reagan and Bush combined was just some sneaky pro-druggie Liberal tactic, doncha know? Besides, Klintoon (isn't that fun to type? doesn't is just lend so much more weight to an argument?) is just a b-a-a-a-a-d man, so he couldn't have been fighting the Drug War harder than Reagan and Bush.

[Britton J Wingfield]

I am all for Drug Legalization, and think that this rule is stupid. However, I wish that my fellow pro-legalization allies would quit it with the whole "hemp is going to save the world" schtick.

I agree. This is a stupid ban, and it is also stupid to treat hemp (or anything else) as a panacea for all the world's ills.

If it were legal, the market would find it's strengths and weaknesses in an impartial fashion, ASAP. Nothing like voting with cash to keep one honest.

[Wolfie]

The market WILL find its strengths and weaknesses, as the hemp industry is taking off in the rest of the civilized world. American farmers just won't be participating.