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
Maybe you're the one who should quit drinking the kool-aid.
Under our system of government, the feds have no authority to regulate the intrastate making, distributing, possessing, or using of drugs.
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.
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.
Hmm. A hasty generalization, and ad hominem to boot. Let this thread fall, Outraged.
If you think everyone who opposes the fascist, unconstitutional War on (some) drugs is a "druggie", then you are sadly deficient in your grasp of causality.
Your promotion of banning substances that look like drugs is tantamount to saying we should ban all white powders because law enforcement can't distinguish Aspartame from Anthrax.
Libertarian idiot.
Please: NO profanity, NO personal attacks, NO racism or violence in posts.
Why is this even here?
People are free to view the thread, or not, as it interests them.
Like legalized alcohol?
I'm for drug legalization. You obviously are not. We will certainly be returning to this issue when it becomes more appropriate. Rest assured that will be the case.
Until then, I would ask you to let the thread die, and avoid provoking those of us who have different opinions on this issue. I don't recall seeing you post on this topic before. I can tell you that these threads tend to become slugfests here. Fred25, CWOJackson, if one of you could contact this individual and alert him that some of us on our side, as posted above by myself and others, would like a cease fire to remain in place for the duration of the heavy shooting, I'd appreciate it.
That's funny.. I was just thinking the same about folks like you and Fred and Illbay et al. Can't think of anything intelligent to say as you froth away at the potheads, ie anyone who doesn't think exactly like you do on the subject.
Go have a drink... relax. I'll even pee in a cup for you to prove my pothead status cause I KNOW you have an insult in the chamber for me.
~Swearing off the War on Drug threads for the bazillionth time~
A friend of ours picked up a six pack of some kind of soft drink on a road trip. I think the brand had "Hemp" in the name. I thought it tasted yucky, and figured it must therefore be good for you.
:-b
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