cannabisnews.com: Healthy Hemp in Hot Peril 





Healthy Hemp in Hot Peril 
Posted by FoM on November 01, 2001 at 07:24:16 PT
By Kristen Philipkoski 
Source: Wired Magazine
In a move that worries makers of hemp products, the Drug Enforcement Agency said it intends to make any foods containing the high-inducing chemical in marijuana illegal substances. The recent announcement was an "interim decision" that will be finalized at the end of this year. In the meantime, manufacturers and sellers of hemp products are concerned about repercussions if the decision is made official, even though most hemp foods contain no traces of tetrahydrocannabinols, or THC. 
Hemp and marijuana both come from the cannabis plant, but most food products made out of hemp don't contain THC, the chemical in marijuana that creates a "high" feeling. But over the past several years, hundreds of people who failed drug tests said that they had not used marijuana, but instead had eaten food made with hemp and that's how the THC got in their bloodstream. That's unlikely, according to at least one study, but some won their cases anyway. Now, the DEA is on the lookout to make sure no one is ingesting THC without their knowledge. "Many Americans do not know that hemp and marijuana are both parts of the same plant and that hemp cannot be produced without producing marijuana," said DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson, in a statement announcing the interim decision. But manufacturers say that doesn't mean hemp is a drug, and hemp food products have never contained THC. Cool Hemp ice cream is labeled "THC: 0 percent." The head brewer at Humboldt Brewing Company in Arcata, California -- http://www.humbrew.com/ -- said the company's Hemp Ale has been tested for THC by Maxxam Analytics in Canada and came up negative for THC. -- http://www.maxxam.ca/The brewery has been contacted in the past by folks who tried to blame their failed drug tests on Hemp Ale. Lesterlud said he faxed them the lab report and never heard from them again. The hemp plant can be used to make products including biodegradable carpet, clothing, paper, and oil for both cooking and fuel. Advocates say hemp is a more sustainable plant than cotton or soy, and can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Hemp foods include cooking oil, ice cream, beer, cheese and others. It's high in protein as well as omega-3 fatty acids. Advocates say it's easier to digest than soy. Brewers say it helps beer retain a healthy head. Still, if the move by the DEA is finalized, industry representatives say it could hurt a fledgling industry. Echo Organics of Christina Lake, British Columbia, doesn't fall under the DEA's regulations per se. But the DEA move has already impacted Echo Organics' business, said company president Jodi Koberinski.Echo Organics -- http://www.echo-oils.com/ -- which sells organic products and also has a processing plant -- signed a $30,000 deal with a hemp seed seller to process the seeds into oil. The oil was then to be sent to a company in California. But when the California company heard the DEA's notice, they cancelled the order, leaving Echo without income it had expected and the hemp seed seller with surplus grain in a saturated Canadian market. "Until people get a clear legal definition of what's going on there will definitely be concern on the retailer end," Koberinski said. "That was a huge amount of business for us. It would take us two to three months to come up with that income in direct sales." Fear of THC was already preventing a viable hemp seed industry from emerging, says the Hemp Food Association. -- http://www.hempfood.com/"For such a small market (hemp seed product sales are well under $2 million annually in North America at retail), many companies are now in a fragile predicament, desperate for increased revenues in order to even achieve break-even and keep their doors open," said Richard Rose, president of the Hemp Food Association, in a statement. A spokeswoman from Whole Foods -- http://www.wholefoods.com/ -- a chain of organic food stores that sells some hemp food products was unfazed. "At this time it's not going to have any effect on us," said Kate Lowery, a spokeswoman for Whole Foods. "We monitor our products to make sure (they don't) contain any (THC)." Koberinski worries that future technologies to detect THC could become increasingly sensitive, spotting traces of THC where there once seemed to be none. "There's no detectable amount now, but there might be in two or four years," she said. Source: Wired Magazine (CA)Author: Kristen Philipkoski Published: November 1, 2001Copyright: 2001 Wired Digital Inc.Website: http://www.wired.com/Contact: newsfeedback wired.com Related Articles & Web Site:FTE's Hemp Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/hls.htmCannabisNews Hemp Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/hemp.shtmlSeeds of Discord - Reason Magazinehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11219.shtmlDEA Rules Ban Edible Hemp Productshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11068.shtml
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Comment #9 posted by Patrick on November 02, 2001 at 11:14:59 PT
Glad I caught this idea.
Tinkling on my letter to Sinator Fienstein to protest the Waters nomination right now!
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Comment #8 posted by kaptinemo on November 02, 2001 at 08:42:53 PT:
Actually, not such a bad idea...
P4ME wrote:"One of these days people are going to start sending samples of pee to their Congressmen. Maybe we should just send letters with a golden yellow color and a funny smell. I wonder if I could get a letter to my two Senators before the John Walters vote."Imagine: they are scared spitless over anthrax. Just think of what they'd do if they started receiving letters so 'contaminated' from their constitutuents...who want to show their civic pride and support of this slapped together War on Terrorism/War on Drugs. They only want to prove their patriotism by mailing their clean urine samples to their Congresscritters and Sin-a-tors. You could even get the family pets involved; Fido and Fluffy shouldn't be left out of the fun.Yes, that's a truly inspired idea, P4ME. Enough such letters, and maybe they'd get the hint of the level of contempt they are held in by anyone with an IQ above room temperature.
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Comment #7 posted by lookinside on November 01, 2001 at 21:30:46 PT:
in all seriousness...
i don't smoke pot myself, but my wife smokes about 5 jays each evening after i get home...in my presence...i have no idea about second hand pot smoke and what i'm actually taking in...i've told my employer that my wife is an MMJ patient...they say if i test positive(they recently instituted random testing) i'll have to take a month off...i told them if i test positive, i'll have a new employer the next day...they didn't like that much...but they know it's the truth...oddly enough, i haven't heard of one person being tested yet...i guess eventually they'll try it...i'm hoping all hell will break loose...
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Comment #6 posted by lookinside on November 01, 2001 at 21:12:02 PT:
i've mentioned this before...
i'm all for giving TWO samples...the person gathering the samples should be required to drink the first one before processing the second...we might see a rash of immediate "passes"...LOL
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Comment #5 posted by Richard Lake on November 01, 2001 at 19:25:11 PT
Don't just tell them no.
krutch wrote:'If a an employer wants you to take a drug test tell them no. If enough workers do this, drug testing will die.'How about instead, saying yes, immediately, then looking for the nearest coffee cup, taking it and providing a sample on the spot.If you are going to get fired anyway it sounds like a lot more fun.... 
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Comment #4 posted by p4me on November 01, 2001 at 15:02:05 PT:
Still Making fools of themselves
The war on THC is lost and the Feds keep digging more trenches and extending the lines. There is no reason to fight this war with them as the rest of the world will show the true place of hemp in the future world. The article on this site about the research and the expected role of hemp in China really brightened my day when it appeared here about three weeks ago.The government of China is determined to make China the economic powerhouse of the world and with 4 times as many people as the US it is hard to believe that they will soon match the US in GNP. Of course with a history as long as China soon might ge 50 years where it might be taken as ten years in the US. Just practicing my ambiguity in case I decide to write some articles for the LA Times.Anyway, the United States is the only industrialized country in the world not to allow the production of hemp. What we allow or do not allow makes almost no difference in the long run. I will admit that I am wondering about the source of hemp seeds as a source of omega 3 fatty acids. This is an essential nutrient that your body cannot manufacture and people should eat things like fish or walnuts to make sure they do get this required nutrient. So I wish we could get hemp foods, but can get by without them for now.So I say the US is really making a fool out of itself over this war on hemp and I enjoy the laugh even if no one else gets the joke. On the drug testing issue, I just think of what someone in 1950 would have said if they wanted them to pee in a cup in order to get a laugh for myself. It might require a little age on a person to know about the 50's and for it to be relevant. I just think of what my dad would have said and can laugh and laugh.Of course I use the name p4me because I went to apply for a temporary job that paid $8 an hour with no holidays, vacation, sick leave, insurance, and required a signature saying you agreed to termination at will. On top of that they wanted to give me a pee test and take $25 out of my first check. We have all heard employers say p4me.One of these days people are going to start sending samples of pee to their Congressmen. Maybe we should just send letters with a golden yellow color and a funny smell. I wonder if I could get a letter to my two Senators before the John Walters vote.Got to go and when you have got to go, you have got to go.Vote against all incumbents down to dog catcher. Out with the old and in with the new. FoM for anything she wants.
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Comment #3 posted by mayan on November 01, 2001 at 13:50:57 PT
Not The Same
If hemp and marijuana are the same then why is Canada growing industrial hemp legally while recreational marijuana remains illegal? Can any anti's out there answer that for me? I can't wait to hear your reasoning(or lack thereof).
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Comment #2 posted by bruce42 on November 01, 2001 at 09:47:15 PT
misinformation
"..."Many Americans do not know that hemp and marijuana are both parts of the same plant and that hemp cannot be produced without producing marijuana," said DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson, in a statement announcing the interim decision....""...Hemp and marijuana both come from the cannabis plant,..." I really tire of overgeneralized crap like this. Marijuana is not some manufactured drug derived from a hemp plant. Marijuana is a plant. Hemp is a plant. Yes, they are related plants. No, they are not the same plants. You do not grow marijuana plants for industrial use. That would be ludicrous. As someone very nicely pointed out a while ago, hemp is to marijuana as field corn is to sweet corn. The two are quite similar but are worlds apart. Yes hemp and marijuana come from the cannabis species, but consider Pekingese and Irish Wolfhounds. They are from the same species, but I doubt anyone would have any trouble distinguishing the two.
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Comment #1 posted by krutch on November 01, 2001 at 09:26:04 PT:
Drug Tests are Stupid
This illustrates how stupid and bias THC drug tests are. If the test was for intoxication I would not complain, but the fact that the test can detect such minute quantities of THC metabolites that even eating hemp ice cream might yield a positve means that these tests far more intrusive than needed to assure a safe work place. Drug testing is unamerican. If a an employer wants you to take a drug test tell them no. If enough workers do this, drug testing will die. 
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