cannabisnews.com: DEA Final Rule on Hemp Foods Challenged DEA Final Rule on Hemp Foods Challenged Posted by CN Staff on March 27, 2003 at 13:00:33 PT Press Release Source: U.S. Newswire 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.comThe 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 Newshawk: puff_tuffSource: U.S. NewswirePublished: March 27, 2003Copyright 2003 U.S. Newswire Website: http://www.usnewswire.com/ Contact: http://www.usnewswire.com/contactusn.htmlRelated Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Hemp Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/hls.htmHempsters Go To Washington http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14544.shtmlHemp NAFTA Suit Begins Arbitration Phase http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13609.shtmlGet Your Fill of Hemp While It's Still Legalhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11547.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #7 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on March 28, 2003 at 02:23:39 PT Mmmm... hemp seed... You know what articles like this inevitably make me want to do?Go out and buy some HEMP SEED OIL. Now, while I still can. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by SWAMPIE on March 28, 2003 at 00:07:24 PT Drug Wars and Hempseeds I find it so ironic that our government speaks out of one side of their mouth about hempseed nutrition and other practical uses for the cannabis plant,and the other about this zero tolerance policy of cannabis having no medical value and becoming extremely potent.Don't they realize that if they allowed hemp to grow,that the hemp would naturally polinate the potent cannabis plants and render it to become less potent over time?It alone would reduce the amount of outdoor grows due to its ability to water down the high thc plantings they so want to destroy.Anyone want to smoke some ditchweed? What "Marroons"! Onward Through The Fog!!! SWAMPIE [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by John Tyler on March 27, 2003 at 19:07:03 PT DEA caught trying to pull a fast one. The DEA is so arrogant and self rightous they though no one would notice what they were doing. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by The GCW on March 27, 2003 at 15:50:04 PT This issue got a lot of support in 2001. Prohibitionists should not be allowed to withhold hemp from the people.The pro's must be stopped.One thing that may have helped is those: "DEA Taste Tests" at DEA offices and natural food stores in 76 cities around the country to educate the public. If the hemp food industry makes more samples available to the public at those protest type creations, there could be more new sparks.One thing I have had a few of lately is the Nutiva hemp seed bars. They are yummy. I had Nutiva hemp seeds (shelled) in the oatmeal with pure maple syrup and brown sugar. I eat hemp seed oil in most every salad. I don't want to stop eating hemp seeds and hemp seed oil because of discredited urine suckers.Urine suckers have nasty habits. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by mayan on March 27, 2003 at 15:32:42 PT Heal The Nations From Chapter I of Genesis... "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so."Dr. Andrew Weil, one of the world's foremost nutritionists, swears by hemp seed oil. He claims it is the perfect food source for it has omega-3 & omega-6 fatty acids, amino acids and proteins in just the perfect balance for human consumption. If hemp gives us the perfect food source and God gave us hemp, then who would take it away from us? These so-called Christians(Bush,Ashcroft,Hutchinson,etc.)are actually anti-Christ. They don't even respect the very first pages of their Bibles. Hemp can feed you,cloth you and house you. It can be made into paper,plastics & fuel. The petrocrats know this very well. Their power depends upon eradicating this miraculous plant. They can fight it with all their billions of dollars but still, the glory of this plant will prevail. The hemp plant will bring the power back to the people and will heal the nations.Cannabis Hemp:The Invisible Prohibition Revealed http://www.sumeria.net/politics/invpro.htmlSHADOW OF THE SWASTIKA:The Real Reason the Government Won't Debate Medical Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Re-legalization http://www.sumeria.net/politics/shadv3.htmlHere comes revolution...absolution!Bracing for Bush's War at Home: http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0313/lee.phpAnother US diplomat resigns over Iraq: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2892259.stmInvasion architect in hot water over conflicts of another kind: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/26/1048653750458.htmlClear Channel Sucks: http://www.clearchannelsucks.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=45&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0Protesters denounce media at CNN's San Francisco office: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2003/03/26/cnn.DTLTHE PERFECT STORM - Part II - by Michael C. Ruppert: http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/032503_perfect_storm_2.html9/11 was a hoax: The American government killed its own people! http://onlinejournal.com/Commentary/032403Kaminski/032403kaminski.htmlKaminski's Best 9/11 Sites — 4th Edition: http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0302/S00024.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by TroutMask on March 27, 2003 at 15:19:46 PT They Have To They have to over-reach. They can't afford to let a single drop of water through their prohibition "dam of ignorance" or the whole thing will blow. But leaks are appearing all over...-TM [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Dark Star on March 27, 2003 at 13:56:03 PT Over-reaching DEA is over-reaching so far that they are about to lose a limb. Between the WAMM raid fiasco, and trying to ban bird seed (and human food), they are proving their opinion to be scientifically and morally bankrupt.The current DEA should be disbanded in favor of a new Drug Education Administration, sworn to tell the truth about drugs, alcohol and harm reduction. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment