cannabisnews.com: DEA Rules Ban Edible Hemp Products DEA Rules Ban Edible Hemp Products Posted by FoM on October 11, 2001 at 11:09:29 PT By Christie Wilson Source: Honolulu Advertiser Supporters of industrial hemp say they will pursue a temporary restraining order and other legal action to halt implementation of federal rules issued yesterday that would ban edible hemp products. The rules by the Drug Enforcement Administration, published in the Federal Register, give merchants 120 days to dispose of food products such as beer, pasta, tortilla chips, candy bars, salad dressing and cheese when the items contain tetrahydrocannabinols, known as THC. Exemptions apply to products such as paper, animal feed, clothing and rope, and personal-care items such as shampoos, soaps and lotions. Hemp advocates had expressed concern that the new rules would outlaw personal-care items, but an interim rule also published in the Federal Register yesterday said that without any studies available on whether these products introduce THC into the body, the agency will assume they do not and thus exempt them from the Controlled Substances Act. THC is the compound that gives marijuana its euphoric effect. Supporters of industrial hemp, another form of cannabis, argue that THC levels in hemp are too low to have any narcotic effect. Although Kathy Barr, owner of the Hemp House in Pa'ia, Maui, apparently will be able to continue manufacturing a popular line of hemp-based lotions, she said she was shocked by the DEA ruling on food products. "I never thought they would do it. I thought they had some understanding that you don't get high from the product and it's wonderful for you," she said. The DEA said it was issuing its interpretation of the Controlled Substances Act because of numerous inquiries in recent months regarding hemp products that contain THC. The agency said it rejected arguments that classifying hemp as a controlled substance is contrary to court rulings and the history of federal drug laws. Representatives of the international Hemp Industries Association, which held its convention on Maui last week, and the Vote Hemp Inc. advocacy group are in Washington coordinating legal action against the DEA rules. In a joint statement, David Bronner and Eric Steenstra of Vote Hemp characterized the rules as the latest attempt by the DEA to "sabotage" the hemp industry. They said DEA has chosen to ignore the industry-established Test Pledge program in which hemp companies assure consumers they will not test positive for marijuana in workplace drug screenings, even if they consume large amounts of food containing hemp. Source: Honolulu Advertiser (HI)Author: Christie Wilson Published: October 10, 2001Copyright: 2001 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.Contact: letters honoluluadvertiser.comWebsite: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Vote Hemphttp://www.votehemp.com/Hemp Industries Associationhttp://www.thehia.org/FTE Hemp Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/hls.htmCannabisNews Hemp Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/hemp.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #14 posted by QcStrt on November 17, 2001 at 07:06:37 PT <<<<RADIO STAT Is there a National Radio Station that we can interact with on Hemp and Cannabis in the USA, like the Art Bell on UFO's. If not can someone get one started for all of US that are into a better live. let the people put it on other boards and see if we can get one, there should be some Cooperate or individuals out here that well Help the CAUSE. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by i420 on October 12, 2001 at 05:25:55 PT Oh well....lol Thanks Fom !Too bad you can't make it to columbus. I think i left the impression of having a gathering in chicago. [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by FoM on October 11, 2001 at 19:45:10 PT i420 Hi i420, Cool link. Maybe you should register it. Someday we might be able to all get together without fear. We can hope for a day like that. It is very hard to look very far into the future since the 11th of September. Let's keep our fingers crossed and maybe that day will come. But meanwhile we can talk here on C News and other boards we enjoy and that's the next best thing to meeting each other in person. And it's open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. I love the Internet. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by i420 on October 11, 2001 at 18:20:33 PT Cannabisnews Gathering So hey lets have a cannabisnews.com gathering !!!! I know where chicagoland is i'll follow you from indiana. What about it FoM you up to a roadtrip ???? I bet others like me would like to thank you in person.P.S. The url is just for fun.You made a good point E_J no wonder amerika and russia are getting along so well. They musta took over after the coldwar. We were too busy working to make ends meet while they took us to the bank. http://www.cannabisgathering.com [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by FoM on October 11, 2001 at 18:02:16 PT Thanks JR I'm not sure where Chicagoland in Ohio is but we are closer to Pittsburgh then any big city. If you mean Chicago I've been there many times. We have a video tape of Reefer Madness. I don't think we ever watched the whole thing. It was really bizarre. Thanks! [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on October 11, 2001 at 17:08:15 PT Location of my bunker I'm over 100 miles away from Columbus (I think, although it may be close)... I'm living in a suburb on the fringe of Chicagoland at the moment, I just happened to catch sight of the Reefer Madness drive-in thing because of another non-drug-war related list I'm on. I actually didn't like Reefer Madness when I finally got a chance to see it recently - sure, some of it was campy and kitschy, but if this is typical of the early propaganda, I'm amazed the drug war is still around. However, I think seeing on the big screen, through a cloudy windshield, with people honking and heckling, might be a much better way to see it than via RealVideo (available for free at the URL below)... Broadband RealVideo Reefer Madness [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Duzt on October 11, 2001 at 12:35:35 PT poppy seeds Eating too many poppy seeds will give you a false test for heroine and I don't see a ban on poppy seeds happening any time soon. This is just a pissed off bully (the DEA) that isn't getting it's way and so it just pushes harder and harder until the little guy fights back. The only problem is that when the little guy fights back after continual harrassment (like in all the school shootings), nobody looks at the problem of the bully, they always blame the little guy that got harrassed and lost it. I don't know what more these people can do before more Americans stand up and say enough. Really now, how dangerous is a hemp seed granola bar in the big scheme of things right now? This terrorism thing is going to get really ugly, really quickly because it's obvious by the government making it's own rules (Congress no longer has a say in war time apperantly) and covertly doing things in the war on drugs that they would never have been allowed to do before Sept. 11th that they are about themselves and their self -interests. It's a good time to worry in this country, they aren't going to protect us, they are going to protect their interests. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by bruce42 on October 11, 2001 at 12:27:55 PT that is funny Only in this country the people have no clue where they are being herded. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by E_Johnson on October 11, 2001 at 11:58:29 PT Drug War is a Communist institution I'm not joking when I say this. Now of course I am sure that nobody in the DEA believes in, or has ever even read, Marx or Lenin. But nonetheless they have managed to reinvent and enact systems of thought and systems of social control and concepts of social warfare against the citizens that were deeply a part of the manner in which Soviet Communism functioned on a day to day basis.For example, the Drug Free workplace concept which establishes a firm link between a person's choice of behavior in the privacy of the home, a person's status in the work place, and the politically derived policies of the government.This was preciely how the Soviet Communist Party controlled the daily lives of people.Everything was linked together so that if a person disobeyed the government in private, the person's employment would be endangered.And now we've made the same link with education. This is how repression was transmitted through Soviet society, through those linkages between employment and government that obliterated any possibility of Soviet citizens having private lives protected from government intrusion.If you criticized the government too much at home, you could come to work and find yourself not only fired but also reported to the Party officer for investigation.The Soviet Communist government ended up in a state on continual war with its own citizens. It wasn't a shooting war, it was a war of stern silences and angry contempt and alienation and lack of faith and harsh prison sentences for everyone believed at the time to represent a harmful element of society.And this is where we are now.Now the DEA is making war against the health food industry. Our country is in a war against its own citizens. What could be a more Communist thing to do than THAT?I'm not joking about this. It's like the monster didn't die in 1991, it just moved to a new body.An American bipartisan body. Now isn't that funny? [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 11, 2001 at 11:40:43 PT JR Bob Dobbs Are you from Ohio? Nothing is off topic these days so please don't worry about it. I am so annoyed by no news and I want people to feel comfortable posting what is important to them. That way we will learn more. I live about 100 miles from Columbus, Ohio. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on October 11, 2001 at 11:39:29 PT Irrationality and arrogance - the Chernenko years We're in the Chernenko years, characterized by one assault upon reason after another by a system that has long renounced any dedication to public safety in favor of plain old fashioned bureaucratic greed.Except in our political system, we have to find and elect our own Gorbachev, we can't count on inner Party machinations to produce one for us. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by JSM on October 11, 2001 at 11:36:59 PT Hemp Ban Sorry folks, it is only beginning. With Ashcroft, Walters, and Hutchinson anyone who was hoping for a little sanity is sadly mistaken. And as noted in many previous postings, with our newest little war, the government is removing all pretense of any respect for the constitution and bill of ex-rights. Can martial law really be that far away? On the bright side, hopefully government excesses will breed legitimate outrage and that will lead to change. Given how many lives have been destroyed and the massive numbers incarcerated, surely they will be a backlash eventually. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on October 11, 2001 at 11:32:31 PT Madness This may be slightly off topic - but since everything about this ban screams reefer madness, maybe not. Friday, Oct. 19, in Columbus Ohio, there will be a screening of Reefer Madness at the local drive-in movie theatre. It's closing up shop and running a cavalcade of fun stuff for its final month. See Reefer Madness on the big screen, while you still can! http://www.drive-infilm.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by bruce42 on October 11, 2001 at 11:24:19 PT What about bread? Shouldn't they nail bakeries as well? After all, it does contain trace amounts of alcohol and by selling leavened bread without a liquor licence I'm sure they're violating some law or another. I'm just looking for consistency in their arguments. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment