In October the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) issued a 'clarification' concerning hemp seeds that will take many products off of store shelves and threatens the livelihood of many business owners. The DEA's new interpretive rule now makes illegal any product that causes THC (the active drug component of marijuana) to enter the body, no matter how minute the quantities. Stores have until Feb. 6, 2002 to remove all hemp seed food products from their shelves.

Hemp seeds have great nutritional value to human beings because of high levels of protein and amino acids as well as a unique combination of omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids. The rediscovery of the potent nutritional quality of hemp seeds in addition to excellent flavor has caused many new health food and cosmetic products utilizing hemp seeds to come to market in the last few years. The industry had $20 million in sales last year and the diverse products include hemp seed bars, granola, hemp seed milk, veggie burgers and others. Proponents believe that the hemp seeds could rival soy beans in sales and diversity of products in the years to come.

Hemp seeds contain trace amounts of THC similar to the level of opiates contained in poppy seeds. The quantities of THC are not enough to get anyone high, but there has been controversy of whether it may cause false-positives on a drug test. There have been a few cases where people may have tested positive due to ingesting hemp seeds or may have claimed that their positive test results had been from eating hemp seed foods. Whereas the DEA worked with the drug testing industry to modify the tests to make sure that people did not test positive for opiates after ingesting poppy seed bagels, the DEA has unilaterally decided to transform hemp seed foods into Schedule I narcotics. The DEA did not hold hearings or go through Congress nor provide any threshold for which the quantity of THC confirmed above or below qualifies as drug consumption.

Canada has a threshold for THC in food products, and the Hemp Industries Association has led a campaign for hemp seed food makers to voluntarily assure that their products meet standards for low THC to assure a wide margin of safety with regards to drug testing. Most of the THC in hemp seeds is in the shell, and it is relatively straightforward to market shelled hemp seeds that have only the most minute quantities of THC and do not trigger positive results on drug test. The DEA should acknowledge this reality, and not attack these products.

In its media advisory1 DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson stated that ``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.'' This is not true. Marijuana and hemp come from different varieties of the same species of plant, cannabis sativa, but not from the same actual crops. Hemp crops are grown to maximize the fibrous portions of the stalk, while marijuana is grown for the flowering tops. There is no crossover between the crops and in nations where hemp has continued to be cultivated in large commercial quantities, such as China and Hungary, there is zero diversion of the hemp crops into the drug markets. The DEA tries hard though to maintain the line that hemp cultivation is subterfuge to getting marijuana legalized while denying the practical realities of its cultivation.

The Hemp Industries Association has led the fight against the DEA and has filed an ``Urgent Motion for Stay Pending Review'' in the ninth circuit court of appeals. A lawsuit has also been filed by Canadian hemp seed producer Kenex for $20 million compensation for lost sales. The closed-door tactics of the DEA provided no opportunity for the public to voice its opinion. Its myopic position on hemp is causing harm to a potentially vital and prosperous industry that can have millions of dollars in sales in healthy, environmentally sound products.

Ed Dodge, Mystic River Greens
Somerville

Julia Steinberger & Dan Keshet
Mystic River Greens Spokespeople

James O'Keefe, Mystic River Greens
Green Party Candidate for MA State Treasurer

More information can be found at:

VoteHemp.com
The Industrial Hemp Association