T
The420Guy
Guest
What do some beers, cheeses, ice creams and soda products have in common --
besides being tasty? They contain small amounts of hemp, and under a new
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration rule, will soon be banned for import
or sale because they contain traces of THC, the primary active constituent
of marijuana. And according to DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson, "hemp
cannot be produced without producing marijuana."
On Feb. 6, it will be illegal to sell or import hemp-containing foods,
under a new rule of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The DEA
says it is interpreting and enforcing an existing rule, which doesn't
require formal rule-making procedures. But critics charge that the agency
is simultaneously soliciting comments for a new rule with the same wording
and effect. It published the rule in the Federal Register Oct. 9.
The foods are being banned for import or sale because they contain traces
of THC, the primary active constituent of marijuana. DEA Administrator Asa
Hutchinson has also said 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," according to a DEA statement.
Several hemp food products manufacturers and the Hemp Industry Association,
their trade group, have asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for an
emergency stay of the enforcement of the rule. They also seek formal review
of the rule (66 Fed. Reg. 51530 et. seq.).
Federal appeals courts are the designated forum for challenging agency
rule-making actions. The DEA has given the manufacturers and retailers of
consumable hemp products until Feb. 6 to dispose of their inventory -- a
situation which they assert will ruin their businesses. They say that their
products are no more harmful than poppy seed bagels, which contain tiny
trace amounts of opiate compounds, or fruit juices, which contain traces of
alcohol.
Products on the market that the DEA says are affected by the action include
some beers, cheeses, coffees, corn chips, energy drinks, flours, ice
creams, snack bars, salad oils, sodas and veggie burgers. Manufacturers say
that there is no measurable THC content in these foods under tests
available when Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act. The suppliers
say that hemp is used in food products because the seeds are a high-quality
source of protein, and the hemp seed oil contains a variety of
heart-healthy essential fatty acids not found in other food products.
The DEA describes the rule as an interpretation of that statute and of DEA
regulations, which under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), require
no formal rule-making procedures.
VERDICT BEFORE TRIAL?
"It's like the judge announcing the verdict before the trial," says John H.
Young of Washington, D.C.'s Sandler Young, representing a group of U.S. and
Canadian companies making and selling hemp food products as petitioners
with his partner Joseph E. Sandler and solo practitioner Patrick Goggin as
local counsel. Sandler says that under the APA statute, the rule is clearly
substantive in nature, a categorization that requires a formal rule-making
hearing, or else notice to the public and an opportunity for comment.
Petitioners charge that the DEA is avoiding the proper regulatory
procedures by issuing the dual rule.
A DEA spokesperson declined to comment, deferring to the press advisory
statement posted at the DEA Web site, at www.dea.gov. The comment period
for the immediate proposed rule ends Dec. 10.
A 1998 seizure of hemp birdseed led to more than two years of extensive
interagency tussles, in which certain factions argued for conformity with
international trade standards on hemp, and other agencies insisted on a
zero threshold level.
In November 2000, DEA announced its plans to publish more restrictive
rules. Those rules, published Oct. 9, ban the sale or importation of hemp
products that "enter the human body" because the DEA says the products
contain THC traces. Sandler says Congress never intended to apply bans on
hemp products to microscopic traces detectable by modern analytical
methods. He noted that poppy seeds are exempted from the Controlled
Substances Act even though they contain trace opiates, and that fruit juice
has trace amounts of natural alcohol through fermentation but is not
subject to liquor laws.
Apart from trying to stop imposition of the DEA rule, David C. Frankel, a
San Francisco attorney and Hemp Industries Association board member, said
the trade association members are "looking to work with DEA to set up
protocols that do not interfere with legitimate law enforcement without
forcing our products off the shelves."
The Family Research Council, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative advocacy
organization, has submitted papers in support of the DEA rules. Robert
Maginnis, the council's vice president for policy, said that the hemp issue
is being used to camouflage a marijuana decriminalization legalization
agenda, and that there are ample substitutes for hemp products. Maginnis
says that legalization of hemp products sends a pro-drug message to children.
On Nov. 8, Rose A. Briceno, and Wayne Raabe, senior trial attorneys with
the DOJ's Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, filed an opposition motion
to the request for an emergency stay. Petitioners filed a reply to the
opposition brief Nov. 15.
DEA Rule Bans Hemp Food Products
The National Law Journal
www.law.com
December 3, 2001
By Michael Ravnitzky
besides being tasty? They contain small amounts of hemp, and under a new
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration rule, will soon be banned for import
or sale because they contain traces of THC, the primary active constituent
of marijuana. And according to DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson, "hemp
cannot be produced without producing marijuana."
On Feb. 6, it will be illegal to sell or import hemp-containing foods,
under a new rule of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The DEA
says it is interpreting and enforcing an existing rule, which doesn't
require formal rule-making procedures. But critics charge that the agency
is simultaneously soliciting comments for a new rule with the same wording
and effect. It published the rule in the Federal Register Oct. 9.
The foods are being banned for import or sale because they contain traces
of THC, the primary active constituent of marijuana. DEA Administrator Asa
Hutchinson has also said 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," according to a DEA statement.
Several hemp food products manufacturers and the Hemp Industry Association,
their trade group, have asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for an
emergency stay of the enforcement of the rule. They also seek formal review
of the rule (66 Fed. Reg. 51530 et. seq.).
Federal appeals courts are the designated forum for challenging agency
rule-making actions. The DEA has given the manufacturers and retailers of
consumable hemp products until Feb. 6 to dispose of their inventory -- a
situation which they assert will ruin their businesses. They say that their
products are no more harmful than poppy seed bagels, which contain tiny
trace amounts of opiate compounds, or fruit juices, which contain traces of
alcohol.
Products on the market that the DEA says are affected by the action include
some beers, cheeses, coffees, corn chips, energy drinks, flours, ice
creams, snack bars, salad oils, sodas and veggie burgers. Manufacturers say
that there is no measurable THC content in these foods under tests
available when Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act. The suppliers
say that hemp is used in food products because the seeds are a high-quality
source of protein, and the hemp seed oil contains a variety of
heart-healthy essential fatty acids not found in other food products.
The DEA describes the rule as an interpretation of that statute and of DEA
regulations, which under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), require
no formal rule-making procedures.
VERDICT BEFORE TRIAL?
"It's like the judge announcing the verdict before the trial," says John H.
Young of Washington, D.C.'s Sandler Young, representing a group of U.S. and
Canadian companies making and selling hemp food products as petitioners
with his partner Joseph E. Sandler and solo practitioner Patrick Goggin as
local counsel. Sandler says that under the APA statute, the rule is clearly
substantive in nature, a categorization that requires a formal rule-making
hearing, or else notice to the public and an opportunity for comment.
Petitioners charge that the DEA is avoiding the proper regulatory
procedures by issuing the dual rule.
A DEA spokesperson declined to comment, deferring to the press advisory
statement posted at the DEA Web site, at www.dea.gov. The comment period
for the immediate proposed rule ends Dec. 10.
A 1998 seizure of hemp birdseed led to more than two years of extensive
interagency tussles, in which certain factions argued for conformity with
international trade standards on hemp, and other agencies insisted on a
zero threshold level.
In November 2000, DEA announced its plans to publish more restrictive
rules. Those rules, published Oct. 9, ban the sale or importation of hemp
products that "enter the human body" because the DEA says the products
contain THC traces. Sandler says Congress never intended to apply bans on
hemp products to microscopic traces detectable by modern analytical
methods. He noted that poppy seeds are exempted from the Controlled
Substances Act even though they contain trace opiates, and that fruit juice
has trace amounts of natural alcohol through fermentation but is not
subject to liquor laws.
Apart from trying to stop imposition of the DEA rule, David C. Frankel, a
San Francisco attorney and Hemp Industries Association board member, said
the trade association members are "looking to work with DEA to set up
protocols that do not interfere with legitimate law enforcement without
forcing our products off the shelves."
The Family Research Council, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative advocacy
organization, has submitted papers in support of the DEA rules. Robert
Maginnis, the council's vice president for policy, said that the hemp issue
is being used to camouflage a marijuana decriminalization legalization
agenda, and that there are ample substitutes for hemp products. Maginnis
says that legalization of hemp products sends a pro-drug message to children.
On Nov. 8, Rose A. Briceno, and Wayne Raabe, senior trial attorneys with
the DOJ's Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, filed an opposition motion
to the request for an emergency stay. Petitioners filed a reply to the
opposition brief Nov. 15.
DEA Rule Bans Hemp Food Products
The National Law Journal
www.law.com
December 3, 2001
By Michael Ravnitzky
