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Bush Push To Expand Drug Wars Shot Down By Ninth Circuit Ruling
The Bush administration's attempt to expand the nation's drug wars to
foods and oils containing hemp was shot down Friday by a federal
appeals court, which said hemp doesn't get people high and hasn't been
outlawed by Congress.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed sales of hemp foods to
resume in March 2002, five months after the Drug Enforcement
Administration announced an abrupt nationwide ban. On Friday, the
court said the DEA had no authority to reclassify hemp as a dangerous
drug without first showing that it has a "high potential for abuse.''
The DEA hasn't tried to prove hemp is dangerous but instead argued
that consumption of hemp seeds and oil can be outlawed because they
contain traces of THC, the active substance in marijuana.
But the court said that under federal law "nonpsychoactive hemp is
explicitly excluded from the definition of marijuana.''
DEA spokesman Bill Grant declined comment on the ruling, which could
be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. For now, it's a relief for the
hemp food industry, which saw stores pull its products off shelves in
2001 and is struggling to regain lost ground.
"The market is going to blow wide open,'' said David Bronner,
president of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps in Escondido (San Diego County)
and chairman of the Hemp Industry Association's food and oils
committee. His company makes a snack bar that Bronner hopes will now
find its way into mainstream stores.
Lenda Hand, owner of Humboldt Hemp Foods, said her sales dropped
dramatically in the past few years. Her company still sells roasted
hemp bean coffee but has stopped marketing organic blue tortilla chips
and cake mixes containing hemp seeds because of a decline in sales.
"Stores dropped their accounts,'' she said. "People were afraid to
carry (the products). And then my enthusiasm waned. It was very
depressing. Now I'll gear up again.''
Hemp foods, sold mainly in natural food and health food stores,
include granola, waffles, energy and snack bars, chips and oil
supplements.
As an industrial product, hemp can be traced back to colonial times in
America and was grown by George Washington to make rope. The plant was
a valuable agricultural crop until the anti-drug fervor of the 1930s,
which resulted in the 1937 federal law banning marijuana.
Hemp can no longer be grown legally in the United States, but is
imported legally, largely from Canada. The DEA's October 2001 ban did
not apply to nonfood products like clothing and paper. However,
Bronner said the ban cut off the supply of hemp oil that his company
used in its soaps.
In defending its rules before the court, the DEA argued that it was
authorized to ban consumption of any product containing THC. But the
court said federal law prohibits only synthetic THC and natural marijuana.
To reclassify hemp as a dangerous drug, the court said, the DEA must
make findings, supported by evidence, that it has a high potential for
abuse and cannot be used safely under medical supervision.
The DEA won't even try to meet that standard, predicted Bronner, the
Escondido businessman.
"What's the abuse potential of hemp seeds and oil? None,'' he said.
"It's like eating a poppy seed bagel.''
Pubdate: Sat, 07 Feb 2004
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Webpage:
Hemp industry revived with victory over DEA / Bush push to expand drug wars shot down by Ninth Circuit ruling
Copyright: 2004 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: letters@sfchronicle.com
Website: Home
The Bush administration's attempt to expand the nation's drug wars to
foods and oils containing hemp was shot down Friday by a federal
appeals court, which said hemp doesn't get people high and hasn't been
outlawed by Congress.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed sales of hemp foods to
resume in March 2002, five months after the Drug Enforcement
Administration announced an abrupt nationwide ban. On Friday, the
court said the DEA had no authority to reclassify hemp as a dangerous
drug without first showing that it has a "high potential for abuse.''
The DEA hasn't tried to prove hemp is dangerous but instead argued
that consumption of hemp seeds and oil can be outlawed because they
contain traces of THC, the active substance in marijuana.
But the court said that under federal law "nonpsychoactive hemp is
explicitly excluded from the definition of marijuana.''
DEA spokesman Bill Grant declined comment on the ruling, which could
be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. For now, it's a relief for the
hemp food industry, which saw stores pull its products off shelves in
2001 and is struggling to regain lost ground.
"The market is going to blow wide open,'' said David Bronner,
president of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps in Escondido (San Diego County)
and chairman of the Hemp Industry Association's food and oils
committee. His company makes a snack bar that Bronner hopes will now
find its way into mainstream stores.
Lenda Hand, owner of Humboldt Hemp Foods, said her sales dropped
dramatically in the past few years. Her company still sells roasted
hemp bean coffee but has stopped marketing organic blue tortilla chips
and cake mixes containing hemp seeds because of a decline in sales.
"Stores dropped their accounts,'' she said. "People were afraid to
carry (the products). And then my enthusiasm waned. It was very
depressing. Now I'll gear up again.''
Hemp foods, sold mainly in natural food and health food stores,
include granola, waffles, energy and snack bars, chips and oil
supplements.
As an industrial product, hemp can be traced back to colonial times in
America and was grown by George Washington to make rope. The plant was
a valuable agricultural crop until the anti-drug fervor of the 1930s,
which resulted in the 1937 federal law banning marijuana.
Hemp can no longer be grown legally in the United States, but is
imported legally, largely from Canada. The DEA's October 2001 ban did
not apply to nonfood products like clothing and paper. However,
Bronner said the ban cut off the supply of hemp oil that his company
used in its soaps.
In defending its rules before the court, the DEA argued that it was
authorized to ban consumption of any product containing THC. But the
court said federal law prohibits only synthetic THC and natural marijuana.
To reclassify hemp as a dangerous drug, the court said, the DEA must
make findings, supported by evidence, that it has a high potential for
abuse and cannot be used safely under medical supervision.
The DEA won't even try to meet that standard, predicted Bronner, the
Escondido businessman.
"What's the abuse potential of hemp seeds and oil? None,'' he said.
"It's like eating a poppy seed bagel.''
Pubdate: Sat, 07 Feb 2004
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Webpage:
Hemp industry revived with victory over DEA / Bush push to expand drug wars shot down by Ninth Circuit ruling
Copyright: 2004 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: letters@sfchronicle.com
Website: Home
