Hemp Firm Fears U.S. Import Ban

A Manitoba-based hemp company is worried it may be effectively shut
down if a proposal by the American Drug Enforcement Agency gains any
more momentum.

"You're talking about a pretty formidable foe to go up against,"
Shaun Crew, president of Hemp Oil Canada Inc., said this week.
In 1998, the provincial government changed regulations to allow those
who wanted to grow industrial hemp in Manitoba to do so, under strict
guidelines and with a permit.

Crew established his hemp food processing company in Ste. Agathe the
same year, and exports up to 80% of his oil and seed products to the
U.S.

While hemp is used to make everything from clothing to paper to lip
balm and coffee, it's running into some problems south of the border,
thanks to its criminal cousin -- marijuana.

THC is the active ingredient in marijuana that creates the "high,"
and makes it an illegal drug. Because hemp is derived from the same
type of plant, its products also contain a trace amount of THC.

But the U.S. has a "zero tolerance policy on THC," said Brian Wilson,
Manitoba Agriculture and Food's crop diversification manager, adding
the DEA is pushing to have all products with any THC content banned
from import into the U.S.

That means products like Crew's would not be allowed into the
country.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

The DEA is worried those who ingest hemp products may test positive
for drugs.

"It just doesn't happen. There isn't a chance that someone would fail
a test," said Crew. "If they shut the border down on us, that's a huge
market. To the U.S., hemp is marijuana and marijuana is hemp. They've
kind of still got their heads stuck in the sand."

Wilson said hemp is a very new crop in Manitoba, and this province
has a competitive advantage because of its liberal legislation.

He worries such a lucrative new crop may have trouble establishing
itself if Canada's largest trading partner closes off its borders.

"It's a young industry, but it does have a lot of potential," Wilson
said. "We depend, in agriculture, very much on export markets -- we
don't have a large population base in Canada. If the U.S. does
something to restrict our access to the market it disrupts our economy
very, very much."

Crew said he expects to learn more about the DEA proposal in the next
couple of weeks. If he has to, he said he'll file a complaint under
the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.

Until then he'll keep lobbying, along with several other groups in
the States, to have the separation of marijuana and hemp recognized.
"It's a lot of power to fight, but we've got a lot of friends, so
here's to hoping they don't get away with this."


Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Source: Winnipeg Sun (CN MB)
Copyright: 2000 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: editor@wpgsun.com
Website: http://www.canoe.ca/WinnipegSun/home.html
Pubdate: Sun, 21 Jan 2001
Author: Tammy Marlowe