THE DRUG CZAR'S VIEW OF EDIBLE HEMP

President Bush's drug czar Tuesday ridiculed moves to bring edible
hemp-based products to market such as cookies and potato chips, contending
the industry is a "Trojan horse" for those who want to legalize drugs.

"A lot of this is quite cynical," John Walters, director of the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy, said at a meeting with reporters.
He said the hemp industry's fight to expand use of edible hemp products was
being used to undermine American drug laws.

"You cannot pretend there is not a broader issue of legalization behind
this," he said.

Representatives of the tiny hemp industry - which is battling Drug
Enforcement Administration regulations issued in October that aim to stop
any consumption of hemp-based products in the United States - denied they
have any such agenda.

Industry representatives said they are just trying to market a nutritious
and healthy product, which contains only trace elements of the psychoactive
ingredients of marijuana, just as the poppy seeds sprinkled on bagels have
trace amounts of opium.

"This is a drug war out of control," said Adam Eidinger, a spokesman for
the industry-backed group VoteHemp. "This is not a drug, and we are not a
stalking horse for legalization."

David Bronner, chairman of the Hemp Industries Association and owner of a
company that makes a hemp-based soap, said the government is wasting money
trying to squelch a growing but tiny $7 million industry.

"Industrial hemp is not marijuana. It's as different as a Chihuahua and a
St. Bernard - the same species, but a separate strain," Bronner said.
Bronner said the industry is just getting off the ground, and could
eventually produce products that would replace petro-chemicals and timber.

Edible hemp is marketed primarily in health food stores as pretzels,
tortilla chips, energy bars, waffles, bread, salad dressing, cereal,
cooking oil, ice cream and non-dairy milk. The new rules from the Drug
Enforcement Administration do not affect non-edible hemp products, which
are used to make kitchen mats, rope and parts for new cars.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco last week issued an injunction
blocking the Drug Enforcement Administration from enforcing its new rules,
and scheduled a full hearing on the case April 8. As a result of petitions
gathered at stores like the Body Shop, some 115,000 people have protested
the rules.

Walters said he hopes the federal government and the industry reach a
compromise on new regulations. He said the Bush administration will not
back down on drug laws. "These are laws we intend to enforce," he said.

Eric Steenstra, national coordinator for VoteHemp, said he has seen no
indication that the Drug Enforcement Administration wants to compromise on
the issue.

On the Net:

http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/


Pubdate: Tue, 12 Mar 2002
Source: Albuquerque Tribune (NM)
Copyright: 2002 The Albuquerque Tribune
Contact: letters@abqtrib.com
Website: http://www.abqtrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/11
Author: Lance Gay
Cited: http://www.votehemp.com/ (Vote Hemp)