When is Salad Dressing a Drug? DEA Proposes Restrictive
Interim Rule Barring Hemp Foods, Industry & Proponents Gear Up
drcnet.org
Late last month, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) set in
motion plans to bar hemp-based foods and other hemp products that
can enter the human body, such as lotions and creams. On
November 30th, it quietly published a notice of the proposed
"Interim Rule" in an obscure federal publication called the
Unified Agenda.
The proposed rule change has three parts: First, the DEA
proposes to change its interpretation of existing law to bring
hemp products within the purview of the Controlled Substances
Act; second, it would change DEA regulations to agree with the
new interpretation; and third, it would establish an "interim
rule" exempting traditional hemp products that are not designed
for human consumption, such as paper and clothing, from being
subject to the Controlled Substances Act.
In the DEA's own words, "... [I]n order to protect the public
health and safety, the interim rule will not allow 'hemp'
products that result in THC entering the human body. In this
manner, it will remain clear that the only lawful way THC may
enter the human body is when a person is using a federally
approved drug or when the person is the subject of federally
approved research."
An interim rule becomes law once it is published in the Federal
Register, which can be done without public comment.
The DEA and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP --
the drug czar's office) have reflexively battled the hemp
industry throughout the Clinton administration. To justify
barring hemp products for human consumption, they have claimed
that consuming the products will "confound" drug testing for
marijuana.
Hemp industry members disagree vociferously, and have the science
to back their position.
Don Wirtshafter of the Ohio Hempery is one of the point persons
in the current campaign to block the interim rules. He told
DRCNet, "You'd have to be smeared with hemp oil and eat nothing
but hemp products for a week, and even then I doubt you'd come up
positive."
"That claim doesn't stand up to scientific testing. We have
research results from the Research Triangle Institute and
research paid for by the government of Manitoba and Canadian hemp
industries, and they don't agree with the DEA."
Yet another study, done by Leson Environmental Consulting in
Berkeley, California, also found that "a conflict between hemp
food consumption and workplace drug testing is most unlikely"
(http://naihc.org/hemp_information/content/THC_emp_drug_testing.html).
David Bronner, the grandson of the original Dr. Bronner and head
of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, concurred. "A positive test for
THC can't happen without super-high consumption of hemp foods,
and even then I'd say it's extremely unlikely."
Bronner suggested one explanation for the DEA's concern about
hemp foods interfering with marijuana testing. "We had a
merchant marine claim our soaps gave him a false positive."
Greg Herriott, the owner of Toronto-based Hempola and head of the
Ontario Hemp Association, has run into the same problem. He
provided DRCNet with just completed test results for his product.
According to Maxxam Analytics, the Canadian laboratory that
performed the tests, Hempola hemp seed oil contains "absolutely
no traces of tetrahydrocannabinol."
"This is so bogus," he told DRCNet. "They're blaming other forms
of THC ingestion on hemp foods. I'm getting really tired of this
crap -- please stop blaming my product."
Bronner's and Herriot's complaints are backed up by apocryphal
stories circulating around the country, usually about soldiers
who foiled drug tests by claiming they had ingested hemp
products. The belief that the "hemp defense" can help one get
out of a dirty drug test has apparently taken hold among enough
half-baked pot-smokers to take on the form of an urban myth, one
whose consequences are haunting the hemp industry.
"This will hurt our sales," said Herriot, whose company produces
hemp oil and hemp flour products. But he was quick to point out
that, as a Canadian concern, his company could survive even
without the US market.
Bronner is also vulnerable, but unlikely to have to fold, he told
DRCNet. "We could reformulate our products without hemp," he
said, "but most other hemp businesses cannot do that."
Hemp industry members and supporters are not just complaining.
Activists have been burning up the wires plotting a
counteroffensive, and they are prepared to attack on several
fronts. Industry and activist list-serves have featured calls
for a letter-writing campaign urging Congress members to throw a
wrench in the DEA's plans by demanding that the rule change be
treated as a "major rule" and thus subject to public comment.
Earlier this week, lawyers representing industry members met in
Washington, DC, to set in motion the campaign to halt the interim
rule.
"The Department of Justice has already signed off on this," said
Bronner, "but Customs, Treasury, Commerce, and the Office of
Management and Budget all have to sign off, too, so those are all
points of attack. We're just waiting for the lawyers to set up
the template."
The Ohio Hempery's Wirtshafter had a sense of urgency. "If this
gets out as an interim rule, it takes immediate effect," he told
DRCNet. "We must fight this now before if passes review by the
other agencies."
Hemp advocates are at something of a loss to explain DEA's
vindictive attitude, especially given its lack of any scientific
basis.
"They're not even trying to fend off those 'hemp defense'
claims," said an exasperated Bronner. "That's because they're
looking for any excuse to ban hemp as part of the culture war."
For Wirtshafter, "This is just McCaffrey, his last hurrah."
And that thought brought him some solace. "This thing still has
a way to go down the regulatory pathway," he mused. "I don't
think the Clinton administration has a chance of getting this
published, and Bush will have to start all over."
Perhaps, but hemp supporters aren't taking any chances.
DRCNet will be issuing an action alert on this issue shortly.
Previous coverage of the ongoing Hemp Embargo saga:
* Alert: DEA Sabotaging Legal Hemp Industry (10/1/99)
drcnet.org
* Hemp Embargo Continues (10/15/99)
drcnet.org
* DEA Lifts Hemp Seed Embargo (reprinted from NORML News,
11/19/99)
drcnet.org
* US Drug Czar Commands Customs to Seize All Hemp Seed Imports
That Contain Any THC (1/21/00)
drcnet.org
* Reno Orders Ends to Hemp Seed Embargo, McCaffrey Hopes to Amend
Controlled Substances Act to Outlaw Hemp (reprinted from NORML
News, 5/5/00)
drcnet.org |
