Fayetteville
- Drug policy activists are gearing up to fight a new rule
published in the Federal Register Oct 9 by the Drug Enforcement Agency,
effective immediately, which regulates hemp seed products made for human
consumption as a Schedule I drug. Public comments are accepted until
December 10, 2001.
"This DEA action shows the absurd levels to which this agency will
go to
justify its continually increasing budget," stated Denele Campbell,
Executive Director of Drug Policy Education Group, Inc., an Arkansas
non-profit which educates on issues of drug policy. "No one could
claim
for a moment, not even the chemists at DEA, that anyone could be harmed
by hemp seed products. This is a just a grab for more of our tax
dollars."
Hemp is the non-intoxicating form of the Cannabis plant, grown legally
in over 30 nations for its fiber and seed. Hemp contains less than one
percent THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the primary intoxicating
ingredient in Cannabis. Marijuana, considered akin to hemp in the way a
St. Bernard is kin to a Chihuahua, contains from 3 percent up to 10
percent THC. DEA agrees that a person cannot become intoxicated from
smoking hemp.
Hemp seed meal is an increasingly popular ingredient in a wide array of
foods, including pretzels, beer, and nutritional foods. It contains
proteins as complete as soybean protein, but in a more digestible form.
Hemp seed contains abundant oils which are high in essential fatty acids
and which contain greater anti-oxidant properties than Vitamin E. Salad
dressings and cooking oils are among the growing number of healthy foods
made with the oil.
"I just spoke with a DEA representative who justified this action
by
claiming that hemp seed products could potentially cause a drug test to
show positive. A person would have to ingest enormous quantities of hemp
seed products in order to test positive," stated Ms. Campbell.
"It's a
sham excuse. I think the question we should be asking is whether drug
testing is an effective method of ensuring public safety. And the answer
is, no, it is not.
"A more effective method would be performance testing, where a
person
runs through a quick battery of automated tests at the beginning of each
work day. This would screen out anyone impaired for any reason, and
would be affordable for employers to use every day, unlike drug tests,
which are so expensive they can only be administered occasionally. Of
course, DEA doesn't like performance testing because their real agenda
is to extend the government's intrusion into private lives by
encouraging employers to function as de facto government agents."
"We'd like Arkansas farmers to profit from hemp crops. Right now
the U.
S. is importing over $500 million in raw hemp from foreign farmers. But
this DEA action undercuts the market opportunities for domestic hemp,
making it less profitable for our farmers. This is an end run around the
growing demand to legalize hemp farming in this country."
"This is a also prime example of the absurdity of current U. S.
drug
policies. At one place in the proposed rule, DEA certifies that the
overall economic impact of this rule will be less than $100 million per
year. Taxpayers are already fed up with the over $40 billion wasted
annually enforcing a drug prohibition that doesn't work. Now we're
supposed to be satisfied with a new rule that would feasibly cost us
"only" $99,999,999 a year, all to regulate a substance that
admittedly
does not produce intoxication and does not have any dangerous health
effects whatsoever," concluded Ms. Campbell. "My legislators
will be
hearing from me on this."
Public comments on the rule can be addressed to Deputy Assistant
Administrator, Office of Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Agency,
Washington DC 20537, ATTN: DEA Federal Register Representative/CCD. For
questions, call Frank Sapienza at DEA's Drug and Chemical Evaluation
Section, 202-307-7183.
LINKS:
Complete text of
proposed rule available online in three documents at
www.hempreport.com/
downloads/01-25022-filed.txt
downloads/01-25023-filed.txt
downloads/01-25024-filed.txt
See also Hemp on this Website
for a list of products made from hemp, a
history of human use of the Cannabis plant, and for links to studies of
hemp economics.
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