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Friday, February 6, 2004

Appeals court rejects DEA bid to outlaw hemp foods

Terence Chea, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO, California — Rejecting one front of the government’s drug war, a federal appeals court ruled Friday the United States cannot ban the sale of food made with natural hemp that contains only trace amounts of the psychoactive chemical in marijuana.

The decision overturns the Drug Enforcement Administration’s ban on the domestic sale of hemp food products. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put the DEA’s move on hold last March so it could hear a challenge from the hemp industry.

On Friday, the court said that though the DEA has regulatory authority over marijuana and synthetically derived tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the agency did not follow the law in asserting authority over all hemp food products as well.

“They cannot regulate naturally-occuring THC not contained within or derived from marijuana,” the court ruled, noting it’s not possible to get high from products with only trace amounts of the mind-altering chemical.

Hemp is an industrial plant related to marijuana. Fiber from the plant long has been used to make paper, clothing, rope and other products. Its oil is found in body-care products such as lotion, soap and cosmetics and in a host of foods, including energy bars, waffles, milk-free cheese, veggie burgers and bread.

Last April, DEA attorney Daniel Dormont argued for the ban, telling the three-judge appeals panel that “there’s no way of knowing” whether some food made with hemp could get consumers high.

Hemp food sellers say their products are full of nutrition, not drugs. They say the food contains such a small amount of the active ingredient in marijuana that it’s impossible to get high.

In October 2002, the DEA declared that food products containing even trace amounts of THC were banned under the Controlled Substances Act.

The DEA ordered a halt to the production and distribution of all goods containing THC that were intended for human consumption. The DEA also ordered all such products destroyed or removed from the United States by March 18 — but the 9th Circuit suspended that order so it could decide whether federal law may classify hemp food as an illegal controlled substance like heroin.

The case is Hemp Industries Association v. Drug Enforcement Administration, 01-71662.

Copyright © 2004, Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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