cannabisnews.com: Canadian Company Cites NAFTA to Sue US on Hemp 





Canadian Company Cites NAFTA to Sue US on Hemp 
Posted by FoM on March 25, 2002 at 08:24:15 PT
By Lawrence Morahan, CNSNews.com 
Source: CNSNews.com
U.S. officials are preparing for a showdown with representatives from a foreign agricultural firm on the importation into the United States of hemp products the Bush administration says contain an unacceptably high level of the active ingredient normally found in marijuana.The problem, according to Kenex Ltd., a Canadian firm that has been doing business with U.S. customers for the past five years, is that the amounts of outlawed tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, found in their products is less than trace amounts of opium found in poppy seeds, and less than would show in a drug test.
At a meeting Monday, company representatives will meet with officials from various U.S. government agencies - including the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the U.S. Customs Service - to review the company's notice of intent to sue the U.S. government under the North American Free Trade Agreement.It is one of the few cases in which a Canadian company has sued under NAFTA to have its products admitted to the United States, analysts said.In October, Kenex representatives were taken by surprise when the DEA issued a rule purporting to make hemp foods containing any traces of THC illegal under the Controlled Substances Act.The Canadian government quickly condemned the DEA action. "There is no evidence that the effective ban on relevant Canadian food products on the U.S. market is based on any risk assessment. Therefore, Canada objects to these measures," officials are quoted as saying.Earlier this month, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Kenex and blocked the DEA rule pending an ultimate decision.Independent studies have confirmed that trace THC found in hemp foods cannot cause psychoactivity or other health effects, or result in a positive test for marijuana, even when unrealistically high amounts of hemp seed and oil are consumed daily, said Adam Eidinger, an official with Vote Hemp, a non-profit organization that seeks to abolish anti-hemp laws. "You can't get high from smoking hemp, you can't get high from eating it, and that's what it should really be about," Eidinger said.Currently it is illegal for U.S. farmers to grow hemp because it is classified as a "drug" under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Both times when Congress wrote the Controlled Substances Act, in 1937 and in 1970, they exempted hemp seed and oil as long as it was sterilized for regulation."The hemp grown in Canada has an even lower THC content than that grown overseas," Eidinger said.Hemp products are in fact nutritious, rich in vitamin E and in protein, and used to make pretzels, non-dairy milk, tortilla chips, energy bars, waffles, bread, cereal and ice cream.The meeting at the State Department on Monday is the first time the DEA and other agencies that have a say in hemp policy will sit down in the same room. It's possible that negotiations will be launched to resolve the dispute and that DEA will revise its standards for judging the amount of hemp in products.According to information on the DEA website, "'Industrial Hemp' is not a term found in federal law. Nor does the term have any specific scientific meaning. Rather, 'industrial hemp' is a term used by some to refer to cannabis plants grown for industrial purposes (e.g., to produce fiber for textiles and paper and oil for industrial products). "All cannabis plants are in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and contain tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) which are hallucinogenic substances also in Schedule I of the CSA," the DEA website says.It adds: "Numerous published reports in peer-reviewed scientific journals have documented the presence of THC in hemp food products sold world-wide. Many reports demonstrate positive workplace urine screens as a result of consuming hemp products in amounts described on the label directions. "A recent study conducted at the NIDA by Marilyn Huestis and colleagues demonstrated THC positive urines within 11 hours of consuming hemp products purchased in stores in the Baltimore area and consumed per manufacturer's directions," the DEA website says."Federal law prohibits human consumption and possession of schedule I controlled substances. In addition, they are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for medical use. Legality of hemp products therefore depends on whether the product causes THC to enter the human body," it says. "If the product does cause THC to enter the human body, it is an illegal substance that may not be manufactured, sold, or consumed in the United States. Such products include hemp foods and beverages that contain THC. The new rules published by DEA, explain which hemp products are legal and which are not," the DEA website adds.The DEA lists the following products as illegal if they contain THC: beer, cheese, coffee, corn chips, energy drinks, flour, ice cream, snack bars, salad oil, soda and veggie burgers. Items that are legal include birdseed mixture containing sterilized cannabis seeds and other ingredients, clothing, cosmetics, lotion, paper, rope, twine, yarn, shampoo and soap.Complete Title: Canadian Company Cites NAFTA to Sue US on Hemp RulesSource: CNSNews.comAuthor: Lawrence Morahan, CNSNews.com Senior Staff WriterPublished: March 25, 2002Copyright: 1998-2002 Cybercast News ServiceWebsite: http://www.cnsnews.com/Contact: shogenson cnsnews.comRelated Articles & Web Site:FTE's Hemp Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/hls.htmFelony Foods - Bush’s DEA Criminalizes Hemp http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12328.shtmlNAFTA Challenge to DEA Hemp Rule http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12300.shtmlThe Drug Czar's View of Edible Hemphttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12235.shtml
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Comment #6 posted by goneposthole on March 25, 2002 at 10:41:29 PT
hemp businesses and activists
THc in hemp products is easy to detect.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on March 25, 2002 at 10:11:33 PT
Jose
Maybe if you ask Matt he might look into it. He's very busy keeping Mapinc. going and I don't ask for upgrades but you can. I'd sure like a preview screen. That would help a lot.I need a few links on the front page updated and can't get that done because I don't know how. Maybe I need to get in touch with Ron. Maybe he has an idea. 
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on March 25, 2002 at 10:04:15 PT
Canadian Hemp Firm Fights Drug Label 
Source: New York Daily News
Author: Kenneth R. Bazinet, Daily News Washington Bureau
Published: March 25, 2002
The war on drugs is about to become a trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada.
A Canadian agricultural company that grows and sells what it terms sterilized hemp seed that Americans use in bird feeders will try today to convince U.S. officials that hemp is not marijuana — and it will use the North American Free Trade Agreement to argue the charge is a misfire in the war on drugs.
Kenex Ltd. says the U.S. anti-drug campaign has gone too far by targeting the hemp-based chips, pretzels, nutrition bars, clothing, oil and seed products that in the past five years have found a market in the U.S., becoming a $7 million annual industry.
Snipped
Complete Article: http://www.nydailynews.com/2002-03-25/News_and_Views/Beyond_the_City/a-145479.asp
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Comment #3 posted by Jose Melendez on March 25, 2002 at 09:53:14 PT:
spell check, please. Re: "anecdotal" 
ugh! anecdodal? I will learn to type. I will learn to type. I will learn to type... Any chance we could add a spell check or confirmation form?
Narcosoft.com - help wanted - typist needed
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Comment #2 posted by Jose Melendez on March 25, 2002 at 09:49:35 PT:
Arrest Prohibition
Many reports demonstrate positive workplace urine screens as a result of consuming hemp products in amounts described on the label directions. 
"Many" reports demonstrate? Are they "reer reviewed" or anecdodal reports? What types of demonstrations are reproducible under double blind conditions? Are you lying, or did you choose your terms carefully, to merely obfuscate the truth?
Drug War is TREASON
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Comment #1 posted by p4me on March 25, 2002 at 09:38:19 PT
completely outrageous
The one thing we can be sure of is that the founding fathers never thought tha hemp should be illegal. We know Franklin was the first American to make paper and he used hemp and we know that hemp was the main or second largest source of revenue for both Washington and Jefferson. Talk about someone rolling over in their graves, Washington and Jefferson and Franklin would have thought our leaders mad for coming up with such an insane policy. I think our leaders all but insane with this stupidity. How did the government become so warped and out of control.Execute the political lives of all Congressmen. VAAI. The bastards have got to go- all of them without exception.
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