cannabisnews.com: Hemp Alert 





Hemp Alert 
Posted by FoM on April 28, 2000 at 20:18:04 PT
By Rep. Cynthia Thielen, Hawaii on April 28, 2000
Source: Hemptech
Attorney General Janet Reno wrote to McCaffrey stating: "We lack legal authority to prohibit importation of hemp products unless the definition of marijuana in Title 21 U.S.C. Section 802.16 (c) [the Controlled Substances Act] is changed to remove the hemp exclusion."
I've just learned about Barry McCaffrey's latest attempt to strangle the hemp industry in the USA and overseas. Please read this email and contact President Clinton, your Congressional delegation, Attorney General Janet Reno, DEA Administrator Donnie Marshall and Secretary of Agriculture Glickman. I'll explain what has happened. We all know that Drug Czar McCaffrey of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) issued a March 5 directive to DEA and the Commissioner of the US Customs Service telling them to consider all hemp imports as capable of containing THC. This resulted in Customs Service seizing products from Kenex, Hempola and other Canadian companies, thereby cutting off American businesses from their supply of sterilized hemp seed, fiber, oil, etc. A number of us protested this situation directly to federal government officials and sought help from Congress members. As a result of the visibility of this issue, Attorney General Janet Reno wrote to McCaffrey stating: "We lack legal authority to prohibit importation of hemp products unless the definition of marijuana in Title 21 U.S.C. Section 802.16 (c) [the Controlled Substances Act] is changed to remove the hemp exclusion." Her letter continued to say that in the case of hemp, Congress made its decision clear not to restrict hemp imports. Further, the THC levels are too low to trigger psychoactive effect. As I'll explain, her letter is key to McCaffrey's next action. The Customs Service has changed its policy in accordance with Reno's letter, and industrial hemp sterilized seed, oil, fiber, fabric, soap, etc. are once again legal to import. Now to the critical news. Barry McCaffrey is proposing amendments to the Controlled Substances Act and is circulating them internally for comment. He has three proposed versions: 1. Strike all exemptions, completely eliminating the importation, trade and possession of hemp products. 2. Exempt only hemp fiber which is used to produce paper, cloth, and other "legitimate" commercial products. 3. Provide for an exemption for products not used for human consumption. McCaffrey probably is floating #1 as a tactic to make #2 and #3 more acceptable to government officials. However, all three are on the table. Apparently ONDCP and McCaffrey recognize that Congress would need to amend the CSA--this cannot be accomplished through regulations. It is vital that you contact a number of people to try to stop McCaffrey's proposed amendments before they reach the stage of being sent to Congress by the Clinton administration. President Clinton should hear from business people as should Sec. of Agriculture Glickman, DEA Administrator Marshall and your Congressional Delegation. I was asked by a Washington, DC official if there was a hemp trade association. I was told that no group had surfaced as being known on this issue. I did mention NAIHC and Jim Woolsey, but they said those names hadn't surfaced as being involved in this issue. Now to specific requests: Any of you who produce hemp products for human consumption, your businesses are in jeopardy. Please don't delay. Enlist help from Congress members, and write to the president and others listed above. Those of you who are elected officials, get the help of your governors to write to the president, DEA and others. You should make a frontal attack--protest against McCaffrey's proposals and then urge DEA/Glickman to release the draft regulations which will allow farmers to grow industrial hemp under certain restrictions. Hawaii's governor Benjamin Cayetano already has written Administrator Marshall asking when he will release the regulations. And for hemp trade associations, it's well past time for you to state your position clearly to Pres. Clinton, and the others listed above. I do NOT include McCaffrey as one to whom you should write. He is doing everything he can to destroy the industrial hemp industry, and with each setback, he simply comes back harder. We need to ask President Clinton to reign him in for the good of America's farmers and businesses. Pubdate: April 28, 2000 Please, please speak out now! Aloha, Rep. Cynthia Thielen Assistant Republican Floor Leader Hawaii Legislature thielen aloha.net CannabisNews Hemp Articles & Archives:http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/list/hemp.shtmlhttp://ussc.alltheweb.com/cgi-bin/search?type=all&query=cannabisnews+hemp
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Comment #9 posted by dddd on April 30, 2000 at 20:40:37 PT
Thank You SS &FoM
I believe I found the article SS was referring to.It's at the link FoM posted,and it's;J Anal Toxicol 1997 Oct;21(6):482-5....dddd
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on April 30, 2000 at 10:23:30 PT
Here's the link
SS Here is the link so others can check it out too!Hi dddd!http://www.jatox.com
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Comment #7 posted by Suspect Stereotype on April 30, 2000 at 09:23:11 PT
CORRECTION!!
The title on my last post was just begging to be justified. A since I hate the taste of my foot, I found the article in the Journal of Toxicology I made reference to.Imagine my horror to find that while Urine testing does not detect THC it does detect the motabolite that is associated with THC.Please forgive my mistaken info.However, I stand beside my assumption that the Hemp skirmish in the WoD is due to the fact that even the miniscule of THC present in hemp products will trigger a positive if that product is consummed over time and the metabolites are allowed to build up.the article is:A Positive Cannabinoids Workplace Drug Test Following theIngestion of Commercially Available Hemp Seed Oiland is available to view online at http:\\www.jatox.comWhile I can't link direct to the article, it is in the back issues section--July thru December 1997 issuePlease forgive this newbies errorYour humble servantSS
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Comment #6 posted by Suspect Stereotype on April 30, 2000 at 08:18:37 PT
Urine tests do not detect THC
Hi again.To DDDDI may be wrong--I'm not a toxicologist--but it seems that I remmember an article that told about an Air Force sgt that tested positive after consumming hemp oil (he was a body builder and hemp oil is an excellent source of fatty acids necessary to digestion). Anyway, I got to reading. I found that urine tests detect motabolites in the urine that are created when cannibanoids are broken down by the body. Now I believe that these cannibanoids are present in all hemp products but are not necessarily linked to THC. So we see McCzars predicament. Hemp seed was exempt from prohibition in the original Marijuana tax act in the 1930's because bird seed manufacturers said there was no altenative. Some enterprising person got the idea that the birds might be on to something and began to experiment with hemp for human consumption. Now we have hemp-food products that are perfectly legal because they contain little or no THC, but they will trigger a positive on a urine test. This fact has been effectively ignored by the media outside the medical establishment (I read the article in the American Journal of Toxicalogy) and has not come to the publics attention per se.That is why McC is against the rejuvination of the American Hemp industry. (Remmember all that seed-50K tons-he eroniously confiscated last year? The loss of revenue from that little episoded caused a lot of fledgeling food companies to go under.) All this HooHa about MJ being planted in hemp fields is a red herring. The truth is that hemp represents an end to the effectiveness of the pee-nazis. Wholesale acceptance of hemp-based food products by the US public would destroy the effectiveness of urinealysis to detect MJ use. Anyway,I hope that someone who knows more about it would post as to whether or not this is true. As I said, I'm not a pro, and I would hate to mislead someone.HappinessSS
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Comment #5 posted by dddd on April 30, 2000 at 02:38:19 PT
Urine tests
I like SSs' commentary. I am amazed to hear that hemp foods would have a sufficient amount of THC,to trigger a positive test.???..............dddd
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on April 29, 2000 at 18:04:34 PT
Thank You Suspect Stereotype
Thank You Suspect Stereotype, I don't comment very often but I always read the posts. Your story being shared inspires me to go on. Sometimes I get tired and wonder if it is worth it and then someone says something like you just did and am fine and know we must continue. Please post often. We must change these laws that are hurting so many people.Hi Kanaby and MikeEEEEE!Peace, FoM!
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Comment #3 posted by Kanabys on April 29, 2000 at 08:21:38 PT
I know the feeling.....
Suspect, I know what you're talking about when you say 'blank looks and nodding' all too well. The govt is very good at what they do. Brainwashing the populace is their expertise. 
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Comment #2 posted by Suspect Stereotype on April 29, 2000 at 08:00:15 PT
Method to his madness
Hi Folks.I'm a long-time lurker--first time poster.The reason the McCzar wants to shut down the hemp industry is simply because hemp products that are meant for human consumption will trigger a false positive on a urine test. That's it. Barry has hitched his whole nazi-like, "kill 'em all and let God sort them out" MJ prohibition scheme to the urinealysis star.Without a jar of pee, Barry can't tell who the players are. (It's also my guess that he has liquidated his 401K and sunk it all into drug testing stock). So here we have the 21st centurys answer to Harry Anslinger cooking up more hype about the evils of hemp in order to advance a perverted agenda. And if he succeeds, we will all be sorrier for it. Clinton doesn't need to reign McCzar in, he needs to have him committed.And the true tragedy here is that hemp-based foods are almost perfect for human consumption. They contain nutrients that are atuned to the human body. There are historical accounts (that wont be found in any US textbook) of ancient people who were able to survive famine on nothing more than hemp. It clothed them, fed them and generally kept them alive for years at a time. If there was ever a plant that could be said to be manna from Heaven, it would have to be hemp.Anyway, that's my opinion on this. When I talk about this subject to people, I get blank looks or polite nods. I can see the effects of brainwashing job that has been done on the public at large. That's why I think that sites like CannabisNews are so important. By sheading light on the truth, we are driving the prohibitionist cockaroaches back into the woodwork. This situation is their madness and they threaten the world with it. I'll go back to lurking now, but it's nice to know someone out there is listening when I decide to drop in.Power to the PeopleSS
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Comment #1 posted by MikeEEEEE on April 29, 2000 at 06:04:21 PT
Another desperate attempt by the drug warriors
American business will be the loser this time. This just shows what we've known for a long time, there's still prejudice against marijuana or anything related to it. Okay America the beautiful, let other countries get rich from hemp, isn't that a beautiful message?
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