Pubdate: Thu, 03 Feb 2000 Source: Houston Chronicle (TX) Copyright: 2000 Houston Chronicle Contact: Viewpoints Editor, P.O. Box 4260 Houston, Texas 77210-4260 Fax: (713) 220-3575 Website: http://www.chron.com/ Forum: http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html Page: 6F (Fashion section) Author: Paula Begoun, Knight Ridder Tribune News Service JURY IS STILL OUT ON HEMP IN COSMETICS Dear Paula: Several cosmetic lines have products that claim they contain hemp, which somehow is supposed to be beneficial for hair and skin. I'm skeptical, but figure you would be the one to find out if this is just another cosmetic industry gimmick. -- Annette, via e-mail Dear Annette: Dr. Hugh Davis, acting head of microbiology and cosmetics at Health Canada, told me he is concerned about the use of hemp in cosmetics. Hemp contains tetrahydrocannabinol, the same active ingredient found in marijuana. Davis has been looking at studies on hemp and has found research showing hemp is accumulative in the body because of its long half-life and has the same adverse physiological (but not hallucinatory) effects that smoking marijuana does. One study purports that cannabinoids may postpone puberty. There are 60 known cannabinoids, only three of which have been widely studied. This means that we don't know what the other 57 components potentially could do to hurt your body when they are in a cream or shampoo. Davis has been in communication with John Bailey (his counterpart at the FDA in the United States) and says U.S. officials are as concerned with this issue as they are in Canada, but that there is no definitive information one way or the other. There is definitely no research showing its superior benefit for skin. Write Paula Begoun, who publishes Cosmetics Counter Update, a newsletter that comes out every other month, at the Beginning Press, 13075 Gateway Drive, Suite 160, Tukwila, WA 98168 or at her Web site: www.cosmeticscop.com. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck