Pubdate: Sat, 05 Apr 2003
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)
Copyright: 2003 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Contact:  http://www.seattle-pi.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/408
Author: Christine Fray

DEA RULING PUTS HEMP FOODS ON THE ROPES

Foods that contain hemp may be prohibited if a recent ruling by the U.S. 
Drug Enforcement Administration goes into effect later this month.

The DEA decided in March to prohibit foods that contain traces of a 
substance called tetrahydrocannabinols, or THC. The psychoactive substance 
is found in marijuana, and a small amount is found in industrial hemp, 
though not enough to produce a high.

It is illegal to grow hemp in the United States, but it is legally 
imported, usually from Canada, and used for a variety of purposes -- rope, 
clothing, paper, even food. Under the DEA's new ruling, though, consumption 
would be prohibited.

The agency set an April 21 deadline for businesses to comply. But the move 
could have a negative effect on companies making hemp food products and 
retailers selling them.

Nature's Path, whose Blaine manufacturing plant produces hemp granola, 
could lose about 3 percent of its sales, which would amount to millions of 
dollars, said David Neuman, vice president of sales and marketing.

Following the DEA's announcement last month, Nature's Path cut production 
of its hemp granola by half. The company could continue to sell the 
products in Canada, where it is based, after the April 21 deadline. But it 
might not be able to ship hemp across the border to Blaine for production, 
Neuman said.

The DEA's ruling comes as sales of Nature's Path hemp food have increased 
about 20 percent in the past year, Neuman said.

"If the customer didn't want it, we wouldn't make it," he said.

This isn't the first time the government has addressed consumption of hemp.

The DEA issued an earlier ruling in October 2001 prohibiting foods 
containing THC, but the courts issued a stay a few months later allowing 
companies to continue making and selling hemp foods. Several businesses, 
including Nature's Path, filed a brief last week asking the court to step 
in again before the April 21 deadline.

The hemp food industry sees about $6 million in annual sales, said David 
Bronner, chairman of the Hemp Industry Association's food and oil 
committee. It could be much larger, he said, if the government eased 
restrictions that have made mainstream companies reluctant to sell hemp 
food products.

"We feel that this is really the final battle," he said "If we can get 
through this one, it'll open up in a big way."

Hemp, which can be eaten as a nut or oil, is high in essential fatty acids 
and fiber. Those in the industry say that it's virtually impossible to get 
a high from eating hemp, likening it to eating poppy seeds.

But hemp can contain traces of THC. The government classifies THC -- a 
controlled substance that has not been approved as medicine by the Food and 
Drug Administration -- in the same category as heroin, LSD and marijuana. 
Its consumption would then be illegal.

The DEA's recent ruling exempts products that may contain hemp but are not 
intended to enter the human body, such as rope, clothing, soaps and animal 
feed.

Nature's Path already tests for THC in its hemp granola and waffles. But 
the government has warned the company that its more sophisticated tests 
might be able to find smaller traces of the substance in the food, Neuman 
said. That could make some retailers more hesitant to carry the products, 
he said.

At PCC Natural Markets, which operates seven grocery stores in the Seattle 
area, hemp foods weren't selling well before the DEA issued its first 
ruling in 2001, grocery merchandiser Stephanie Steiner said. When the court 
stay allowed grocery stores to continue selling the products, PCC Natural 
Markets decided not to bring them back based on their previous sales 
performance, she said.

Trader Joe's grocery stores, which carry hemp granola made by Nature's 
Path, plans to keep the product on store shelves. The company has asked 
Nature's Path to verify that its product does not contain traceable levels 
of THC, said Jon Basalone, vice president of merchandizing.

"You just do what you have to do to meet the guidelines," he said. "But it 
wouldn't make us shy away from any new products as long as they fit the 
guidelines."

At Scientific Nature Hemp Emporium in Bellingham, hemp foods make up about 
5 percent of the product line. Though her business could survive without 
them, owner Pattie Nelsonbloch said she would be disappointed if she had to 
stop selling them.
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MAP posted-by: Alex