Pubdate: Sun, 08 Feb 2004
Source: Watertown Daily Times (NY)
Copyright: 2004 Watertown Daily Times
Contact:  http://www.wdt.net
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/792
Section: A page 2
Cited: Hemp Industries Association http://www.votehemp.com
Decision: http://www.votehemp.com/PDF/HIAvDEA_9th_final_decision.pdf
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/hemp+food

MAKERS OF HEMP FOODS WIN FIGHT TO STAY IN STORES

[San Jose Mercury News]

Makers of hemp foods, who waged a two year fight with the federal
government, won a major victory Friday when a federal appeals court
ruled unanimously that their beers, bread, cereals, granola bars,
waffles and other products can stay on supermarket shelves.

Nowhere was the decision by San Francisco's 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals more hailed than in California, home to more hemp food
manufactures than any other state.

" It's a great day for us, and I'm looking forward to offering hemp
foods without having the shadow of government trying to slow us down,"
said John Roulac, a plaintiff and founder of Nutiva, a Sebastopol,
Calif. company that makes hemp-food bars and hemp chips.

The three-judge panel overturned a federal rule that would have banned
the sale of foods made from sterilized hemp seeds and oil, which
contain trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the
hallucinogenic substance found in marijuana.

The Hemp Industry Association, an Occidental, Calif., group
representing hemp product manufacturers, maintained that the trace
amounts of THC in hemp foods cannot cause psycho-activity or a
positive urine test for marijuana, even if unrealistically high levels
of hemp seed and oil were consumed.

Moreover, health food manufacturers touted hemp seed and oil as a
near-miracle nutrient that's high in vitamin E and essential fatty
acids, and richer in protein than meat and fish.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin