Pubdate: Sun, 24 Aug 2014
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2014 Star Advertiser
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154
Note: New York Times
Page: A3

FEDS COULD BAR INTERSTATE HEMP OIL SALES

WRAY, COLO. - Behind a tall curtain of corn that hides their real 
cash crop from prying eyes, the Stanley family is undertaking an 
audacious effort to expand their medical marijuana business to a 
national market.

For years the five Stanley brothers, who sell a nonintoxicating 
strain of cannabis that has gained national attention as a treatment 
for epilepsy, have grown medical marijuana in greenhouses, under 
tight state and federal regulations. But this year they are not only 
growing marijuana outdoors by the acre, they also plan to ship an oil 
extracted from their plants to other states.

The plan would seem to defy a federal prohibition on the sale of 
marijuana products across state lines. But the Stanleys have 
justified it with a simple semantic swap: They now call their crop 
industrial hemp, based on its low levels of THC, the psychoactive 
ingredient in pot.

"The jump to industrial hemp means we can serve thousands of people 
instead of hundreds," said Jared Stanley, 27.

Colorado, which has legalized the sale of marijuana for recreational 
and medical use, has accepted the new designation. But the real 
question is whether the federal government will go along. If it does, 
the impact would be significant, opening the door to interstate sales 
not just by the Stanleys, but possibly by scores of other medical 
cannabis growers across the country.

But if it does not, the Stanley brothers could be shut down by federal agents.

So far the Drug Enforcement Administration is offering few clues, 
insisting in public statements that while it is willing to allow 
marijuana sales in states that have legalized the drug, it might step 
in if growers try to sell beyond state borders.

The Stanleys' quest to ship their oil to other states highlights the 
fraught marijuana legal landscape where state and federal laws 
conflict and federal agencies can have divergent policies, leaving 
laws sometimes enforced, and sometimes not.

The hazy legality of hemp can be seen in products such as hemp 
granola and shampoo, which are allowed to fill health food store 
shelves even though they technically violate federal drug laws. All 
those products are made from imported hemp.

If the Stanleys ship their oil, industry watchers say, it will be the 
first time in years anyone has tried to sell domestic hemp nationwide.
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