Provider: Environmental News Service
SAN FRANCISCO, California, February 9, 2004 (ENS) – The U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) agency does not have the authority to ban the sale of foods containing hemp, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
The three judge panel unanimously agreed that the DEA's attempted ban ignored a provision in the Controlled Substances Act that excludes hemp seed from the law.
Congress exempted hemp seed from the law because it only contains trace amounts of the active ingredient in marijuana, known as THC. Poppy seeds, which have trace amounts of opiates, are similarly exempted.
"We find unambiguous Congress' intent with regard to the regulation of non-psychoactive hemp," the panel ruled.
The DEA, which could appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, has been trying to ban hemp foods for more than two years. The appeals court blocked implementation of an October 2001 ban at the request of the Hemp Industry Association, which challenged the legality of the rule.
In March 2003, the DEA issued another rule banning hemp foods, a move federal officials said was driven by the concern that a flourishing hemp industry could provide cover for illegal cultivation of marijuana.
The appeals court blocked that rule and has now discarded the 2001 rule.
"The decision … is a huge boost to the hemp food market, and we expect to see many more hemp food products on store shelves," said David Bronner, chair of the association's food and oil committee.
Hemp seeds are a source of protein and have the highest content of essential fatty acids of any oil in nature. Hemp foods include waffles, bread, granola and chips – the industry estimates some $7 million in annual retail sales.
According to the industry, North American hemp food companies voluntarily observe reasonable THC limits similar to those adopted by European nations as well as Canada and Australia.
These limits protect consumers with a wide margin of safety from any psychoactive effects or workplace drug testing interference.
The United States is the only major industrialized nation to prohibit the growing of industrial hemp.