Conscious Choice: Hey DEA, Hemp is Not Marijuana

March 2002 | Health Conscious

Hey DEA, Hemp is Not Marijuana

by Rebecca Ephraim, RD, CCN

Imagine a situation in which farmers who wanted to grow corn in the United States would have to surround the cornfield with a ten-foot-high chain-link fence topped by three strands of barbed wire. Further envision that the field would have to be lighted at night and be under twenty-four-hour armed surveillance. Now you get the picture of what would-be hemp farmers are up against in this country. And it’s all because the wondrous hemp plant shares the Cannabis sativa name with its psychoactive brother, marijuana.

But let me back up and tell you about hemp. Industrial hemp is quite an amazing and versatile product. It adds wonderful healthful properties to hand cream, soap, and shampoo. It can be found in a growing array of hemp food products that include everything from pasta to beer. In addition, the hydrocarbons in hemp can be processed into a wide range of biomass sources, from fuel pellets to liquid fuels and gas. Hemp, on a sustainable basis, produces more pulp per acre than timber and the pulp can be used for every grade of paper.

Moreover, hemp produces a superior fiber that is so strong that the auto industry has started to replace fiberglass with hemp in interior body paneling. Hemp fiber also produces a fabric that is more absorbent and insulating than cotton. Research is being done to use hemp to manufacture a biodegradable "plastic" that would replace toxic petrochemical products.

Yet, while farmers worldwide actively grow industrial hemp for all the above reasons, the United States has maintained a steady policy that has outlawed the crop’s cultivation. David Bronner of the trade organization Hemp Industries Association finds the situation untenable. "The U.S. consumer market for hemp is the largest in the world. But as far as official acceptance, we’re horrible. We’re the only major industrialized country that does not recognize biologically distinct industrial hemp varieties of cannabis that are not psychoactive from the psychoactive varieties of marijuana that are a completely different plant. Every other country recognizes that." Because of the ban on growing industrial hemp in the United States, all products or raw ingredients are imported, mostly from Canada.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has asserted that industrial hemp is no different than the smokeable marijuana. The DEA continues to classify industrial hemp as a narcotic. Yet research shows that while marijuana has active levels of THC (the psychoactive substance in marijuana) that range from 12 to 20 percent, industrial hemp has THC levels of about three-tenths of a percent. Bronner says the only reaction someone would get from smoking the industrial hemp would be a headache.

Nonetheless, the DEA has remained steadfast. In fact, the agency has ramped up its opposition to industrial hemp by introducing a rule that will make it illegal to sell or import hemp-containing foods. At the time of this writing, the rule was to go into effect on February 6, 2002. Supporters of industrial hemp are uncertain as to how it will shake out as they are lobbying lawmakers to put pressure on the DEA to call off this action. In addition, they are asking a U.S. appellate court to block the DEA rule.

Eric Steenstra, president of Vote Hemp, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the full deregulation of and a free market for industrial hemp, is in disbelief over the DEA’s pursuit of this issue. "It’s a ridiculous use of taxpayers’ dollars and resources for the DEA to be going after this when there’s absolutely no reason. Instead of DEA focusing on real problems like heroin or crack cocaine or other serious issues, here they are coming after the hemp foods industry and going after these small businesses that are trying to conduct legitimate business and who have addressed all the concerns about psychoactive drug testing."

The driving force behind the DEA stance seems to be conservative right-wingers who believe the promotion and use of hemp products and fabrics encourages both the marijuana subculture and drug legalization agenda. The Family Research Council has been singled out as an organization that’s been instrumental in fueling the DEA’s anti-industrial hemp campaign. In fact, they, along with other anti-drug groups, are cited as the reason Illinois governor George Ryan vetoed state legislation last year that would have allowed two state universities to conduct hemp studies.

Steenstra dismisses outright any parallels drawn between the use of industrial hemp and the campaign to legalize marijuana. "This is not just a bunch of hippie stoners trying to make some t-shirts and candies for kids to try to get them to think that smoking pot is cool. That is not what’s going on here. These are big industrial applications for a crop that has real potential. And I would say that 99 percent of all the products out there are seriously being marketed because of their environmental and nutritional benefits."

Despite Illinois’ anti-industrial hemp position, a growing number of other states are recognizing the potential that the crop has for environmental enrichment, its health-supporting properties, and profitability to farmers as a cash crop. Hawaii is leading the charge. It applied to the DEA for a license to grow an experimental crop in 1999 and has a test crop in the ground (with the DEA-mandated chain-link fence, barbed wire, and round-the-clock surveillance). Some nineteen other states have introduced legislation that would permit support, research, or cultivation of industrial hemp. California is among the forward-thinking states. Representative George Miller (D-California) has been quoted as saying that the DEA’s stance "undermines the credibility of the so-called war on drugs. There is no basis for the complete prohibition," he says. "The amounts of THC in these food products are so infinitesimally small...are addicts going to carry around barrels of pretzels?" Indeed, research shows that a person would have to eat 440 eight-ounce bags of hemp chips in order to produce a psychoactive effect.

The health properties of hemp are clear. Hemp seed is far more nutritious than even soybeans and contains more essential fatty acids than any other source. It’s high in protein, vitamin E, and B vitamins, and it contains about 35 percent dietary fiber (a nutritionist’s dream). Environmentally, hemp grows well without herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides. This is quite a plus when you figure that almost half of the agricultural chemicals used on U.S. crops are applied to cotton.

Interestingly, industrial hemp was widely grown in the United States during colonial times. Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp for making paper, rope, canvas, and textiles. It’s identified as one of the four main crops in early American history.

As it stands, the advocacy groups for industrial hemp are encouraging importers and retailers to continue their commerce of the product. It could mean a showdown with the DEA but then again that’s the general idea. Supporters believe that when push comes to shove — with the help of lawmakers and the courts — the DEA will back down and ultimately allow the United States to join the rest of the industrialized world in making industrial hemp a valuable addition toward a more sustainable world.

Disclaimer: This column is for information only and no part of its contents should be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, recommendation or endorsement by Ms. Ephraim.

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