DrugSense FOCUS Alert, #130, Fri, 08 Oct 1999 U.S. farmers have been prohibited from growing industrial hemp for decades, ever since marijuana was outlawed. In that time Americans have still used hemp products but they have been forced to import hemp from other countries. One hemp product that has been imported is hemp seed, which is used as bird food, and to produce other goods, like hemp seed oil. While the American government has been too dumb to see how American farmers are being hurt by these polices, the Canadian government has taken a more enlightened position by issuing permits to some farmers to grow the crop. The Canadian farmers were just about to reap the benefits and illustrate idiocy of the U.S. position, when, suddenly, the DEA confiscated a huge shipment of Canadian hemp seed before it crossed into the U.S. This action is a crushing blow to the hemp industry, and it is a blatant violation of the law. The hemp industry explains the situation further at http://www.hempembargo.com The issue has raised some media attention, like the article from the New York Times below. Please write a letter to the Times and/or other papers that have carried to story to protest this absurd and illegal action. Thanks for your effort and support. WRITE A LETTER TODAY It's not what others do it's what YOU do PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID (Letter, Phone, fax etc.) Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the MAPTalk list if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is the only way we have of gauging our impact and effectiveness. CONTACT INFO Source: New York Times (NY) Contact: EXTRA CREDIT Write to other newspapers that have covered this story. To find other stories on the issue go to: http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm EXTRA EXTRA CREDIT Write to your elected representatives to protest. Sample letters can be found at http://www.hempembargo.com Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 1999 The New York Times Company Contact: Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/ Author: Christopher S. Wren Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n1074.a07.html MAP: Topical News Shortcut: http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm BIRD FOOD IS A CASUALTY OF THE U.S. WAR ON DRUGS What do 40,000 pounds of birdseed have in common with America's war on drugs? Nothing, says Jean Laprise, an Ontario farmer who shipped the birdseed to his American customers only to have it seized when it crossed the U.S.-Canadian border. Everything, say the U.S. government and its critics, but for altogether different reasons. The birdseed, nearly 20 tons of it, has been locked in a Detroit warehouse since Aug. 9, when it was impounded by the United States Customs Service. The reason: the seed consists of sterilized seeds processed from industrial hemp. Laprise has found himself mired in one of the more bizarre episodes of Washington's campaign to curb illicit drug use. Hemp and marijuana are different varieties of the same plant species, Cannabis sativa, though the government rarely distinguishes between them. "They say it's a tractor trailer full of drugs," Laprise said. "We say it's a tractor trailer full of birdseed." But while smoking marijuana delivers a psychoactive high, smoking hemp gives only a headache. Tetrahydrocannabinol, known as THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana, usually varies between 4 and 20 percent of a leaf. Industrial hemp has a THC below 1 percent. The birdseed seized in Detroit had a THC content of barely .0014 percent, which wouldn't give a bird a buzz. John Roulac, the president of Nutiva, a company in Sebastapol, Calif., that buys hemp seeds from Laprise's operation for food products, said that seeds themselves have no THC, and whatever gets detected comes from contact with leaves of the hemp plant. Roulac said the amount of THC was "like an olive pit in a railroad boxcar." Laprise, whose company, Kenex Ltd., grows and processes hemp with the approval of the Canadian government, said that "all of our other products have no detectable level of THC. The only shipment with any detectable amount was the birdseed, and it was really nothing." Though the U.S. government today views hemp with suspicion, it was historically an agricultural staple used in everything from ropes and sails to clothing and the first American flag supposedly sewn by Betsy Ross. It has been virtually illegal since 1937. Last year, Canada declared hemp a legitimate crop and has granted growers' licenses for 35,000 acres. Britain, France and Germany also have commercial hemp industries. Hawaii, North Dakota and Minnesota passed laws approving hemp this year as a crop for hard-pressed farmers. Kenex's customers, who snap up Laprise's hemp seeds and fibers for everything from food for animals and people to beauty products and horse bedding, have been outraged by the seizure in Detroit. "What in the heck are they doing arresting birdseed?" said Anita Roddick, the British founder of the Body Shop, whose organic hair- and skin-care products have used hemp oil produced by Laprise. "It's so Monty Pythonesque," Ms. Roddick said, alluding to the antic comedians who mocked life's absurdities. "They're chasing around bloody birdseed. It's making the D.E.A. look stupid." Federal law enforcement officials defended the seizure. D.E.A. spokesman Terry Parham said, "Our understanding is there is no legal way for hemp seed to have come in that contains any quantity of THC." He explained that no product containing THC could be imported except by a company registered with the D.E.A., and that no companies are registered. Drug-policy critics like Ethan Nadelmann, the president of the Lindesmith Center, a New York group that advocates a more liberal drug policy, reacted to the birdseed seizure with glee, contending that it shows how dumb the war on drugs can get. Laprise said the Customs Service also ordered him to recall his earlier exports to the United States of hemp oil, horse bedding, animal feed and granola bars, or face more than $500,000 in fines. He cannot comply, he said, because the products have been used or consumed. Meanwhile, a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture assessing the potential of hemp growing has made the rounds of the federal government. The report's beige cover is stamped "Classified." "I can't figure out why they classified this," said a government official who let a reporter take a peek. The study said there was a limited niche market for hemp products, like Laprise's birdseed. SAMPLE LETTER (sent) Observing the absurdities of drug law enforcement can sometimes be darkly amusing, like watching a cartoon filled with black humor. Of course, it is tragic that real people are hurt, like the hemp businesses on the verge of bankruptcy thanks to the whims of the Drug Enforcement Agency ("Bird Food Is a Casualty of the U.S. War on Drugs," Oct. 3). The DEA appears to be suffering from Wile E. Coyote Syndrome (the uncontrollable desire to destroy innocent creatures through the use of birdseed). I can only hope the officials responsible for this travesty suddenly find their careers plummeting into a deep ravine, leaving no trace but a small puff of dust. Stephen Young IMPORTANT: Always include your address and telephone number Please note: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of the same letter and so that the original author receives credit for his/her work. ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing efforts 3 Tips for Letter Writers http://www.mapinc.org/3tips.htm Letter Writers Style Guide http://www.mapinc.org/style.htm Prepared by Stephen Young - http://home.att.net/~theyoungfamily Focus Alert Specialist

Focus Alert Archive