Pubdate: Wed, 27 Feb 2002
Source: Daily Illini, The (IL Edu)
Copyright: 2002 Illini Media Co
Contact:  http://www.dailyillini.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1292
Author: Mary Tallon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm (Hemp)

EAT HEMP FOR A HEALTHY HEART

Most people know the importance of eating a healthy, balanced diet of 
fruits and vegetables, grains, meat and dairy products, but nowhere in the 
four food groups is hemp mentioned. This is probably because hemp contains 
cannabis, the illicit drug marijuana.

Hemp oil is a good source of highly unsaturated fatty acids, said Barbara 
Klein, University professor emeritus of foods and nutrition. Unsaturated 
fats are good for the heart and cardiovascular system, she said.

Though consumers of burgers made from shelled hempseeds are eating 
healthier than consumers of traditional beef burgers, they aren't getting 
the same euphoric high a marijuana smoker might get, said Richard Rose, 
founder and president of HempNut, Inc. The company has produced hemp foods 
free of THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana, for eight years. Rose 
is also director of the Hemp Food Association. Despite the health benefits 
of his THC-free hemp food products, Rose said his company's sales have 
decreased 90 percent since October when the Drug Enforcement Agency 
announced they would give stores and hemp food distributors a 120-day grace 
period to stop producing and selling THC-containing hemp products. Earlier 
this month, the Drug Enforcement Agency extended the deadline for product 
removal to March 18.

Rose said his company's woes haven't come from the agency's recent 
announcements, but misinformation spread by activists wanting to use this 
incident to further their marijuana legalization ambitions. He also said 
the agency wanted to clarify rules regarding sales of hemp products because 
people who had tested positive for marijuana during workplace drug testing 
were falsely claiming it was caused by eating hemp foods.

"The DEA is not the bad guy in this," Rose said.

Still, Rose said that after the agency's announcement, many health food 
stores are wary of continuing the sale of hemp food products because they 
are afraid the agency will raid their business and arrest them for selling 
hemp products.

Jack Wallace, general manager of Strawberry Fields, 306 W. Springfield 
Ave., Urbana, said his store has not received any notices from the agency 
to remove products from their shelves. The store carries hemp-based lip 
balm, shampoo, soap and a nutritional supplement derived from hemp oil.

Wallace said his store has not seen any notable sales losses from the 
agency's ban on THC-containing hemp foods because they carry so few hemp 
products.
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MAP posted-by: Beth