The embargo ordered by U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey on sterilized hemp seeds entering the United States from Canada has been lifted, but the drug czar is already plotting drastic methods to stop the trade.
U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno has lifted the embargo in a letter that stated, “We lack legal authority to prohibit importation of hemp products unless the definition of marijuana in Title 21 U.S.C. Section 802.16 (c) [the Controlled Substances Act] is changed to remove the hemp exclusion.” Reno continued to say in her letter that in the case of hemp, Congress made its decision clear not to restrict hemp imports and that the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels are too low to trigger psychoactive effect.
According to Hawaiian Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R-Kailua), who sponsored the bill legalizing industrial hemp in Hawaii, McCaffrey is now circulating proposed amendments to the Controlled Substances Act to officially ban hemp products from the U.S. The three proposed amendments state: Strike all exemptions, completely eliminating the importation, trade and possession of hemp products; exempt only hemp fiber which is used to produce paper, cloth, and other “legitimate” commercial products; or provide for an exemption for products not used for human consumption.
“This is a mean-spirited attempt by McCaffrey to destroy a viable segment of our economy that promotes health, environmental healing and natural alternatives to toxic synthetic fibers,” said NORML Litigation Director Tom Dean, Esq. “His proposed legislation can only be interpreted as a rejection of those values.”
Dean has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Office of National Drug Control Policy, on NORML’s behalf, requesting copies of all correspondence concerning the legality of the zero-THC hemp seed importation policy, the effects of consuming hemp products on drug test results and the proposed amendments to the Controlled Substance Act.
Thielen is urging a letter writing campaign to President Bill Clinton and other federal authorities and members of Congress, but not to McCaffrey.
“He (McCaffrey) is doing everything he can to destroy the industrial hemp industry, and with each setback, he simply comes back harder,” Thielen said. “We need to ask President Clinton to reign him in for the good of America’s farmers and businesses.”
For more information, please contact Tom Dean, Esq., NORML Foundation Litigation Director at (202) 483-8751, or Rep. Cynthia Thielen at (808) 586-6480.
