New DEA regulations criminalizing the possession and manufacture of any edible hemp seed or oil products containing trace amounts of THC were approved despite objections from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and without ever accounting for the new policy’s impact on U.S. markets.
“Hemp products intended for human consumption have THC at levels too low to trigger a psychoactive effect and are not purchased, sold or marketed with the intent of having a psychoactive effect,” states a March 2000 DOJ memo from John Roth, Chief of the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section of the DOJ, to then-DEA Acting Administrator Donnie Marshall. The letter, obtained this week through the Freedom of Information Act, continues: “[These products] are explicitly excluded from regulation under the Controlled Substances Act. … We consider this well settled law. Thus, it appears we are not able to regulate or prohibit the importation of ‘hemp’ products based on any residual or trace content of naturally occurring THC.”
Nevertheless, contrary to the DOJ’s legal assertions, the DEA issued an “interpretive rule” in October immediately banning all edible items containing hemp seed or oil found to have negligible levels of THC. Under the new rule, manufacturers have until February 6 to “dispose” of such products or face criminal prosecution under the federal Controlled Substances Act.
In addition, newly acquired information obtained by the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) – which recently filed a brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals urging the court to enjoin the DEA ban – indicates that the DEA is only now evaluating the size of the U.S. hemp market and the ban’s potential financial impact upon it. According to the HIA, the DEA recently hired a northern Virginia consulting firm to investigate the size and scope of the domestic hemp foods market, which the HIA estimates has doubled every year for the past five years. All attempts by the HIA to initiate dialogue with the DEA in the months preceding the ban were ignored, the association says.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Foundation Executive Director, at (202) 483-8751. A copy of the DOJ’s memo to the DEA is available online at: http://www.votehemp.com.