Seeds of Discord: Sowing bemp hysteria.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Citings - Hemp laws, United States - Brief Article

IT TURNS OUT that the hand cream you bought at The Body Shop last year was a controlled substance. But it's not anymore. Probably.

This is the upshot of two rules the Drug Enforcement Administration unveiled in October. The first announced that all products containing the slightest trace of THC, marijuana's main active ingredient, are prohibited substances. This came as a surprise to the dozens of companies that for years have sold products made from cannabis fiber, seeds, or oil. Such hemp products, which include clothing, snacks, nutritional supplements, toiletries, and bird food, may contain tiny amounts of THC, but not enough to get anyone high.

The second DEA rule exempted inedible THC-tainted hemp products from the ban, provided that "using them does not cause THC to enter the human body." The DEA is pretty sure that "personal care 'hemp' products" such as hand cream, soap, and shampoo qualify for the exemption, although it is "unaware of any scientific evidence definitively answering this question.

But edible hemp products-- including dietary supplements, pasta, tortilla chips, candy bars, salad dressings, cheese, and beer--are in the same legal category as heroin. According to the DEA, they have been since 1970. It's just that no one realized it until now.

The new rules apparently stem from concerns that hemp products could interfere with drug testing. In 1997 the Journal of Analytical Toxicology published two reports of...