HEMP HOLDUP

Because of the government's reefer madness, the American people may
soon be denied the pleasures of certain citrusy sodas, soothing lip
balms, and tasty nut butters. As many eager activists at campus
literature tables will remind you, the cannabis sativa plant is
useful for a lot more than getting high. You can make clothing and
rope from its body, and tasty, high-protein food from its seeds and
oil.

While growing the plant - known as "hemp" to distinguish it from
recreational marijuana - is illegal in the United States, it is
legal to import and sell hemp byproducts. (The curious can find a
fine sampling of hemp food, beauty, and other products at
http://www.hemp-products.org.) You can't get marijuana's best-known effect
from ingesting any of these, though they often contain tiny trace
levels of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in pot.

Late last year, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced its
intention to publish new rules extending Schedule I status - i.e.,
complete legal prohibition - to virtually all products that contain
any amount of THC, "even if such substance is made from 'hemp.'"
While exempting products "such as paper, rope, and clothing," the
rule would ban all "'hemp' products that result in THC entering the
human body." So say goodbye to body care products, soft drinks, and
hemp-nut butters.

A DEA spokesman stresses that the new rule has not yet been
published, and that "with the new administration, everything is up in
the air."