JURY IS STILL OUT ON HEMP IN COSMETICS

Dear Paula: Several cosmetic lines have products that claim they contain
hemp, which somehow is supposed to be beneficial for hair and skin. I'm
skeptical, but figure you would be the one to find out if this is just
another cosmetic industry gimmick. -- Annette, via e-mail

Dear Annette: Dr. Hugh Davis, acting head of microbiology and cosmetics at
Health Canada, told me he is concerned about the use of hemp in cosmetics.
Hemp contains tetrahydrocannabinol, the same active ingredient found in
marijuana.

Davis has been looking at studies on hemp and has found research showing
hemp is accumulative in the body because of its long half-life and has the
same adverse physiological (but not hallucinatory) effects that smoking
marijuana does. One study purports that cannabinoids may postpone puberty.
There are 60 known cannabinoids, only three of which have been widely
studied. This means that we don't know what the other 57 components
potentially could do to hurt your body when they are in a cream or shampoo.

Davis has been in communication with John Bailey (his counterpart at the FDA
in the United States) and says U.S. officials are as concerned with this
issue as they are in Canada, but that there is no definitive information one
way or the other.

There is definitely no research showing its superior benefit for skin.

Write Paula Begoun, who publishes Cosmetics Counter Update, a newsletter
that comes out every other month, at the Beginning Press, 13075 Gateway
Drive, Suite 160, Tukwila, WA 98168 or at her Web site:
www.cosmeticscop.com.