EDITORIAL UPDATE

The Canadian Embassy has brokered a deal to allow Canadian producers to
continue to send sterilized hempseed to birdseed sellers in the United
States. Although hemp seeds have been used in birdseed for decades and
Canadian hempseed growers have been supplying U.S. companies openly and
legally for decades, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in August had
seized a truckload of sterilized hempseed and demanded that 17 loads
shipped previously be recalled.

The DEA had no legal authority for this move but seems to have possessed by
a Zero Tolerance Demon. Concerned that the action might pose a threat to
other hemp products like food, body care products, pet food and fabrics,
the Canadian Hemp Idustry Association became closely involved in the
intensive effort to force the DEA to obey U.S. law rather than making up
new rules as it went along. "We weren't going to let the DEA push Kenex
around without a fight because we knew this was a test case for how DEA
approaches hemp in the future," said HIS president Cindy Biggers. Few
Americans are aware of it, but an increasing number of Canadian farmers are
growing hemp for industrial uses. The U.S. government prevents American
farmers from growing this useful and potentially profitable crop.